Those scuzzy flea market traders...

[chaoticjelly]

Flea market...

Last week, I saw an old Sony Walkman, quite a cool model, with a black aluminium outer casing. I asked how much it was, and the trader said that it was "£5". I asked if it worked.. and he said "Yes!".

Haggled him to £4 for it.

Got it home.

Tried it.

Broken.... there were batteries already inside the fairly hidden compartment, which of course were very old, they had leaked inside and it was all crusty.. it was very dirty inside. When I cleaned the contacts up and put fresh batteries in, it was playing very intermittently and slowly.. and there was a constant shrieking noise coming through the headphones.

This is a regular flea market, and he said it worked, so I thought I'd take it back today.

Took it back, I was very polite, and explained that I bought it last week, it wasn't working and I'd like a refund please. He said that I could choose something else on the stall

I didn't want to choose something else because it would probably be broken too, and he didn't have anything that interested me..

I persisted on asking for a refund, then he suddenly became very aggressive, telling me that "it's just a car boot sale" "fucking people bringing fucking stuff back, it's just a car boot sale".

I said that I'd have to go to the market office, and explain to them, to which his reply was "I don't give a shit, you can do".

So I did..

Came back with the market guy, and he started talking to him, and to cut a long story short..

I was told it was a small amount
I was told that he said "Probably works, but I am not sure"

SO basically... I was called a liar..

And then he decided to give me the refund, as the market guy was explaining to me about the Office of Fair Trading...

- WHY if it was such a small amount could he not of just given me a refund in the first place??


And here's the sucky part... I went around the flea market as usual, bought a few things, and then I got to the stall opposite the person who I'd took the Walkman back to.

I spotted an Atari 2600 Junior, with all leads, two joysticks, and around 5 carts, 3 of them which looked fairly rare, all in excellent shape in a box. I picked up the box and asked the stallholder how much it was. He ignored me !!

Then he walked over to another stall and was talking to someone, he came back, started arranging stuff again on his stall, ignoring me, and then he said "Did you bring back a Watch to that guy over there"

"Yeah" I said, "it was a walkman, he said it worked but it didnt"

Then he said (referring to the Atari 2600 JR in the box "That's sold"

"Oh ok" I said..

Then he said "Everything on my stall is sold, as far as your concerned"

!!!!!!!! :angry:

I was left feeling so angry!
Should I be made to feel like some kind of criminal?

Has anyone else had problems with bozos like these?

I thought about going to the market office again, but then I thought.. well it's up to them who they sell to I guess...

But I'm thinking they will of forgot about it in a few weeks...

:o

//*End Rant*//

[EnemyZero]

Yeah I know those kind of people, my wife and I found a stand that sold NEW movies and they even gift wrapped them. So she bought one for my mom and when she got outside she felt the need to look at the box, so she opened it...and it looked like someone was using it as a football in the mud bowl, so we took it back and the guy gave us a hard time, saying its impossible and he only sells new yada yada and said we did somethin to it, and im just like YEAH ok within 10 minutes i found a part of buffalo rainy and muddy and ran back here to return the item i rubbed in the ground...he got pissed and threw the money at me, then i seen him get off his fat ass and talk to a lady accross from him.

My wife see's an old stuffed animal she always wanted at the stand across, and I caught 2 sega cd games. I ask the guy workin how much, and he said for all 3 items 8 dollars, so i pull out my money and the women the one guy talked to came over and says " oh fred you idiot those aren't the right prices, for all 3 items i will have to charge you 40 dollars. Those are all collectors items."

"I didn't know if i wanted to punch her in the face or laugh in it, but needless to say, i stay away from that side of the flea. ....those shifty sellers :angry:

[davidleeroth]

I said that I'd have to go to the market office, and explain to them, to which his reply was "I don't give a shit, you can do".

Clearly these sellers aren't worth your money. I'd take my business elsewhere, for good.

[PhoeniX]

Man, flea markets are as much an asset to video game collecting as they are a liability. The reason--the sellers, the ones who don't know what they are doing as well as the ones who do.

