Two things ANY dealer is interested in talking to you about, without ever meeting you. 1. Shop... If it's cars, he's a gear head, and he'll reminisce as long as you stand and listen about cars, engines, custom work, old models he's driven, favorite cars for racing, favorite cars for other reasons... If it's tack and harness, you can bet your ass, he/she will want to talk horses. You can find ANYTHING out just standing there and listening. If it's antiques, he/she will blather on ad-nauseum about anything older than twenty years... and the older the question you have, the more they'll want to tell you. It's a nerd thing. They don't care if you couldn't demonstrate the difference between dollars and donuts! They WANT to teach you their favorite things... tell you about everything in their lives. "Shop" is their number one passion... and the secret (if there is one) "let them talk". 2. Getting rid of crap to clear space... I've had people OFFER me whole buildings full of stuff just to get rid of it... because they noticed I came from a VAN in the parking lot, and asked about a large quantity of "junk" (at least to them)... I don't have a dime tied up in either of my sewing machines, and by names and series, they're BOTH over $600 (US) retail right now... and BOTH in excellent condition. I could free up space for someone... that's it. The craftsman needs space to bring in materials, set up and work on projects to finish, and store projects between sales and shows. The artist need space for all stages of art. The antique dealer sorts his treasures out of bulk buys too, and needs space for that process... and cleaning up or restoring the antiques he's interested in... EVERYONE needs space for something, and are willing to talk about getting it. I understand your struggle, so I'm not discounting you. I just want to reassure you, that it's mostly listening if you instigate a bit of "Shop talk" and then casually glance over something you WANT and pointedly take interest and ask about it... AND then let them toss a price or trade, negotiate... and return to "shop talk" a little to be nice before politely excusing yourself with the new find to "go put it away" (in the Van/Car/etc)... at least, that's the easy way (for me) to get out of a hopeless drowning in shop-talk when the rabbit hole gets too deep. ;o)

You don't really need to interact with people all that much. As a rule I don't. I'm not a haggler. If the stuff's more than I'm willing to pay I don't even waste my time on it. But often things won't even be priced. Then you have to ask. I've found the less I say the better off I am. I let people dig their own graves. Plenty are energetic shovelers too!

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 as someone with social anxiety disorder i think you missed the mark my dude. Just because those of us who have the disorder don't have to talk doesn't meant its not a painfully difficult thing to do. I could approach someone and have a short conversation. but if they go off and start blathering for 5-10 min i'll wanna shoot myself or have a panic attack. That being said. The info you gave is useful and highly applicable to introverts, just not social anxiety disorder.

@@lyulf0 You have to know yourself and your limits first... That SHOULD go without saying. 1. Not all those with anxiety disorders are crippled utterly. Some are treatable, and in stages of therapy and prescriptions can "get better"... This is an avenue for some of them. 2. NOT all who claim to have anxiety disorder (or any disorder for the matter) necessarily have it. Self diagnosis is a leading cause of people on drugs for no good reason at all. Take the advice for what it's worth. I happen to be a long time and well practiced haggler... I hope you at least found it useful, and fun to read up... Maybe you can point the same kind of advice to friends who can use it... I hope you can find a quality therapist who can help you... and that you find progress. ;o)

@Lyulf funny i was gonna say the exact opposite of what you said. what you're describing sounds to me like a highly introverted person not someone with social anxiety. this is coming from someone who has both a diagnosis from a doctor (my family doctor whos been following me for 9 years not just a random one) and has been put on disability in the past to seek psychiatric help. in canada that means a doctor recognize you arent able to find work due to your condition and gov will provide for you for a limited time while you get help. anyway.. i found @gnarth advice useful. the obviously first mountain to get over at a flea market is approaching it. just seeing all those people when he panned the camera made my heart race lol. but its very reassuring to know that people arent looking at YOU they're looking at all the stuff around for sell (if you can convince your anxious brain of that). its also very reassuring that its easy to spark a conversation with sellers because thats a distraction from being "uncomfortable" (understatement with 300 people around you) and you dont have to do much to make it happen. the conversation being not about you while you're shopping is even nicer. sellers going off for hours would become irritating but long before that it'd make you feel like hes your friend / like he knows you which in any social situation, not feeling alone is huge. i'd say the hardest part once you get into the crowd is moving from one table to the next, going to a new seller instead of staying in that.. safe non-ending convo you were having with the previous one that maybe made you forget where you were for awhile. not going alone in the first place would help a lot too - but by experience dont fuckin pick someone whos always in a hurry they'll make you more anxious than not. also for the first time it'd be best to only shop/look-out for things you know a lot about just in case the seller or someone else knows about that item too and it gets really awkward leaving you with a possibly terrible first experience and then its gameover. Rex's way to seeking out tools is really good too for anxiety in a crowd, it focuses your mind on one thing instead of yourself/others, plus its rewarding since you'll (hopefully) find what you want.

