Dealers Room vs Swap Meet

[Lucifargundam]

dealers room for me, got some nice figures for cheap on sunday/monday. swap meet was kinda meh for me.

Your not allowed to speak.

I got most of my stuff out of the dealers room.
I got a few cool things out of the swap meet, but nothing much.

More importantly though...
What is up with this Thread Necromancy!?

Would you like to start a new one? :P
-almost forgot:: I saw a few good deals at the swapmeet but mostly vhs tapes and sewing-craft stuff. The most desired deal there was a stack of Rurouni Kenshin manga.

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

dealers room for me, got some nice figures for cheap on sunday/monday. swap meet was kinda meh for me.

Your not allowed to speak.

I got most of my stuff out of the dealers room.
I got a few cool things out of the swap meet, but nothing much.

More importantly though...
What is up with this Thread Necromancy!?

Would you like to start a new one? :P
-almost forgot:: I saw a few good deals at the swapmeet but mostly vhs tapes and sewing-craft stuff. The most desired deal there was a stack of Rurouni Kenshin manga.

No need to do that >=D

[sunrise-oasis]

I had good moments on Dealers room for finding somethin I needed Right away:
Seto San from orchid seed was a good find and manage to finally got it autographed on monday ^ ^! yeay!!!
erh but the rest seems, kinda hard to focus on what I really wanted to get. Some are overpriced, others seems easier to get and cheaper online! (official ones, not bootleg and I know its illegal to sell that in both halls)

however I barely found anything I wanted from the swap meet:
The only thing I enjoyed the most is selling my keyblades and everything I have!
although alot of people were shocked for the Kingdom hearts play arts arms!I can admit it was expensive, but hopefully this next year I can drop the price down to at least 125 (its at least 3times the value folks -_-!). I was hoping for something nice from the kuroshitsuji merchandise to find, but I only found pencil boards and cards. Has anyone found anything nice of it?

all in all, i had more fun on the swap meet, selling all my stuff:) and makig people happy!
although the one thing I still feel upset is selling my Tezuka tiger short stories comics!. Still at least I made her happy!

[Jelly Soup]

I normally save my money for the Swap Meet, as most of the things I want I can get their cheaper than anywhere else.

That said, I was much happier with the Swap Meet this year than the Dealers Room. Found some nicely priced games.

[sunrise-oasis]

I normally save my money for the Swap Meet, as most of the things I want I can get their cheaper than anywhere else.

That said, I was much happier with the Swap Meet this year than the Dealers Room. Found some nicely priced games.

Some may be cheaper but I kinda wanted to find the things that are the most hardest to find...
I hope next year i can get enough rare items to sell next years fanime!...

Swap meet may be a place to find Cheaper items but its also a place to find Amazing rare and hard to find items!

[Jelly Soup]

I normally save my money for the Swap Meet, as most of the things I want I can get their cheaper than anywhere else.

That said, I was much happier with the Swap Meet this year than the Dealers Room. Found some nicely priced games.

Some may be cheaper but I kinda wanted to find the things that are the most hardest to find...
I hope next year i can get enough rare items to sell next years fanime!...

Swap meet may be a place to find Cheaper items but its also a place to find Amazing rare and hard to find items!

Which are all other reasons I prefer the Swap Meet. I've found a number of hard to find games on the cheap and various other bits and bobs in previous years there. When looking into other conventions, I tend to look to see if they have a Swap Meet scheduled or not (I missed YaoiCon's Swap Meet this year....).

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

The problem with the Swap Meet is there prices are either way cheap or ridiculously expensive. This guy that was selling trading cards (mainly YuGiOh) was selling the cards WAY above the standard secondary Market prices. And at the same time I found a poster for Pokemon Yellow Version on sell for $1.
In contrast, when I went to the card shop in the Dealers Room the cards were reasonably priced and followed average prices of the Secondary Market, while that poster may have sold for $10 or more.

The quality of the products in the Dealers Room are usually more then that of the Swap Meet though. Most Items in the swap meet are used or otherwise been owned. The Dealers room items, with a few exceptions, are all packaged and untouched for the most part.

I prefer both for what they have to offer.

[Jelly Soup]

The problem with the Swap Meet is there prices are either way cheap or ridiculously expensive. This guy that was selling trading cards (mainly YuGiOh) was selling the cards WAY above the standard secondary Market prices. And at the same time I found a poster for Pokemon Yellow Version on sell for $1.
In contrast, when I went to the card shop in the Dealers Room the cards were reasonably priced and followed average prices of the Secondary Market, while that poster may have sold for $10 or more.

I said something to this effect in a different topic about the Swap Meet, but most sellers (swap meet or otherwise) know that most a majority of people assume that A. Anything sold at a Swap Meet is cheaper than you'd get it elsewhere and B. Anything sold in a dealers room (regardless of the focus) is 'better' because it's newer, therefore being 'cheaper' by virtue of it being 'better'. Given that the average con-goer will subscribe to one or both of these ideas, sellers stand to make a killing regardless of what they are selling or where they sell it.

[caskaslyrk]

I definately prefer the swap meet.  You never know what you are going to find.  I have found several autographed items through the years for cheap prices.  It is basically a garage sale indoors...LOL  minus the garage..LOL The dealers room is a cluster of things and sometimes you can't even get near the booth to see what they are selling!

[Hachimitsu]

I normally save my money for the Swap Meet, as most of the things I want I can get their cheaper than anywhere else.