I frequent a couple flea markets during the summer months and it's a very mixed bag. Invariably half the crowd of vendors who have games--sun faded dirt covered largely common games don't know the first thing about the thing they are selling, charging the same $5 price for a Mario/Duck Hunt cart as they do for a Alex Kid in Shinobi World (which they insist is for the genesis)... Consequently most of my time is spent runaging through bins of worthless games looking for the gem. Of course it's not really they're fault I bet most of the sellers have ever played a game, in fact I can't help but fight off the nagging beleif that they are hawking their sons video game collection... Anyway my rule of thumb is Caveat Emptor, when i buy something at a flea market especially a piece of hardware I do so with the assumtion that it is broken and normally I avoid doing so. recently I saw amidst a pile of rusty tools a gen 1 saturn, so I asked how much, they replied $15, not a bad price--IF IT WORKS! The way I settled it was that it came with an RF cable, and two Gen 1 controlers so even if the system didn't work it wouldn't be a total loss.

Vendors who know what they are selling are almost as bad, a place in sacramento has a guy who has a bunch of games. Whenever I paroose his stuff he makes innane statements, "that (fill in the blank generic) PSX title is really rare, you interested?" FOR THE LAST TIME! I don't want a copy of Wipeout XL for $20 I'm not interested in a broken looking PSX (gen 1) for $40, I have no use for a $30 copy of Mega Man 2 and I don't want to go back to your shop and check out a 3DO (fz-10) for $100. These flea markets (all of them) seem to be a mixed bag, if I didn't rationalize the activity through the occasion FIND and because it gets me out of my apartment into the actual sunlight on a nice weekend morning I would probally stop going.

It sucks when vendors make you feel bad for expecting their products to actually work, it sucks that they get pissed off when you offer reasonable (DP) prices for merchandise. But, every now and then you find something that keeps you comming back.

:)

[THXII38]

I am confused.

You are in the UK, yes?

So, was it a car boot sale, or was it a market?


Was it, one of those HUGE boot sales, which are akin to markets? So they have proper market inspectors, not just some guy on the gate who takes your £1 when you walk in?

[Sylentwulf]

I dunno, if I had a booth and you went through all of that trouble screwing me over trying to return something to a flea market, I would have been pretty pissed off too.
If you go to a flea market, you assume EVERYTHING DOES NOT WORK, unless you can test it on the spot. That's just common sense.

[THXII38]

I dunno, if I had a booth and you went through all of that trouble screwing me over trying to return something to a flea market, I would have been pretty pissed off too.
If you go to a flea market, you assume EVERYTHING DOES NOT WORK, unless you can test it on the spot. That's just common sense.

That's the opinion I have, when I am haggling over a system at a car boot sale.



i.e a console and games, I always assume that the hardware is probably faulty, and that some of the carts may not work.

[Blendo75]

I always assume that items are non-returnable and non-refundable unless the guy tells me specifically that they are.

[Griking]

I dunno, if I had a booth and you went through all of that trouble screwing me over trying to return something to a flea market, I would have been pretty pissed off too.
If you go to a flea market, you assume EVERYTHING DOES NOT WORK, unless you can test it on the spot. That's just common sense.


Which is fine....as long as your pricing your items as if they're all broken. You can't charge working prices for broken product.

[Quintracker]

I dunno, if I had a booth and you went through all of that trouble screwing me over trying to return something to a flea market, I would have been pretty pissed off too.
If you go to a flea market, you assume EVERYTHING DOES NOT WORK, unless you can test it on the spot. That's just common sense.


Which is fine....as long as your pricing your items as if they're all broken. You can't charge working prices for broken product.


Sure you can charge that much, it's up to the buyer whether they want to take the chance or not.

[captain nintendo]

Buyer beware ;)

[Flack]

(from http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30893)

About six months ago I bought a laser disc player from a garage sale. I was going to try and talk the lady down from $20 but then she told me they belonged to her son who died in the Gulf War and it's been sitting around ever since and all his stuff was in such good condition. So I bought it (I was just looking for a spare CD player) and the last thing she said was, "I guarantee it works."

It didn't work.

A couple of months later I found a 6 disc Pioneer CD changer at a flea market. I asked the people if it worked and told them the story about the laser disc player. They guaranteed this one worked.

It didn't work.

Since then I've also bought three Dreamcasts (one from a flea market, two from a DP member). Of those, 2 didn't work, although they have different problems and I'm hoping I can combine 2 of the dead ones into 1 working one.

SO, a couple of weeks ago when I went to the flea market and picked up that Sega Genesis 3, the last thing the guy said was, "hey, it's guaranteed to work."

"DON'T SAY THAT," I said! "EVERY TIME someone guarantees something to work to me, it never does!!!"

