W6TRW TRW Swap Meet

This was my first swap meet and It was really cool I didn’t find what I was looking for but they had lots of different booths and vendors. I recommend going to this swap meet because you will find about anything you are looking for.

If you like electronic components like everything from ham radio gear and transistors to Bluetooth speakers and old radios, this is your place.
However, perhaps one of the best reasons to come here is that you never know what you’re going to find. We have been looking for a small compact rolling type cart to mount a computer to and today we found an Ergotron for $ 75. These are the carts hospitals use to hold the computers in patients rooms and they run anywhere from several hundred dollars to well over $ 1000.
We also got a pop up collapsible table (burlwood and brass) for $ 25 which came out of a G5… couldn’t help but think of Tropic Thunder when the guy told us that! LOL
You can also buy regular items like car chargers, refurbished computers, monitors, keyboards, mice, etc.

Horrible! I found ONE ham radio equipment with the thousands of items being sold. I walked around for an hour looking for an actual vendor that sells something even relevant to ham radio. They probably had a hundred booths/​vendors and maybe only 2 vendors were selling ham unit and the ARRL tent. One of these 2 vendors had a 2m Yaesu 10+ yr old mobile radio. He doesn’t know if it works, the specs, nor cared about selling it. The only one decent vendor was selling power supplies, SWR & power meters, but no actual transceiver.
95% of the vendors are selling cellphone and TV accessories, old/​broken computers and accessories, a lot of different A/​V cables irrelevant to Ham, very old electronic parts (not for ham), and tons of other crap and should i say it again, NOT FOR HAM RADIO. And why do they require amateur radio license for vendors who sell hotdogs or batteries?
They should just rename this swap meet and stop deceiving ham enthusiast and hobbyist. Call it something else like «Not A Ham Swap Meet» and remove the ham call sign W6TRW.

You can do really well here, if you deal with the proper vendor. First of all the little stuff is great, you can buy stereo cables or power strips pretty cheap. There are also pretty interesting vintage electronics, if that is your thing.
Now here is the bad part. When you get it home, some of the stuff does not work. There is a guy in the North West Corner of the lot, probably the biggest vendor there, who sells recycled stuff from Sony. Not sure where he gets it, but this last week he was selling portable stereos and they were going like hotcakes, they were $ 20 each. I took one home and the CD lens was missing so CD player did not work. I brought it back and he let me have another one, but the volume button was broken. It is in my trash for pickup on Thursday, I am out $ 20. He did say that you could not return the items, but based on his presence you would think he was selling things that worked.
Bear in mind you are buying electronics outdoors with no ability to test them. You have to check the items as best you can, try all of the buttons, open the lids, look for dings. Lots of old laptops and tower computers, who knows if they work except genuine computer geeks.
Beside that, there is a generally stupid vendor who, when you try to negotiate, screams at you in front of everyone. He sells mostly tools which are of the caliber of Harbor Freight and can be bought cheaper at Harbor freight. I avoid him. I will get his name and put it in here. Because he seems to take pleasure at tormenting buyers.
This fair is geared toward the more astute buyer who knows how to avoid getting burned. I see plenty of them at there, and from the looks of them, walking this Flea Market is probably the only exercise they get all month.

I’ve been coming here since 1999. This place is definitely a great place to find components, ham radio gear, computers, and anything computer related. Obviously, items sold aren’t always consistent from one month to the next, but that’s the nature of this industry. I’ve seen a lot of regular sellers over the past 15 years, and you learn the reputation of many of these sellers (of which many are often good).
Others mention bad parking — that depends upon when you show up. The swap meet runs from 7:30a-11:30a SHARP. Yup, right at 11:30, it’s closed. Of course, if you do want to buy something, you can «accidentally» drop your small wad of cash on the ground and pick up your item, so long as the management people don’t catch you actually exchanging money with sellers.
I’ve picked up a lot of good stuff here, both for personal use and for educational research, and I will definitely be coming back for years to come!

Good place to meet computer builders. Lots of junk.
Bad parking.
Look hard and you’ll find a deal.

I love the last Saturday of the month. This place is cool for geeks like me.

Large monthly swap meet for computers, ham radio, tools, electronics, SE corner of Aviation Bl. and Marine Ave. in Redondo Beach. Held last Saturdays of every month, mornings starting 7am and breaking up after about 10am. Website:
Best prices on new, used and refurbished gear on Los Angeles westside. Significantly cheaper than online because you aren’t paying shipping.