Show HN: Berlin Swapfest – Electronics flea market

Sorry that's happened. How long ago? Do you think there's a chance it might still be straightened out?

BTW, you probably know this, but just for HN: some of the vendors and shoppers will be calibrated a bit differently than average, so there might be miscommunication, or awkwardness, or different conventions, to get past.

A few years ago at Swapfest, a friend and I met up there, as vendors were packing up, and one of the vendors in the parking garage was having trouble starting their truck, dead battery. So, maybe because my friend thought the vendor might be averse to asking for help, she quietly went and asked another nearby vendor with a vehicle, if they could give a jump, and they cheerfully did.

(Friend is a former military officer, who had also gone to MIT, and who exemplifies some of the best of tech industry leadership, including Knowing Your Nerds.)

Good luck with the swapfest!

Back in the day I loved to visit these kinds of shows in the Timmonium, Maryland area. Went to Gaithersburg once, too. If you were motivated to dig through cardboard boxes of cables and miscellaneous stuff, you could spend the entire day there. But as the internet grew they got smaller every year, to the degree that there wasn't much of a point anymore.

While I never got to one, I recall Columbus, Ohio having the biggest show in the mid-Atlantic. Wonder if they're still a thing?

I didn’t mean any shade at MIT, or the MIT swapfest—I was just sharing a story. I also met some great people there, and bought some cool stuff, so I’d highly recommend people in the area to attend it at least once. Regarding trying to sort the camera thing, it’s long past now, and I don’t care. Maybe they really needed that money.

When I lived in Texas in the late 90s, the First Saturday Sale was a huge computer related flea market covering multiple blocks of parking lots in downtown Dallas. It wasn't primarily for electronics, but you could get a lot of stuff there. They certainly didn't turn away the electronics and ham people.

It was when people were still using phone modems, and I recall that every time a new speed came out, all of the businesses swapped them out immediately. On a couple of occasions, I was able to get a previous generation modem for like 5 bucks from some guy who had a trailer heaped with them.

Also, there were piles of Apple Macs shortly after System 7.5 came out. I barely had to buy any new computer gear during the time I lived there.

Weather-wise, I preferred winter, because during the summer, it got really sweaty and stinky.

Good luck! Waiting for this to be hosted in Frankfurt. Good luck!