Wow, did I make a shopping video? I guess I did.

Nice! I'm glad I'm not the only one.

So true

James Zaino me too, lots of good fines for those who are willing to look.

That's it. Value is entirely subjective. So what you need to do is find people who don't value what you do. When people want money for stuff I don't have any time to waste on them. The road is long and someone down there has the attitude I'm looking for.

Thats a junky one

That things harbor freight. Not even worth five bucks.

I'm glad it was clear!

An immutable truth about flea markets, open-air shows, and the like (including estate sales)... There are two things ANY dealer is interested in talking about. 1. "Shop talk"... SO if a car related business, it's about cars. If an art or craft booth, whatever gambit is run of the art or craft. If an antique dealer, anything older than twenty years... and the older the better. 2. Getting rid of crap they don't want or need. That means the weird jumble of blades and frames and junk under the table (even if you KNOW it's likely about a thousand dollars worth of planes when you've cleaned and tuned them)... excellent choice of subject... They want to clear out space for more "shop talk" subject. The artist needs space for canvases, paints, drying area, fans and turbines, filters (to keep crap flying into wet paint)... The antique dealer isn't interested in Harbor Freight stuff, and needs space for the next "hit-and-miss" engine he's been eyeballing for a month. That Custom Auto guy? He's GOT to get more space for the English wheel to improve smoothing out rounds and shapes, so he can advance on fenders and get started doing motorcycle fuel tanks. A five-foot tall stack of toolboxes full of saws, drill bits, screwdrivers, and spoke shaves couldn't possibly mean more than interference. He doesn't want the wool yanked over his eyes... BUT a half-hour of reminiscing about the first VW bug you ever drove and the fun of learning a stick with Uncle-bunk will probably drop the price to make it feasible. Buy in bulk, even if you don't want the tools. You WILL learn their value, since you have an interest in the craft/hobby anyway... AND when you get a "bottom dollar" price, you can clean them up and whatever you can't use, can "flip" for a "middle dollar" price without breaking someone else's heart and soul and maybe even get them interested in sharing the hobby/craft with you... you know... for the favor of cutting them a break on some good clean tools. ...and no, you don't have to set up at a flea market to move tools. I've had no trouble trading from one dealer to another at the flea market, and I've had no trouble plopping the stuff out in the yard when there's a fair surge in garage sales nearby... or just setting up in one of the vacant lots next to the highway and selling out of the back of the van... I can often triple my money (or MORE) just buying in bulk and flipping on a table marked, "Anything's a dollar"... Socket SETS for a dollar... Screwdriver SETS for a dollar... Anymore, as often as not, I buy bulk tools JUST TO GET THE BOX... and sell 95% of the tools exactly this way. ;o)

I was going to flea markets when I was 6 years old. Vendors do not care how old you are. They just care what color your money is. I sell too so I know both sides of the coin.

People are generally a lot friendlier than you think. I'm a little shy at this show becasue it's a car show and I know nothing about cars, but no one know that!

@@RexKrueger come on, you know about cars. They go vroom, vroom! I know about cars too. I turn the key in them and they go. And that's all we need to know about cars.

@Frankie Teague I've met plenty of old folks that didn't know beans. So it is less about how old someone is and more what they're focused on knowing. Although there is the subset of people that get interested in topics later in life I suppose? I know I came on woodworking a bit later myself. When I was younger I was into cars then one day I didn't have any car project to do but I had all these tools and I felt I needed to do something with them. So I just gave woodworking a shot. It has it's appeal.

Good luck!

Just thinking, one day, we can once again look at flea markets for deals... I miss being able to do things.

It's going to be very long time before we get back to normal. *sigh* Any coronaviruses is a common cold virus. Yes, this "pandemic" is a chest cold. Personally, I am ready to get whole stadiums of people together to cough on each other so we can eradicate the mental virus.

@@feistyvillain7308 - I know. It's going to be a while thanks to our careless leaders who locked us down for nothing but now have to double down on stopping a chest cold.

@@AM-os4ty does a chest cold kill 300, 000 people in one country alone?

@@donavan4481 do you mark a persons death as a chest cold when they have a massive heart attack? How about if you die in a car accident while having a chest cold? Oh you know what, i think you're right, it was the chest cold that caused those things and not government funding for treating said chest cold as an incentive.

I've had the same thing happen!

Fridays are kinda sad. The party is breaking up, but the deals are great. This year, I got all the good old tools on Friday.

Thank you!

Please share your thoughts anytime! I often wonder what my viewers like and want. Feedback is king!

Sounds like a great collection!

They are pretty awesome, I just wish I could aspire to the level of an True Artist who could utilize them to their best purpose. Unfortunately, I am but a 68 Year Old contractor / builder with a real bad shoulder and arthritis in most of my fingers. Keep up the Great Videos.

I bet that show will be great!

