Originally Posted by
Tanooki
BB: Back when I returned to CA for 3 years I hit the oceanside, ca swap meet and it was the same there. You aren't allowed in until technically 8, but you can squeeze in early if they don't care, but what's worse is dealers/pull up sellers can go in over an hour early there too. There's these two scumbags a mexican in the back corner and a chinese guy who is on that side too a few rows closer to the gate and they'll roam the place before opening or as it does. The chinese guy will look about 30-60min early and scoop up stuff if he can, and if it's solid enough he won't even setup shop and just goes back to his retail shop and post the stuff up on ebay that day for huge price increases, and the other guy he'd walk it as the doors opened for people. I made it a pattern to piss the guy off by powerwalking to the back where he was and ghosting him a row or half row ahead looking for anything good and snapping stuff up. I didn't do it at first but after he actually took an item out of my hands and bought it from a pull up guy who also was mexican and they both spoke spanish it was ON at that point until I moved away. He at least didn't go to ebay, but he'd talk people down super cheap, then ask ebay or 2x ebay for it at the flea until the sun would wreck stuff, yet he was so dumb he didn't know stuff like megaman 1 and 5 were money (wanted $5/ea) but a Mario or other notable title or any bootleg multicart was like a $20+ for convenience or a dollar a game. People like that should be stopped as it ruins it for those who come there to shop for deals.
Eventually this other dude ruined the entire flea market permanently on prices. He showed up one week an dhad his family fan out for the first hour grabbing anything, then he'd mark it well over price at a big setup near the door. (Contra then was a $10 game he'd mark $25, and Mega Man 6 was the same for example.) Everyone got pissed and started asking ebay, it never went back down much at all if any. Even after 3 weeks of it drove the guy away, it stayed up.