[Cmosfm]

Looks like I'm gonna have to side with the seller here.

Like already said, you buy something at a flea market and you take a chance. 95% of items I buy work, but when I buy something that doesn't...tough shit...I'm out 5, 10, maybe even 20-100 bucks! But it's the chance I took. People go to flea markets with there items they've had stored for a while and sell them. They don't test them, they just sell it. People who assume a flea market is like a wal-mart and you can just waltz back in and get a refund are HIGHLY looked down upon by other marketers...so the response you got wasn't surprising You're very lucky he offered an exchange....and assuming all his items were broken was wrong in it's own sense.

Now he DID tell you it was working so that's where I see that he was wrong, if he didn't know he shouldn't have said it was working. Still didn't warrant a raid on him with the manager.

Now lemme ask you this, are you going to shun off all flea marketers now because you assume they are all "scuzzy" traders?

[Sylentwulf]

Agreed that the guy shouldn't have said it was working, but I've NEVER had a flea market person say "I have no idea if that works or what it is, what you see is what you get".

Late last year, my mother (flea market right next to her house, so she comes to buy my kids toys) bought a "brand new Genesis complete in box" for $10. The box LOOKED brand new, like it just came off the shelf, but she didn't look inside to check.

I opened it when I got home, to the single NASTIEST genesis I have ever seen in my life. Cats HAD to have taken turns pissing on it, spiders WERE living inside of it. A bug WAS dead in the cart slot. and it looked like someone had shoveled dirt on top of it after the cats pissed on it, but before the bugs moved in.

My first and only thought was "should have checked before she bought it" The thought that the guy shouldn't have said it was new BARELY even crossed my mind.

[rbudrick]

Agreed that the guy shouldn't have said it was working, but I've NEVER had a flea market person say "I have no idea if that works or what it is, what you see is what you get".

It is very rare that I have an altercation with a flea market vendor, but when I do (which is inevitable) its a shitstorm. I always make sure to tell them off a good one. Ain't no ratfuck gonna make a scene with me in public w/o getting it right back.

Anyway, that said, I've never had a vendor tell me something works when it doesn't. If they don't know, they've always told me. Or they will say it's "as is" because they didn't test it. Or, they will say, bring it back next week if it doesn't. I generally recognize the vendors by now, for the most part, and they are indeed there the next week. Generally, I've seen only honesty in 95% of vendors I buy from.

Generally, I end up coming out of the flea market with WAY too many games and stuff, and it is very rare for me to get screwed over. Maybe the really scuzzy vendors in my area aren't selling games...hmmmm....

-Rob

[Philflound]

This may be a dumb question, but what's a car boot?
Is that like a flea market outdoors in dirt where people literally set up outside there car, possibly with a table or two?

If you want something bad enough, you'll take your chances. I always find it better to goto a garage/yard sale. At least you know where the person lives and if you care to take revenge if they don't give your money back, you can always vandalize their house or car to make up your $4. :)

When purchasing stuff in a box, I always check or at least ask the dealer if I can check contents or have them open the box for you. Then if the contents turn out to be different or in worse condition, it makes them look foolish.

As for battery operated items, you ALWAYS check the compartments. The only time you can't is if there is a screw, but if you are prepared enough, you can always bring a small screwdriver set for your needs.

Phil

[rpepper9]

Beign from the US I have to ask what is a "Car Boot Sale"?

[sniperCCJVQ]

Beign from the US I have to ask what is a "Car Boot Sale"?

Flea Market in UK.

[charitycasegreg]

hmmm... that sucks. Should have offered him on the atari anyways. Maybe he would have sold it. My freind sam bought 3 snes games from a flea once and got them for 5 bucks. Then 20 minutes later he decided to bring them back and he got 6 bucks back, as we were walking away the guy mumbled "fuckin idiot". At least he got his money back plus a dollar. I dont think Id bring anything back to a flea market unless it cost over 10 bucks and they said it works.

[THXII38]

I don't know that a car boot sale, is the same as a flea market, just close to it.

And I am not being pedantic, I think that there may be quite a few subtle differences, and it would be good if someone well travelled, could describe how the average boot sale in the UK, differs from a flea market in the USA. Even if in princiipal it's the same sort of thing, I think the diffences between the two, might be worth clarifying.

[Daria]

I don't know that a car boot sale, is the same as a flea market, just close to it.

