> There's enough of them, like mentioned in the article, that they'll pick any flea market or secondhand store clean off diamonds in the rough before you as a regular guy

Usually the flea markets is open to everyone, it’s just that the ‘regular guy’ is not motivated enough to come early. There is nothing you find you cannot if you show up at the same time.

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jorvi 3 hours ago | parent [-]

No normal person is getting up at 05:30 to go to a flea market.

Like I said, they're not doing anything forbidden, but they've completely demolished the vibe of something formerly quaint.

Imagine if I went to a hippie festival, bought trays and trays of cake from the food truck, then walked them two blocks over to the fancy neighborhood and started flipping them for triple the price. Word gets out, and a few years later the food truck has raised its prices significantly and then the rest of the festival follows.

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bluGill 4 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Flea markets were always this way. Even in the 1970s, probaply before but I'm not old enough to know people who did it.

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KolmogorovComp 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> No normal person is getting up at 05:30 to go to a flea market.

Of course there are, just go at that time and check. I know because I am one of them. 05:30 is not particularly early, and if you have a specific niche or quality standard and not just only a bystander, you know that is the only way.

I am also not sure why you believe this trend is new. The diamonds as far as I know have always been found very early.

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jorvi 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You're either delusional or just being a contrarian if you think being out the door at 05:30 is "not particularly early". McDonalds is still serving the dinner menu at that point.

And you used to be able to find diamonds in the rough on flea markets, secondhand stores and even on online places like eBay, until 2013ish. That's when the professional reseller became more and more pervasive.

Since you seem to think that flipping and scalping is a valuable addition to society, we have nothing to discuss.

	▲	KolmogorovComp 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> You're either delusional or just being a contrarian if you think being out the door at 05:30 is "not particularly early" Have you never fished at the dawn, hiked for a sunrise, spent the night watching the stars? I think you may try to expand your horizon about other people hobbies.

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paganel 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> 05:30 is not particularly early,

5:30 is particularly early, especially when it involves normal people's hobbies.

> and if you have a specific niche or quality standard and not just only a bystander,

This is what the OP was saying, that this space has been been invaded by scalpers, people who do tend to have higher "quality standards" because it's in the nature of their "job", they've become aware that the higher quality stuff sells for more so that they're actively chasing it.