@@RexKrueger Looks like the shows are cancelled this year, but you got me so pumped to go to one. I invited my father to the auto show in Hershey, PA that you made your video about, but it looks like the 2020 show is cancelled. D'oh.

I've gotten a Stanley No. 4 in absolute mint condition for a dollar. Like not a scratch or spot of rust on it. It looks like they shaved one door with it and that was it.

I am very lucky! Thanks for rooting for me!

Don't bring a list. Focusing is a mistake. What you need to look for are just bargains. So keep an open mind. Because the one thing you can't afford to pass up is a bargain. It helps if you can just spot out quality. You need to be attracted to it. Throw any 10 random things in front of me and I can invariably pick up the most expensive item. I was at a thrift store once digging through their utensil bin and I came up with a Henckels carving fork. That they only wanted 50 cents for. I have no idea how I lived without that fork for so long. It was meant to be mine. I'm going to go carve some steak with it right now in fact.

If you bring cash, you may spend it. Double-edged sword.

@@RexKrueger just like heading to the track. I know I have an addictive personality, so only put in the pocket what you can afford to lose ;)

I had that same approach for the donut stand in north Londons famous flea market Camden Town. On closing at 5pm you got a dozen amazing donuts in a large bag for a £quid. my favourite buy worked great for a couple of years until I had a heart attack!

........the moral of the story was I should've been looking for old tools instead of donuts

Wait, really? You went to Turlock?!? Me too!

@@RexKrueger I did indeed. The time was early 2016, and I was in need of a pitchfork and an empanada. I got both -- plus so much more.

Holy crap!!! I'll bet anything I was there that day. That's crazy.

yeah, especially it kind of sounds like Huey, and a Huey is a heli

What's a helicopter? 🤭

There's a difference?

Yup, we cant do this anymore, but its perfectly fine to goto the big box stores in huge crowds. I mean lowes and home depot are hitting record numbers of in store and online sales as well as other retailers.

I have been to Hartville once. It was pretty good.

If you're close it looks worth it. It'd be over 2 hours for me to get there.

You never know!

I'll save it....but will you take 50 cents?

It's a very American thing. We're drowning in stuff over here.

Same here in Turkey

Do people have "garage Sales" or " Yard Sales" - where they put all their stuff they want to get rid of out in front of their house? I picked up a 6x48 belt / 9" disk sander for about $60 - it's old, lightly used, a touch of rust, needs a new $2.00 switch...which I can steal from a $5.00 small band saw which has too many problems to address, but has a nice(ish) motor, some shafts with bearings etc... I'm thinking perhaps a 1x ## strip sander or some such. However, the 6x48 brand new from Harbor Freight ( or whatever your local equivalent of that chain is), the same thing is about $200, and from Grizzley it's closer to $400 ( US $) but has a cast iron table, which would be nice.... but not $340.00 nice. OH, and here I just found a link to what looks like the exact sander under different name again, but same color and all - $501.15 ... so there you go, saved $441.15 !! Now I won't feel bad rebuilding this thing into something more useful like an edge and spindle sander or something using the motor and belt drive etc....eventually...the more I use it and look at it, the more I think of jigs and accessories I can build to add to it for better utility, maybe it will stay as is forever... So, you don't need a big Flea Market setting - anyplace that has someone putting stuff out, particularly if the person putting it out is just doing a clean out - estate sales, or more likely a quick "garage sale" after dad, or mom, or Uncle Joe, have passed on and the children are left to clean out... When my parents move on, I have 2 houses each with a selection of tools including almost complete sets of mechanic's tools including pneumatic...I can only use so many 1/2" impact guns...etc. ( Dad also has some of his dad's tools and so it goes - but my son can only use so many as well.) What will I do with 2 radial arm saws? ( Keep them of course) but you get the idea.

There are a few larger flea markets where vendors are more willing to negotiate. I've found most of my old tools at pawn brokers. I passed up a Stanley plane because it was badly neglected and the guy wanted over R600 for it. On the other hand, I've gotten hand braces for as little as R100. Just pop in on a regular basis and see what's new.

Come on out next year! I drove 6 hours for this thing.

@@RexKrueger lol cancelled this year!

see my post under Steve Crane - you may still have options in Greece, though you may have to fight people off to get them - my neighbor growing up was 1st generation immigrant from Greece - he didn't like to part with things, they just kept reappearing in a new form in his garden / yard doing something else than they were originally intended for. Good Luck

probably why I see that guy stavros gakos making so many of his planes

I would love to try one of their planes.

@@RexKrueger I have two wooden Marples bladed planes, a jointer and a jack plane. They do need flattening. I also have a no 4 Marples that needs a bit of restoration.

We DID a collaboration a year ago. We each built a plane!

I've made a few knives as part of my blacksmithing. Didn't really think my viewers would go for it. Interesting...

English tools are generally top-notch!

Check with auto parts stores in your area. Most have flyers for future shows, ask the counter help,the ones that have been there awhile will know the bigger events in your area.