And I am not being pedantic, I think that there may be quite a few subtle differences, and it would be good if someone well travelled, could describe how the average boot sale in the UK, differs from a flea market in the USA. Even if in princiipal it's the same sort of thing, I think the diffences between the two, might be worth clarifying.

I asked some europenas this question awhile ago and was told a car boot sale is essentially a sale where a bunch of vendors gather and sell goods from the trunks of their cars.

[PhoeniX]

That would make sense, boot=trunk.... and the bonnet=hood I understand... 8-)

[Kepone]

I've never had any problems with flea markets so far.

Well, I did buy a NES unit at one last year in which the woman said it was guaranteed to work. However, I got the blinking problem. LOL

But I bought both a C64 and Atari 800XL earlier this year at a big flea market and to my surprise, they both work very well. Sometimes you do get lucky. The guy even said that he wasn't sure if the 800XL worked or not.

[THXII38]

Well, for one thing, at most car bootsales, the majority of people, don't sell directly out of their trunks. They usually all take collapsible tables, and set them up around their car, often with stuff spread on the ground underneath and around the tables either in boxes, or on tarpulin. Sometimes people might have stuff in pick-up trucks, often light industrial equipment etc

Alsol the majority of car boot sales are seasonal, quite a few are not, but most are between certain months, e.g april to sept, and the ones that take place at venues such as the town rugby club, often only run outside of the sporting season. Most of the car boot sales take place in the open air, with no shelter from bad weather, and altough one will often see the same sellers time and again, generally pitches are allocated on a first come first served basis.

of course there will be many exceptions to this across the nation, but on the whole the ones that I attend are like this.

[Jibbajaba]

I thought a car boot sale had something to do with a car boot. You know, when you have outstanding parking tickets, and the police put a "boot" on one of your wheels so you can;t drive it. I guess I thought a car boot sale was a yard sale that someone had to raise money to get the boot removed. :embarrassed:

Chris

[Atarileaf]

I don't care if a vendor takes back something or not, but the vendor in the first post starts swearing at the customer in front of everyone like that and over so few $$$.

Thats not only a good way to lose customers, its a good way to lose teeth.

[Lifebringeroftorv]

off all the items I have bought at fleas and thrifts, I have only had one item not work. which was a famicon. If it worked before, then I broke it. It did not come with power supply and I plugged in a nes supply and it started to smell like fried electronic componets...

[Cmosfm]

off all the items I have bought at fleas and thrifts, I have only had one item not work. which was a famicon. If it worked before, then I broke it. It did not come with power supply and I plugged in a nes supply and it started to smell like fried electronic componets...

That's because an NES power adapter runs on DC, Famicom is AC....you fried it.

LOL

[chaoticjelly]

Some interesting opinions and stories here...

Well maybe it wasn't the biggest fortune in the world, but I took it back on principle...

I buy stuff all the time from that flea market... and I had a really good score off that particular seller one time... (a box of 40 megadrive games and 10 mega cd games inc rare titles)

But it was his whole attitude... it was just shocking really, I mean all the swearing was it really necessary, he was even doing it all in front of his kid daughter sat in his van..

It was a large covered flea market, but he referred to it as a "car boot" - I quoted it for the completeness of the story... and yes, they have a proper market office there with an inspector

I wouldnt of minded, but yes, he charged me a "working" price, for a non working product... and I felt that I should excercise my RIGHT to a refund based upon the verbal agreement he had given me that the item worked... it is bad practise to sell something as working when it isn't...

Believe me, I didn't want to go to the market office, but he was blatantly refusing to give me a refund..

He told me lies there and then (that he didn't have any money even, because he hadn't sold anything)

Other traders on the flea market are okay.. there's one guy, and he's a really decent bloke.. he doesn't say anything works, if you ask, he says that it's just as seen, BUT he charges very cheap prices! So whatever I buy is a cheap price, for a bag or two of gear! most of it actually works usually!

I bet he told the other traders near him that I'd lied and stuff like that.. I mean someone else refusing to sell me something, in such a rude manner.. surely that's descrimination? I would of gone to the market office again... but I thought that would make things worse.

I even thought at one point when I first asked politely for a refund, that the guy was going to get physically violent! What a nutcase!

