This month is our special edition swap meet. Members are invited to bring in their photography related gear that has been stashed away for how ever long and put it out for sale and trade. This is a great opportunity to sell any photography related wears you may craft, such as frames, photo stands and such. It is also a great opportunity to pickup something for your own gear bag, possibly including a new gear bag. If you are going to bring some things to sell/trade, send Rick an email of the items so that we can include them in our summary of things being offered in the advertisements we place in the paper and on craigslist. 

Yup, we are advertising this to the public for two reasons; to increase your chances of selling your items, and to let the public come check us out. Refreshments will be provided courtesy of the group. The room will be set up with tables for people to display their items. All monies that you make are yours for the keeping and there is no "cover-charge" for the general public to enter, so invite your friends, family and even complete strangers your encounter that are holding cameras. This is an open house so lets have some fun and see what others have for sale/trade.

From the group's perspective, this is primarily cash sale event, but each individual can make their own choice on whether to accept a check or not.

We will be having a special guest in this month's meeting, Mike Lowery of Focal Point Photography in Dallas, Oregon. Mike will be giving a short presentation and will also be bringing some things from his store to sell. Rumor has it that he will be buying some things he finds interesting as well.

The agenda is as follows:

• ‎6:30: Sale Setup - Members setting their items up
• 7:00: Announcements 
• 7:10: Jim Curzio - Shares his work
• 7:20: Mike Lowrey - Preparing images for print
• 7:30: Photography Swap Meet

Some tips for selling your items are:

• Make sure the items are clean - if they have stored in the garage or even a closet for a year, chances are they could be a little dusty and a dusty items aren't as appealing to someone looking to buy.
• Make sure you clearly price your items - no confusion that way
• Clearly indicate if you are open to trades or not and if so what you might be looking for
• Make sure to price your items appropriately - if you try to get near new prices for your used items, chances are that it won't sell, but make sure your not selling your 50mm f/1.4 lens for $50 when $150 to $200 is more appropriate (depending on it's condition).
• While tables will be provided, dressing your section of a table up with a table cloth can help with the presentation.
• Make sure to bring change so that if you sell an item for $15 and someone hands you a $20 or a $50 bill, you won't have to tell them you don't have change. 

We look forward to seeing everyone there. It is going to be a fun event!