Cheap Living: Flea Markets

Cheap Living: Flea Markets

by scuzzy-elo

Flea Markets

Guide by: scuzzy-elo 2003

Introduction

Flea markets are prime areas for the poor man’s shopping. In my years I have found countless tools for picking most locks, entire sets for opening cars, miscellaneous weapons that may be hard for a younger person to acquire, assorted tools, etc. Now, you can even find new video games, computer parts, security cameras, etc. The finds are endless.

In this section, I will discuss a poor man’s thoughts on getting the best deals, lowest prices, and easiest targets at flea markets. I have been a vendor as well as a customer so these thoughts are from either end of the spectrum.

Vendor’s Scam

There are many things too find at flea markets, the key is keeping your eyes open for all targets. Once you have found your targeted item, ask the vendor of the lowest price they are willing to accept. This is assuming that there is a price tag on the item.

After the lowest price has been acquired, ask about the “vendor’s price”. The vendor’s price is a lower price than the smart buyer’s price as it is part of being in the union.

Note

If the item has no tag, a vendor could simply say a price a few dollars above the price they actually wanted and go down to the normal price while you feel that you are getting a deal.

You don’t actually have to be a vendor to get the “vendor’s price”. Simply note the name of one building that vendors are set up in, far away from the booth you are at, and say that you are set up there. Usually, the price will come down and you save a good sum of money.

Short Changing

This is a commonly discussed form of scamming, however, for those who aren’t familiar, I will briefly discuss the idea of this scam.

After you have gotten your lowest price from the vendor and you get your change, take one bill from the money your receive back and hide it quickly. Next, look a bit irritated and tell the vendor that they shorted you the amount of money you hid. The vendor will give you your “missing” bill because the customer is always right.

Note

For more information, perform a search through an Internet search engine along the lines of “short change scam” and you should get different techniques for the scam.

Thievery

However simple it may seem to the common thief, shoplifting is always going across the mind of most vendors. They constantly watch your hands to make sure items from their booths don’t end up in your pockets without compensation in theirs. In situations like this, appropriate dress helps make a vendor suspect you of thievery less. Next, you will want to make your lift when there is a crowd of people around a few items. Make sure that your item is nowhere near the items being mobbed. Slowly go to your item with your arms crossed and appear to be simply browsing over the item. This gains the vendor’s trust and loses their attention. Now the vendor can focus on the mob where a more frantic shopper may try to seize an item. Now, making your lift should be simple. Use your own technique for this.

Notes

I suggest you have a shopping bag with you. This makes you look like a customer that pays for items. It also gives you a bus bin to slide an item off of a table into.

Another good time to lift, besides a crowded time, is during the set up phase and the pack up phase. The vendors are usually concentrating on their packing or unpacking and you can easily pretend to browse at the remaining items while they pack their things up.

What to Look Out For

The best vendors are the ones with large booths with boxes filled with random items. You can find lock picks, tension wrenches, “slim jims”, “wonder tools”, patches, uniforms, identity tags, and lots of other things. I have a large array of tools that work just like any new ones, but I have acquired them for a price unmatched by any Home Depot you can go to. Just remember, keeping your eyes open for all items is the key to finding great things. Also remember that no matter how cheap the item is, you can get it cheaper by “haggling” and then using the vendor’s scam.