Flea Markets Observations

[JotterAddict62]

Greetings All

 

I just went to the 4th local flea market they have in Elkhorn WI.

They have 4 total at the fair grounds each summer.

What I notice is that pen hunting is a challenge at these large flea markets.

What I notice is that the dealers bring the same items every time.

I think they just pack up their transport of choice and unload the same each time. I see some dealers that deal in certain items others pot luck. You know that these people find their items at estate auctions/sales garage/rummage sales. So unless they are active in finding new items to resell picking will be slim.

 

I think next year I will have to print out a new batch of business cards and hand them out to each dealer and see what happens..

 

I did well this year in finding Parkers at the first 3 flea markets and today picking was slim as I did pick up 2 Parker Jotter calendar pens from the 70's for $7.

 

So I ask you what are your observations on your local area flea markets?

 

Ken

[Florida Blue]

My observations are pretty similar to your's Ken.

 

I visit the same 3 or 4 local flea markets several times a year looking for fountain pens.

 

After a few times it feels like deja vu, because you start to see the same dealers, in the same spots, with the same stuff

 

I agree with you in that I believe many vendors just store their junk in their car or van and unload the same stuff each week. I know many clean out old homes or organize estate sales for a living. They negotiate the buyout of the contents of an entire home and that's how many obtain their merchandise. Some flea markets are geared more towards antiques and others more towards household items/clothes.

 

However, I always remain positive. You have to keep looking because you never know what might turn up. I've come home empty handed, but I've also come way with some sumgai deals.

[balson]

i definitely see a lot of the same stuff over again at flea markets.

 

the best luck i have is to ask if they have any fountain pens, if they say no ask them if its something they cary or come across. i have had a ton of great leads from asking this. it makes the dealers aware that there is interest in pens so they are more likely to pick them up if they find them. the dealers will start recognizing you and let you know if they have found any pens or let you know if they have seen another dealer with pens.

 

one dealer i know comes across pens but would not buy them because she didn't know what they are worth so i printed out some pictures of pens i usually like and what i would pay for them assuming the condition of them was terrible. she is always making a profit because she knows exactly what i will buy the pens for and if the pens are in really good condition or rare i will pay her more than my listed price

 

if you come regularly and buy regularly some dealers will start holding pens for you

[Black Spot]

I know two people who are estate agents and they both sell at flea markets.

Its a way to try to make some extra money. They don't make all that much, there is allot of competition and every bit helps.

 

Now here is a trick for you get to know the dealers, let them know what you are looking for.

If they know that you collect pre-Columbian mummies they just might have a box for you the next time you come round, or give you a call.

[JotterAddict62]

One other thing I do when at the flea market when hunting pens is look for the lock cases that holds smalls.

I feel that this is the only option I can see in doing a quick scan of a dealer that may hold pen gold.

[gweimer1]

I'm just starting to go to flea markets, and have been to a couple estate sales. I did find an old Fifth Avenue pen/pencil at one estate sale for $0.50, but that's about it. I go to a flea market on Saturdays, and there is one lady that says she has a box of old pens somewhere in her storage locker, but hasn't brought them yet.

I found a Parker 45 for $3 at a resale shop in Chicago this week-end. These guys run a storefront for their estate sale liquidations. The pen collectors, I was told, show up on Tuesdays, so there wasn't much there, but still a decent grab.

[bsenn]

Ken - I'm now glad I did not go to Elkhorn yesterday. Would have been a beautiful day to be at the fairgrounds, but just as beautiful (and quieter) at home.

 

Same observations. Hit and miss. Been shut out or found pens which were priced way too high for what they were. Other times found great deals. A few weeks ago in Grayslake I got an Estie still with the nib size sticker for $10 and four or five pens for $6 (the seller was a comedian, started at $12/each, 3 for $30, ended at 5 for $6 ).

 

At other flea markets I have been told of a lone pen hunter, shows up so early in the morning that it's still dark, calling out "Got any pens? Looking for pens here!". He probably gets all the good ones...

 

It helps if you are looking for other items as well. If you are shut out on the pens, looking for other things could keep a day at a flea market from being too disappointing.

 

Gary - I think 45s are the pen I have found the largest quantity of for the cheapest prices, probably because there are so many and they don't seem like "antiques".

 

Brian

Edited September 29, 2014 by bsenn

[JotterAddict62]

Brain,

 

I did see some Estie's from this one seller starting at $28 for pens that need restoring.

Passed on them..

[gweimer1]

Brian - you go all the way to Grayslake for flea markets? That's a long drive.

 

I think the one flea market I go to, I'm the only pen hunter. And, the lady I have been watching gets there after the sun comes up.

[bsenn]

I was in Grayslake (Illinois) for daughter's marching band competition, would not have driven there for the flea market alone. I find that when I go or the family goes somewhere out of town we make a stop at an antique store (or flea market).

 

Over $20 for a run of the mill Estie is ridiculous, but the sellers don't always seem to know that.

 

Brian

[amk]

Watch out for boxes full of pencils and stuff - there are sometimes good pens in there! (and sometimes not, of course)

 

And keep trying. I walked into my local antique store one Friday; no, he hadn't had any good pens for a while, sorry, he hadn't got anything for me at all. Monday, I was walking past and just thought I'd stick my head in the door - oh, yes, I've got some more pens, take a look - and wow! a Big Red, some mint Conway Stewarts, two Parker Modernes, a gold filled Parker 65 in its box, and seven or eight more, all at bargain though not quite Sumgai prices.

