"LA Runabout" wrote in message
...
Often heard comments from hams attending a hamfest:

Where are all the dealers?

1) Most are Out of Business from lack of sales and/or were fed up with
putting up with
exceedingly cheap, dirty minded, odiferous old men. Also the complete
looneys
with the ball-mount antennas on their hard hats, which they used to see
at
each and every hamfest, year after year after year, who last parted
with a
$5 Bill when Jimmy Carter was President.

2) Their now on e-Bay where you can make big $$$ selling
40+ year old tube radios to complete suckers. (errr..radio
collectors)

3) Gave up long ago when they saw the writing-on-the-wall
with 65+ yo hams who still chain smoked and drank
like fish at the VFW or AL Hall and were 2 steps
from the graveyard.

4) Kids have abandoned ham radio a VERY long ago.
Oh sure, some ham's kid will be brow-beaten to get his
to get his license just so the old man can look
good at the club meeting, but sure as glub made
green apples, when the kid (uaually male and white)
turns 13 or 14 and the hormones kick-in, ham radio
goes away and in comes girls and Internet Chat rooms
and music swapping. (Hint: Put a teenager of 2004 in
front of a table with an FT-1000MP on one side and
and Apple Ipod with all accessories on the other and
tell him he can take his choice what he wants. Guess
what electronic goodie will win out in 98.9% of the time
with today's teenagers..?)

How come there are way less dealers this year?

See the above. (Plus it makes VERY GOOD FINANCIAL
SENSE to keep a listing of the hams in your area. When they
finally croak, and this is a sure bet per reason #3 above.)

In most cases their XYL's can't stand their ham radio, their male
ham friends and those goddammed antennas in the back yard !
Keep a list. When the Ham's name is in the Obit Listing in the
newspaper, be ready to pay a visit on successive trash nights
when she may put her dead hubby's radios out on the curb
or sells the radios for peanuts at the springtime yard sale.
Also place a call and offer to clean out all that radio crap a
few weeks after he's planted in Terra Firma! You may strike
a bargain like I did once and pick up pair of TS-850's for
$100.00 - (later re-sold on E-Sucker at considerable profit)

Why don't dealers come to hamfests anymore?

Most of em are too damm old and can't walk up
a flight of stairs at home, let alone a flea market.
Comes from years of smoking cancer-sticks or
smelly pipes. Watch'em drop in QST each month.
(Wayne Green was 100% right on this tobacco issue)

Often heard comments from hams at a hamfest when speaking
to a dealer at a hamfest:

Hey, how come youze guys dont have special hamfest prices?
Your prices are way too high.
Will you take a $100 less for this rig, since we're at a hamfest?
When are youze guys going to bring rigs to hamfests that people
wanna buy?
You guys stink, I can do better through your competitor's catalog.
This rig is scratched, will you take $250 off the marked price?
Hey, tell me about this new rig (takes up 35 mins of salesman's time,
then walks away saying he can get it for less.)

QSL and 10-4 on EVERYTHING you said above.
I've seen and heard it hundreds of time.

Comment Dealer makes when asked by hamfest committee
to set up at a hamfest:
Not worth my time or the expense.

Roger-Roger-Roger! Somebody buy that man a beer! : )