Tech taking fun out of swap meets
CHANGES: With parts found easily online, flea market vendors find it hard to compete
HERSHEY, Penn. — Antique cars are still popular with collectors, but the swap meets that supply their parts are feeling the heat of online shopping.
At what’s believed to be the world’s largest antique auto flea market, held the first week of October in Hershey, Penn., things have changed over the years. The event covers some 35 hectares, with room for 9,000 vendor spots and 1,000 vehicles for sale. It has been operating since 1955, held by a local chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America.
In its heyday, enthusiasts came from across the continent and even from around the world to shop. If a rare part couldn’t be found at Hershey, you weren’t going to get one anywhere.
Overall, antique-auto markets aren’t yet on life support, but there are now more empty spots, fewer people looking for merchandise, and far less stuff in many booths. It’s certainly understandable: if you want a part for a long-defunct car like a Pope-Hartford or Rickenbacker, you simply type in your need online, rather than walk the aisles in the hope someone’s got one out on a table.
“I’ve been here since the 1970s, and it’s not a business anymore at the shows,” says Richard Smith, who came from New York City to sell bicycles and antique toy cars. “The internet killed it. You come here for fun, not to make money. I’ve adapted, but not with any joy. It’s not necessary to save your items all year and then bring them here to sell.
“It was also better years ago, when you saw lots more antique cars for sale. Now they’re all going to auctions. Look at the aisles. Years ago they’d be elbow to elbow, and now it’s dead.”
Television has also affected the event. People at the meet frequently mention American Pickers, a show about two speculators who search for old items that they buy for cheap and flip for as much as they can.
Vendor Svend Sheppard uses the internet to set his prices. He’s been selling antique scooters at the show for some 10 years, but this year was also helping a friend sell items from his father’s collection.
“We have parts here from the 1930s to current,” says Sheppard, who lives in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. “We looked at the prices of what sold online in the last 60 days. Otherwise, it would just sit here. If people don’t price comparably to the internet, they’re not going to sell anything.”
Even though many buyers go online, Sheppard says there are people who want to see and touch a part before they buy it. The show’s also still relevant for parts that are too large or fragile to ship easily, and for memorabilia — dealership signs, key chains, oil cans, model cars — that car enthusiasts might not actively search out online, but which become impulse buys when they spot them on a table.
Sheppard, who’s 50, counts himself among the younger vendors at the show. He also attends a large market in nearby Carlisle, held the week before Hershey, which draws many of the same vendors but with more emphasis on newer cars.
“If these markets are going to survive in 10 years, they’ll have to make changes,” Sheppard says. “They may have to consolidate if there are fewer vendors. There were some teens who came through here, and I gave them a deal on stuff to start their collection, but the current culture really isn’t part of it.”
Many tables hold boxes of rusted, jumbled items that aren’t eBay material, but might find a home among the shoppers here. Many older parts bear no manufacturer’s markings or even an obvious purpose, and vendors will put them out with a sign asking if anyone knows what they are.
Two decades ago, cars in the forsale area were mostly from the 1920s to 1950s. Many older cars are still here, but buyers are paying more attention to 1960s and 1970s vehicles, which have come into their own as collectibles that are easier to drive and can keep up with modern traffic.
Still, not every aspect of the hobby is falling away. It remains a closeknit community for many, and some bring just enough spare parts to qualify for a vendor spot, so they can greet friends who also come to the show as a social outing.
Marco Tramelli, who collects and sells licence plates, says this aspect of the old-car hobby is hot right now. Not only does his booth attract fellow collectors, but some states — along with Ontario — allow “year of manufacture” plates. Dated plates matching the car’s year can be registered in place of modern ones, provided they’re in good shape and their numbers aren’t currently being used.
He sells a stack of 15 plates to someone who wants to collect every state and province as garage decorations. Over the event, Tramelli will sell 500 to 1,000 plates.
“I’ve been vending here for 11 years,” Tramelli says. “We’re doing well, but for vendors (selling other items), traffic is down. Prices have gone up because of eBay and TV shows, and finding good deals doesn’t happen anymore.”