Whatever the motive, the collecting community has a strong bond with the annual Bendigo Swap Meet. 

Gazebos and tents were hurriedly hoisted on Friday afternoon to a background of sixties pop music and friendly chatter, as stall holders set about displaying their wares.

Hayden Merrett’s morning started earlier than most, leaving Mount Gambier at 2.30am to set up shop on the oval at the Prince of Wales Showgrounds – the prime real estate of the popular event.

Mr Merrett and his wife have been doing the early dart for the past 15 years. 

“It’s fantastic, it’s the best swap meet in Australia by a long way,” he said.

And they’ve come here to sell. 

From old surveyors chains to milk churns, the Merretts have an eclectic collection of antique goods.

“Coming here for quite a while, we have a good idea of what people want,” Mr Merrett said. 

A stone’s throw from the Merrett’s is Maryborough man Bruce Weymouth, relaxing on his deck chair, ahead of the impending rush.

A 35-year veteran of the event, Mr Weymouth has seen plenty come and go. 

“I’ve tried to get out of it (collecting items), but someone will say to me ‘there’s a garage sale on down the road’ and I can’t help but have a look,” he said with a smirk etched on his face.  

“It is a compulsion.” 

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Robert Adlington, a machiner by trade, is operating a stall for the first time this year after making numerous previous trips as a punter.

“I’ve got to start getting rid of some things,” he joked.

The event for him is an opportunity to admire some of the manufacturing skills of previous generations.

“Some of the design work is just brilliant,” he said.

“It’s good to see what we made back in the day and how we made it.

“Whatever projects you’ve got on the go, there’s usually something you can find here to help with it.”

A crew from Mildura had quite the display of wrought iron on show.

But of particular interest to passers by was the array of cast iron Furphy water cart ends dotted around their stall.

Collector Josh Fowles believes he has 24 of the 25 tank ends that have different writing designs, and he’s keen to find the one elusive piece to complete his collection. 

His collecting began when he was fourteen. 

“I’ve always liked that old stuff really,” he said.

John Davis, from Kyneton, has a more laid back approach to his collection.

“If I don’t sell anything, I’ll just pack it up and come back next year,” he said.

Mr Davis revelled in the social aspect of the event, which was an opportunity, he said, to catch up with people he might see just once a year.

To the untrained eye, the swap meet is a colourful mixture of tents, machinery and oddities. 

But months of planning is behind one of the largest swap meets in Victoria and indeed Australia.

Site booking coordinator David Thorne offered an insight into his role while carefully examining the site map on Friday.

“Usually we have a waiting list of around 70-80 people,” he said of the event, which has around 1750 stalls.

Most people were waiting for the ideal spot, he said, which was on the oval at the showgrounds.

“Some people have had the same site for 30, 40 years. It’s almost as if they own them,” he quipped.

Mr Thorne said the swap meet committee had a criteria to determined whether what stall holders planned to sell was appropriate.

“We try to screen out the ‘Sunday market’ people. What a person is selling has, to a certain extent, be automotive related,” he said.

Mr Thorne said because the swap meet had long-held associations with the Federation of Veteran Vintage and Classic Vehicle Clubs, the event had created a certain expectation among the general public of what would be on show.

“We have a commitment to the restoration and modification of classic vehicles,” he said.

The swap meet committee also keeps an eye on the percentage of ‘every day traders’ and commercial traders, which currently sits at around 66 per cent and 34 per cent respectively, according to Neil Athorn, president of Federation of Veteran Vintage and Classic Vehicle Clubs.

Despite Friday being a strictly set up day, Mr Thorne had one eye on next year’s event, suggesting around 80 per cent of stall holders would re-book for the next year over the weekend.

Those organising the event are aware that, despite their allegiances to vehicle restoration and machinery, they need to attract new demographics into a space that has traditionally been male-dominated.

“We have a variety of different stalls because you’ve got to be able to attract the younger generation,” Mr Athorn said.

He said the continued popularity of the event – almost 20,000 people attended the meet last year – was evidence of people’s continued interest in rare and unique items.

“We thought eBay would take it (swap meets) away, but you can’t replicate the atmosphere, that ability to come and look and pick up things,” he said.

Bendigo Swap Meet president Ashley Gray said organising the event, which had hundreds of volunteers across different organisations, was a challenge. 

“It’s an important event for Bendigo, not just the clubs that are involved but the whole city,” he said.

Bendigo’s rotary clubs will organise catering for this year’s event for the first time.

Ian Doak, a member of the combined rotary club’s organising committee, said around 2300 volunteer hours would be worked by hundreds of individuals over the weekend. 

Based on last year’s numbers, it appears buying and selling is hungry work.

In 2017, 1300 sausage rolls and 2750 hamburgers were sold while 260 kilograms of sausages and 500 dozen eggs were used.

The clubs’ profits would be redistributed into the community, he said.

This year’s swap meet will include a ‘Barn Finds and Survivor Cars’ attraction, which will feature vehicles that have been hidden away in sheds and barns, presented as they are.

Organiser Ron Poyser said they would sit alongside original cars that had not been touched or modified, typically vehicles with low mileage. Gates open at the Prince of Wales Showground at 6am on Saturday and 7am on Sunday.

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