Car boot is a UK phenomena... basically, the events are advertised in advance usually the larger ones in the local newspaper, they are then held usually on a Sunday, in large farmers fields, ruby fields, sporting fields, school fields, sometimes indoors (there's one at a farmers market near me),

People fill their their cars "trunks" (car boots) with their unwanted junk, drive the car to the "car boot sale", and they usually bring tables with them, or sometimes sheets, and spread these on the field directly in front of their car "trunk", then the tables are put up, and the stuff is unloaded.

Sellers usually pay the organisers £5-£10 to have a stall to sell their unwanted stuff, whilst buyers arrive in their cars and usually pay £0.50 - £1 per car, or at some expensive venues that spring to mind £2 per head for early "trade" admission!

One can buy anything imaginable... some real bargains to be had, and of course, I'm there when I can be, getting all the games :P

A usual sight is an ice cream van and mobile fast food places.

You've got to get there early to get the bargains! e.g. 7am, and many usually disperse at around 2pm or so...

I find that most gaming stuff I buy that doesn't work is fairly easily repaired... I've repaired a lot of stuff.. and Nintendo and Sega consoles are pretty damn reliable!

[THXII38]

and yes, they have a proper market office there with an inspector

Then in my opinion a completely different set of "unwritten rules" apply, to that of a usual car bootsale. Of course, a fellow Brit saying "flea market" only added to the confusion.

LOL

If it were me then I would have not bothered trying for a refund at all, but i'm not you, and if it is a market with an inspector, then it's a diferent situation to a boot sale.. :)

It would be nice to set out the differences between the various "makets" on both sides of the Atlantic in a very clear and concise way, and have some sort of a mini glossary or FAQ .

[novamaster0]

lol
I think it would be to much of a bother to bring anything back.
I mean if your willing to pay xxx dollars your paying for the item if all the peices of that item work in the function they were designed thats even better.

[novamaster0]

sometimes the greatest finds are people saying things are broken and sell it cheaper and all thats wrong is the contrast is to high or the batteries need to be replaced lol.
I have gotten alot of things just needing battteries
mostly when I buy calculators my area of expertise(sp?) .

[Mitch_Naz]

All I have to say is Flea markets is an un-easy buisness, I dont think thiers much profit in it -- So thats probally why it was such a problem but non the less; he should have gave you the refund immediately.

[-hellvin-]

People like this are why I hate going to flea markets. I'll probably never go back to the park n swap, just seems like a waste of time....looking for somewhere else to check in occasionally at, at the moment. Why the fuck am I going to pay 30 dollars for sun faded and label ripped n64 and snes carts????

[Philflound]

One thing I forgot to mention earlier was the fact that sometimes the items you buy do work. For example, I purchased a large quantity of both HERO and Beamrider brand new mint in the box for the Colecovision. I've sold them on Ebay. In a couple of instances, the person who received said item claimed it didn't work. I had them ship me back only the cart and I replaced it with another I had.

The thing is, when I plugged the cart into my own CV system, it worked just fine. So maybe it isn't the cart, but the system you are playing on.

If its a system, it can possibly be fixed, unless of course you got the mud encrusted cat hair, wiped my ass with unit that someone posted they had gotten. NES units that blink are easily fixable. I haven't tried to fix any, but my buddy had about 8 "non"-working units, only to replace a small spring in the cartridge loader and have them all work fine. I don't know where he got the spring from, so you may consider posting on here if you're looking to fix yours.

I always found the spring loading system to be annoying. We used to jiggle the cart just to get it just right to begin working. Of course, we'd get pissed when it blinked our game off, but we were playing back in the day, so had to live with whatever means we could to just play it.

So, I don't totally blame the dealer, but he could have been more polite about not refunding your money. That's why I agree that when you purchase something, either pass it up if the price is too high, or haggle it down to the point that if it doesn't work, you won't lose sleep over dropping a fortune. You may also consider offering to purchase certain games you are needing. This will also cut your cost down.

As a last resort, and not one I practice, you could always be a sleeze and resell it saying, sold as-is, not tested. :)

Phil

[Porkchop]

I don't know that a car boot sale, is the same as a flea market, just close to it.

And I am not being pedantic, I think that there may be quite a few subtle differences, and it would be good if someone well travelled, could describe how the average boot sale in the UK, differs from a flea market in the USA. Even if in princiipal it's the same sort of thing, I think the diffences between the two, might be worth clarifying.

I asked some europenas this question awhile ago and was told a car boot sale is essentially a sale where a bunch of vendors gather and sell goods from the trunks of their cars.

Who was it that said the US and the UK are two great countries seperated by a common language? LOL