1st ever Swap Meet

[wamplercathy]

The Fillmore Swap Meet is in one month. I'm super excited, but also very nerves.
Is there any advice or things I should be considering before, during, and after the meet.
Here's what I have so far:
-Items to be sold
-Rabbits
-Read up and printed laws
-Tables
-Easy up
-Business cards and pamphlets with rabbitry information
-Area to house rabbits after each day separate from main heard
-Plan for left overs after the swap
-Cash box, receipt book, and card reader

:? :? What could I be missing? I know I have to be missing something.
Any thoughts?

 

[EnglishSpot]

Chairs for you. Something to eat or drink. Shade for bunnies and water access. Hay for bunnies. Change for big bills. A sun hat. An umbrella. You got a cart or wagon to take everything from the parking lot to your spot?

 

[wamplercathy]

Got the chairs, and lunch for the 3 of us. Food, hay, and water are accounted for. I can set up right beside my truck so no cart needed. The truck and the easy up will provide shade. OH a tarp that way I can block off a side for better shade for us. Area is all grass so no clean up. And sales contract.

Thanks by the way.

 

[EnglishSpot]

You're welcome. It's not too different from the list of what I take to rabbit shows.

 

[Marinea]

Not sure how/how many you're taking to the meet, but when we take ours in our truck, we use lots of bungee cords to secure the cages.

You might want to hit your local grocery store for boxes. We get asked a lot if we have anything to put the bun in for transport to their new home. Another thing that helps sales is giving a baggie with two days of pellets with each rabbit sold.

Good luck! We were at our local meet last weekend and sold 8 out of 10 and got several folks wanting kits from our next litters.

 

[wamplercathy]

I have 5 cages for sale but I figured people would want the "free" box. Been collecting them and have duct tape to close it. A knife to add holes. So stocked. :lol: :lol: <br /><br /> __________ Sun Apr 17, 2016 6:35 pm __________ <br /><br /> It has been a very interesting weekend. I've never been to a swap meet before. NEVER. Plenty of flea markets though. My daughter, Izzy, and I went and made it a mother daughter weekend. I have to say it was a lot of fun. Took 15 kits up and sold 6, with the others wanted after they are butchered. Sold 3 of 6 cages. Also got to meet several other meat rabbit breeders. Some were friendly and open, others, well if looks could kill. :x :lol: :lol: Had a man a few sections over bragging about a 36% dress out rate. Said he's been developing it over the past 20+ years. I'm not one to judge, and I am very new to the breeding program but shouldn't that number be larger? I've butchered out almost 100lbs since I've got started and I'm getting anywhere from 51-58% that's not counting the random 1 I butchered that was 61%. I take no credit for the percentages that I'm getting, I owe those numbers solely to Grumpy. But I did work to find and purchase the best. This man called me an outright lair. :evil: That the 60% dress out is a pipe dream. I had taken my rabbit dairy with me and showed that the numbers I was stating were in fact actual numbers and not manufactured.


But other than that nut case and the blasphemy about chicken poop is better than rabbit, :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: it was a great weekend. Plus I love people watching. I have a few pictures to share:

 

[grumpy]

Had a man a few sections over bragging about a 36% dress out rate. Said he's been developing it over the past 20+ years. I'm not one to judge, and I am very new to the breeding program but shouldn't that number be larger? I've butchered out almost 100lbs since I've got started and I'm getting anywhere from 51-58% that's not counting the random 1 I butchered that was 61%. I take no credit for the percentages that I'm getting, I owe those numbers solely to Grumpy. But I did work to find and purchase the best. This man called me an outright lair. :evil: That the 60% dress out is a pipe dream. I had taken my rabbit dairy with me and showed that the numbers I was stating were in fact actual numbers and not manufactured.


Cathy: Thank you, very much.! A question: When you weigh your processed stock, do you
have the liver, kidneys and heart in the package?? If not, you're losing a percentage point or
two. This is an industry-standard when collating dress-out versus live-weight percentages.

If you ''ever'' run into this joker again-------Send him my way. I'll substantiate your claim
with over 500 head processed within the last 8 months. With ''many'' groups of 6-head
finishing out at over 61.5%. With the integration of the TAMUK blood crossed onto my
stock-does... these numbers will increase by 2-3% (hopefully). Although still in its
beginning stages, this addition looks to be a positive towards higher dress-out percentages
""Quicker"". Quicker by close to 5-7 days. ((36% dress-out... isn't even good Dog-Food))

Again Cathy thanks for mentioning my name:: So many times in the past I've sold good
stock to folks, only to never hear a word from them. Then in 8-12 months see them
selling ("Top-Quality") commercial meat rabbits...(LOL...Right... wonder where they got 'em)

These rabbits didn't just fall out of thin air.

Grumpy.

 

[FourRingCircus]

What is a Swap Meet Vs. a Flea Mkt? I always though they were pretty much the same thing, just different names

36%??? Unless he was weighing it boneless, that's awful! I didn't start out with the best stock (understatement of the year :roll: ), and even though I usually forget to weigh with all the edible "extras" I still get 50-53% consistently.

 

[wamplercathy]

From what I witnessed over the weekend, NOTHING. Rusty stuff sold as antiques, over priced food. You know the norm. :x :lol: :lol: I did see lots of animals for sell, normally never see them at a flea market. Gave my daughter a $20 and told her to grab me a coke and her something to eat. She came back and said she wasn't hungry anymore. :lol: :lol: :lol: She finally caved and got us both a drink (no coke, :evil: stupid midwest :lol: :lol: ) and a hotdog and an order of motz sticks = $12. She sat and did angry eating. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

The percentages I get counts the eatable goodies.

I kept a buck and a doe from my own breeding to see what I might get. My goal at this point is not to drop the DO%. Once I get a good handle of things I would like to raise it.