Posted By:
Alan ElefsonHi-
I am an avid flea marketer and have made some fairly decent finds (at east for me) approximately every six months or so. I found an James Naismith autographed Spaudling Football guide for less than 50.00 (sold it for more than 10 times what I paid), a group of Joe Cronin vintage photos (including press photos, and one signed by Walter Johnson to Joe Cronin) that I sold for over 3,000.00 (paid about 500 for them, and these were at a baseball card shop). I also found a group of uncatalogued 1940s era Transfers including nine Joe Dimaggios. I ended up selling the lot in about a month to a few different collectors/dealers for over 3,000.00. I paid 40.00 for the tatoos and I found them slightly buried on a flea market table several hours after the flea market had opened (I am usually the guy there at the crack of dawn), a time when I very rarely make any significant finds. All of the above finds were made in the last two years or so.
I also collect (and sell) Boy Scout memorabilia. As a result, I can look for both scouting finds and sports finds at the same venues. I believe this greatly assists my desire to arise at 2:00am most Sundays and drive two hours to hit my favorite flea market, as chances are I will make a find in one of my focus areas. In scouting, I found three patches that I paid 10 dollars each for and resold them for 700.00 each. I also found an old boy scout merrit badge sash with very scarce regional patches from the 1940s that I ended up selling (in a few deals) for over 3,000.00. I made this find while I was still in High School in the early 1990s.
Flea markets are my form of gambling (I have also made more than my fair share of mistakes). Unlike gambling, you at least own a physical item (even if you paid too much for it).
I will provide a quick tip to flea marketers. I suggest you ask evry dealer whether they have what you are looking for (I generally ask for pre WWII sports memorabilia). You would be surprised how many folks have very nice items that they do not display on their tables. More than one of my sports and boy scout finds over the years have been discovered using this method, after other collectors had visited the table and left empy handed because they did not ask.
Alan Elefson