No normal person is getting up at 05:30 to go to a flea market.
Like I said, they're not doing anything forbidden, but they've completely demolished the vibe of something formerly quaint.
Imagine if I went to a hippie festival, bought trays and trays of cake from the food truck, then walked them two blocks over to the fancy neighborhood and started flipping them for triple the price. Word gets out, and a few years later the food truck has raised its prices significantly and then the rest of the festival follows.
As a seller, I would rather sell to a reseller than not at all.The reseller does provide me a kind of service in return by finding me a buyer.
If I'm selling at below market prices I'm effectively giving money to the buyer and perhaps I'm upset that this money goes a professional rather than someone "in need"? Even so I'm not sure the reseller isn't also in need. Presumably this is their livelihood. They probably aren't super wealthy if they are scanning flea markets at 5:30am.
I don't know about your festival example. Sounds like the festival realised that they could charge more and did that. I think this happens all the time without any need for cake reselling.
> No normal person is getting up at 05:30 to go to a flea market.
Of course there are, just go at that time and check. I know because I am one of them. 05:30 is not particularly early, and if you have a specific niche or quality standard and not just only a bystander, you know that is the only way.
I am also not sure why you believe this trend is new. The diamonds as far as I know have always been found very early.
5:30 is particularly early, especially when it involves normal people's hobbies.
> and if you have a specific niche or quality standard and not just only a bystander,
This is what the OP was saying, that this space has been been invaded by scalpers, people who do tend to have higher "quality standards" because it's in the nature of their "job", they've become aware that the higher quality stuff sells for more so that they're actively chasing it.
You're either delusional or just being a contrarian if you think being out the door at 05:30 is "not particularly early". McDonalds is still serving the dinner menu at that point.
And you used to be able to find diamonds in the rough on flea markets, secondhand stores and even on online places like eBay, until 2013ish. That's when the professional reseller became more and more pervasive.
Since you seem to think that flipping and scalping is a valuable addition to society, we have nothing to discuss.
> You're either delusional or just being a contrarian
As kgwgk points out [*1], the proposition wasn't "5:30AM isn't particularly early", but rather "5:30AM isn't particularly early to visit a flea market".
Despite being US-centric, this is also an international forum, values may differ. I initially assumed the market was French/European when they mentioned looking for vintage culinary knifes.
> Since you seem to think that flipping and scalping is a valuable addition to society, we have nothing to discuss.
Not interested in good-faith discussions of differing viewpoints?
I'm not going to downvote you, but I think this is pretty narrow-minded for a discussion forum like this.
> You're either delusional or just being a contrarian if you think being out the door at 05:30 is "not particularly early"
Have you never fished at the dawn, hiked for a sunrise, spent the night watching the stars? I think you may try to expand your horizon about other people hobbies.
Apparently not. If I want to take nice (or naughty) pictures in a beautiful location (nature, urbex, or whatever) without anyone else around, getting up early is key. Going out at 4:30 to catch the first bus and hike an hour, or ride a bicycle somewhere just to get there by sunrise: no problem coffee won't fix. It's worth it too.
They've effectively outsourced the work - they are paying this guy to get up at 5:30AM on their behalf. You go shopping for yourself, he goes on behalf of his customers.
> they've completely demolished the vibe of something formerly quaint.
I think you mean overlooked. Well, it's in the spotlight now, and gotten popular.
More busy, less calm, less 'quaint'. The market exists for (as a result of) the sellers, of they are happy, consider that the target demographic has just shifted, and you are no longer it.
> Imagine if I went to a hippie festival..
What is a 'hippy-festival', does it imply some kind of values shared by the seller, or is that just a description of the usual buyer?
Feels a bit like the glass-makers fallacy.
Why can't the food truck do the same? Why do they need to go to the 'fancy neighbourhood' if the food truck can raise their prices in their current location (festival)? Do you think the food truck sellers believe this is a bad thing? Should the food sellers be prevented from earning more so that you can pay less - and surely the food truck sellers could continue charging less if they wished? Unless the festival organisers started charging them higher fees.
Like I said, they're not doing anything forbidden, but they've completely demolished the vibe of something formerly quaint.
Imagine if I went to a hippie festival, bought trays and trays of cake from the food truck, then walked them two blocks over to the fancy neighborhood and started flipping them for triple the price. Word gets out, and a few years later the food truck has raised its prices significantly and then the rest of the festival follows.