That said, I was much happier with the Swap Meet this year than the Dealers Room. Found some nicely priced games.

Some may be cheaper but I kinda wanted to find the things that are the most hardest to find...
I hope next year i can get enough rare items to sell next years fanime!...

Swap meet may be a place to find Cheaper items but its also a place to find Amazing rare and hard to find items!

The best thing about Swap meet is, I am GLAD that Sailor moon items Still survived after all these years! I was so happy to purchase The Settei Sketch Hard cover, but I was upset that I could'nt afford the Sailor V Mangas.

Oh well :-\ I hope theres more Sailor moon items this year!

[demonic_kyo]

To answer that question I find a lot of cool hard to find things in the dealers hall, but some of it is a bit pricy and you can find some of the same stuff online. However I do enjoy the dealers hall and spending my years savings there. At the swap meet you find mostly things that you may already have or that is easily avalible, but its also cheaper and you find really cool stuff there sometimes too.
I think either way, as long as your there you're enjoying it :D

[Hachimitsu]

To answer that question I find a lot of cool hard to find things in the dealers hall, but some of it is a bit pricy and you can find some of the same stuff online. However I do enjoy the dealers hall and spending my years savings there. At the swap meet you find mostly things that you may already have or that is easily avalible, but its also cheaper and you find really cool stuff there sometimes too.
I think either way, as long as your there you're enjoying it :D

Does the people know that even if you did get a cheaper item, did they remember about the shipping and handling? last time I saw the Item I was looking for its the same price as online but the only difference was that the shipping was the one that makes it double (maybe tripple) on the item that is online. Just out of Curiosity, Has the Dealers hall sold any copic markers? Or is this only for the swap meet?

[Hikaru Kazushime]

For me, it went this way:

SWAP MEET: The majority of my loot came from here. Made some incredible finds for insanely good prices. Got tons of manga for around $1, Japanese and English! Picked up loads of cheap posters, artbooks, and some older figures for nearly nothing. Also found a few very rare items, games, and more.

DEALER'S HALL:This is where I picked up some of the modern merch that only the dealer's would have- newer figures that had just been released, an artbook, evangelion bed sheets and...yea, that was all. Just a couple figures and an artbook. O-o didn't realize that was all. lol!

REMEMBER:
The problem with the dealer's hall, is that the dealer's vary in prices. Some sell things like manga for the same price you would buy them at a store, while some give you small discounts the more you buy. The other problem, is that most dealer's raise their prices by a whopping $15 the first day, and reduce it slowly by about $5 each day. By Sunday, everything has been reduced to either it's normal sales price, or has been discounted by a few bucks to make it look like everything has been hugely discounted. It is very wise to study items you may be looking for online before buying from dealers- they have a tendency to sell for more than something may be worth at times. If you can read Japanese, or can at least convert Yen into USD, you can haggle them when you find something amiss with a price. I did this many times last year, and it worked. Just don't pester the dealer's please. If one is firm on a price then either stick with it and buy the item, or thank them and walk away. For me, the dealer's hall is a place to find figures that have recently been released or are soon to be released. Usually you can find whatever is hot online- like recent released by Good Smile Company. But that's mostly it for me. But...you still never know what to find.

If you truly fall in love with an item, it's best to buy it and be happy than to not buy it and wait, and see someone else take it. Don't lie to yourself- OBEY YOUR IMPULSES!!!! O_O

[otakuya]

Swap Meet: generally used items, negotiable prices, independent, sometimes rare items, unique

Dealers: mostly brand new items, fixed store prices and taxes, sometimes credit card accepted, standard dealers room stuff you see for sale, has the convention center food court there too

Artist Alley: all are "what I made" items, customizable and commissioned items and work, independent, more fun and interactive


I generally like Swap Meet because I could sell stuff myself instead of being an actual dealer. I also like Artist Alley because I could have a caricature of myself done there, among many other things I can purchase. In the dealers room, though, you see all of the usual stuff you could otherwise find at local anime and import stores, big media stores for DVDs, or online. Prices at the dealers room may be cheaper than retail, but it may be offset from the registration and admission prices.

[Xepherian]

the best part about fanime is the Artist Alley.

[Ayanami Rei First Child]

This year I was dissapointed. There wasn't much that interested me in the swap meet. I got some DVDs partially because they were a good, but not great price...and partially to bless the friend selling it. I DID however get a couple "How To Draw Manga" books for INSANELY cheap! Just $8 for two of them, which I am giving to my niece who loves using them to improve her drawing skills.

This year in the dealer's room is where I found some insanely cheap prices! A Morrigan figure that was like 6" tall in an alternate color for like $15! An EVA Unit 00 Action figure, a more basic model, for $10! It was strange seeing the massive price difference for different characters and models, even at the same dealer!

[Knightfire]

It was hit or miss in both the swap meet and the dealers room.

[jacktchance]

Swap Meet for me.  Spent so much money there and only about 20 bucks in the Dealer's Room.

Artist Alley was fun to browse, even bought some stuff to support "starving" artists.

[DTJAAAAM]

Swap Meet. They had what I was looking for... video games!

[mdarkpoet]

Swap Meet, it was much more laid back and I could sit there looking like an idiot pretending to sell myself without anyone bitching lmao. Got a bunch of great deals there

Dealer's Hall was cool, love how it was set up, but the prices were ridiculous!