Item locator for york-your opinion

I have seen something similar at large antique shows...BUT, it never involves a particular item. For instance, it shows what dealers have vintage cameras, German toys, Carnival Glass, etc.

To be honest, I failed to see the purpose of this since wandering a show is part of the fun you get for the admission price. Since York dealers tend to be in the exact same spot each Meet, it only takes one York visit to get an idea of who you want to visit first...and unless it's 12 noon on Thursday, what difference does it make?

Actually it sounds like a great idea, just have to worry about people trying to get in touch with the sellers before hand to get a jump on the rest of us because you know that's going to happen. Would kind of make a little extra work for some folks but a lot of  dealers usually already have a list of what they have and check them off as they sell them. Some folks might not like the idea because how many times as you're looking for that Holy Grail item and you find something else you thought was cool. If you were to zip right to dealers A,B,C you might not find those hidden gems and the guys that have it might miss out on a sale since you didn't root thru his stuff. Another problem might be that it is very similar to giving someone an unfair advantage over someone else much like the no phone rule keeping someone from finding out about an item in another hall.

Jerry

Nah, then they would have to price compete. That's the whole reason behind no cell phones.

Gerry

A more efficient method, to be sure...but for me it would ruin the fun.  

One potential con I could see...what about a situation where some vendor lists something -- a hot item that would grab a lot of attention, say, Lionel Canadian National TankTrain cars.  Thursday noon rolls around...the doors open....and four or five guys who have "circled this item" race through the doors to this specific vendor's table...couldn't you see some pushing and shoving, or heated arguments at the very least, over who "got there first" or who saw them first?  I could see some ugly scenes developing.  I kind of think it's better where we're all "wandering in the dark," so to speak.

- Mike

Unfair to little guy members trying to sell a little this & that in the member halls!

Lets do the math: lets say 14,000 still attend the meet. Now how many of those members actually participate on this forum? Say 140? Optimistically, that would be 1% of  total York attendees. Now of the little guy sellers in the member halls, how many do think can afford to pay for monthly broadband access? What percentage do you think have  the computer savvy to list their selling inventory? The professional vendors and jobbers in the Orange will of course participate as part of there surplus liquidation business plan. Many have at least a part time sales staff that can be deployed for such a purpose. But little guy members trying to sell a little this & that? Your scheme will have the net effect of driving potential 'cash in hand' business to the pro halls at the cost of the little guy in the member halls. Such an outcome was never the intent of the founding TCA visionaries, nor that of the original Yorkie pioneers.

Patrick,

I suggest you tell each of your club members who are attending York what you are looking for and tell them how much you will pay. Give each one of them money and let them do your shopping. That way, you and your club members will cover more halls and tables.  

Patrick, In someways I could agree with it.  I was not really looking for an item but I did stumble across a B&O set of 21" K-Line passenger cars.  I knew these would be great for a friend who was looking for cars to run with his B&O E7s.  I totally forgot where it was.  He ended up with seven 18" shorties from MTH blowout.

Patrick, I think the good thing about your idea is that you could locate & purchase your "must haves" first then enjoy a leisurely walk through the halls to find the stuff you didn't know you wanted/needed.

The bad thing would be if 50 people were looking for the same item and only one or two tables had the item, it would resemble Black Friday at Walmart!

The bigger problem would be table holders participating and keeping the list current with all the work they need to do just to get there and set up.

Great idea!  But to preserve the integrity of the show I would not post the list until the show starts and make it available only to those actually attending.   

I hope to go this Fall and I don't want to be discouraged in advance, and some things are best not experienced in virtual reality aka Ebay.

If I want to be productive with my time, efficient..I can browse through a catalog but that's entirely beside the point of the traditional exercise of experiencing York as a treasure hunt, not a point and click reality.

That would be just one more layer of abstraction and of course, just another pointless point of contention, sour grapes and accusations. I have enough of that between commercials daily on the idiot box. Just what we need..  more work to get the abstracted complexity of getting the thing going, maintaining it, settling disputes with no one standing up to volunteer.. The K.I.S.S method is always the best. Keep it simple, keep it real.

Should of asked me, they where in the Orange hall, turn right in the entrance 3rd or 4th booth back

Item locator? - heck why not just forget the show and make your purchases through the internet and have them shipped.

As Brian/Traindiesel noted, I too think this is the weak link in Patrick's idea.  Patrick your idea sounds very similar to MTH's product finder which is reliant upon dealer participation and frequent updates.  I would guess MTH sees less than 25% of its approved dealers making regular use of this very handy dealer and customer tool.

Thats how we do it Jim, we all say keep your eyes out for.........

I get it as stated in the original post, its the thrill of the hunt, and also  its the no thrill of the finding sometimes  also. I usually do give a few bucks to a club member but for some reason the  item dosnt show up and the moneys gone.

Because its 15.00  dollars to ship a 7 dollar part. I know there are between 1-10 reasons why each person goes. To me like most its to see old and  meet new freinds, have an adventure, a few  laughs and one giant shopping spree for everything im looking for in one place.  

Again only looking for opinions, something to discuss.

Awful idea.  Would take the fun out of browsing.  Just use ebay if you want quick searches.

I like the shows at York just the way they are; rules and all.