 

I agree with Brian, it really helps if you're also looking for and interested in other things. I love the old tool stalls and people selling old agricultural implements - chatting with the vendors is always informative (who knew that Spanish and French plumb bobs are different from English and German ones?)

[Takai]

I've been fortunate down here, we have 1 flea market a month, and there aren't many pen hunters, or well fountain pen users in my area. Sometimes I do well, other times I come up empty. Last time I went I found a Parker Lady Duofold ringtop with a wet noodle nib for 15$, but this month was by far my best trip, a P45 with a semi-flex gold nib, a Kaweco Colleg with a flexy nib, a Parker Striped Duofold vac, Another Sheaffer vac-fil, and a John Holland Lever fill with a wet noodle nib, the whole lot ran me ~70$ The Kaweco, and 45 write flawlessly, others need repairs.

 

There's one dealer who is a pen collector, but he just collects pens, he doesnt write with them, but he's a wealth of info for me, and I have a couple of other dealers who know who I am and what Im after so they usually keep some nice stuff back for me, but the really good pens I've found were all just random happenstance.

 

I do notice that most dealers around here, if the nib isnt at least marked 14k, then they assume it's a terrible cheap pen, and they price it ~1-10$, if it's a 14k nib they try to get 25-40$, sometimes more.

[Florida Blue]

 

I do notice that most dealers around here, if the nib isnt at least marked 14k, then they assume it's a terrible cheap pen, and they price it ~1-10$, if it's a 14k nib they try to get 25-40$, sometimes more.

 

I've seen that before and think it's funny. I've seen dealers overpriced 2nd and 3rd tier pens just because the nibs are stamped "Warranted 14K" and underpriced Parkers, Sheaffers, Watermans etc. because the nibs were often not marked (or marked under the collar or in the section) and they assume the nibs are just gold plate.

 

I agree that you should look for other things besides fountain pens to make the trip worthwhile. If you've seen my profile page you will read my love of English bone china. I've also found pen related items like ads, original boxes and ink bottles.

[amk]

Aha, so Florida Blue is also Wedgwood Blue :-)

[JotterAddict62]

 

I've seen that before and think it's funny. I've seen dealers overpriced 2nd and 3rd tier pens just because the nibs are stamped "Warranted 14K" and underpriced Parkers, Sheaffers, Watermans etc. because the nibs were often not marked (or marked under the collar or in the section) and they assume the nibs are just gold plate.

 

I agree that you should look for other things besides fountain pens to make the trip worthwhile. If you've seen my profile page you will read my love of English bone china. I've also found pen related items like ads, original boxes and ink bottles.

There are other items I look for, and here is a very short list;

 

1950's playing cards that have humor on them.

There is a series of six with these topics;

Cheer-Up [ Hospital theme ]

Fish-Up [ Fishing ]

Tee-Up [ Golf ]

Drink-Up [ Drinking Booze ]

Bowl-Up [ Bowling ]

Tune-Up [ Automobile ] I'm missing this deck

 

I have 2 decks of Military Aircraft Recognition cards

one from Aug. 1944 for the US Navy [ date is on the cards ]

the other one is from Oct 1979 [ Stated on the box]

 

One of the other playing card themes I collect is topless playing cards of

the 1940's & 1950's [ You want to see pictures of your half naked Grandmother ]

 

There are other things I pick up if it catches my eye..

[Paddler]

Here, we have 4 flea markets per week. It has been like this for better than 15 years. I bought nearly my total hoard of fountain pens there, in years past. In the last two years, though, pen availability has dwindled to nearly zero. I have no idea why this is; maybe the nibs are being scrapped for their gold content. But then, I don't see pens with stainless steel nibs, either.

[Sundrah]

Does anyone know which kind of flea markets I should visit for pens? I live down here in Australia, did a quick google search for flea markets around my city and I'm kind of confused at the results.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Not much here in the way of flea markets. In fact, nothing. There used to be.

 

What we have is 'antique' shops selling junk oens at sky-high prices, thrift stores which don't usually have anything in the way of fps, and yard sales.

 

At the yard sales, we always ask. So far, nothing, except for one fellow who wanted a minimum of $100/pen, sight, brand and condition unseen, or he refused to look for them.

 

Fifteen, twenty years ago, I got a small, not-working Conklin at an antique store for $7. I more recently got a beater, shrunken-hood, capless Parker Super 21 that writes.

 

Good ideas and tips, everyone. I will keep looking.

[Ceilidh]

Aha, so Florida Blue is also Wedgwood Blue :-)

Or Spode Blue Italian.

[amk]

I'm not sure there's a rule of thumb for which markets to visit. I find those in larger towns more regularly throw up pens than the country places - then again, my biggest sumgai finds have been in little country fairs, only 20% of the pens but 80% of the sumgais! That's possibly simply because there are more people in the kind of jobs which would have meant they had fancy fountain pens in the larger towns - doctors, lawyers, insurance agents, bankers. Farmers probably had cheap pens if any.

 

However locally, I do know which markets and which shops are most likely to have pens. I imagine once you've done your first few visits you will get a better feel for where to look.