Chuck Lee (left) and friend offer computers, chips, meters, databooks... for sale
Chuck Lee is an SMU Alumnus and Electrical Engineer and former SMU Radio Club Member

Tool kits, bins of parts and cables, and other goodies for sale - Cheap!!

There has just got to be something I need and can't live without in here!
Radio sets, computers, scanners, parts, software - you can find it all if you just look hard enough!

Parts bins hold connectors and hardware for radio and electronics projects

November 1999 Sidewalk Sale shot - lots of computer hardware, software, and electronics for sale!

Hard drives, memory chips, and hardware bargains - January 2000 Sidewalk Sale

January 2000 Millenium Day Sidewalk Sale - We Be Jammin' Man!

I have been going to the Dallas "First Saturday" electronics sale for decades - and I have a garage full of computers, radios, and electronic test gear and parts to prove it!

The Dallas "First Saturday" or electronics sidewalk sale has grown so big that it is now found in a gigantic parking lot at Ross Avenue and Central Expressway near downtown Dallas. Actually, you will find a half dozen parking lots surrounding the main area to catch those late arriving vendors who missed out on the main area spaces.

The sale takes place on the first Saturday of any month, making it easy to determine when it is time to go. Most of us have just gotten paid too, so we still have enough money at the start of the month to load up on goodies!

There is some debate about the best time to get there. Many dealers arrive the night before, setting up shop, then wandering around and trading amongst themselves. The really great bargains may be gone by the time the sun rises, according to other shoppers. Being a student, I find it impossible to get up that early on a Saturday morning (stay up, maybe; get up, forget it). So I use the shutting down and going home last minute bargain purchase method. I have found many guys just don't want to take all that stuff and the new items they have bought home to the certain disgust of their wives. It is far safer for them if they sell the gear off cheaply right before leaving and then fib to their spouses about how much they really spent. You can get some truly amazing bargains around closing time! For most folks, the peak buying time is about 8 a.m. to 10 or 11 a.m., depending on weather and temperature. It usually takes me an hour or two just to walk around and see most of the dealers offerings.

Originally, the Dallas Amateur Radio Club and several local 2 meter repeaters began organizing these first Saturday of the month sales. Back when ECI (Electronics Center Inc.) was on McKinney Avenue, folks used to visit the ECI store to see the latest ham radio gear displayed. Scores and then hundreds of folks showed up, opened their car trunks, and started selling off used electronics and radio equipment. As the First Saturday sale grew, it expanded into nearby parking lots (of Xerox Corp.). Citing concern over liability in the event of injury(s), access was shut down to these overflow areas. Shortly thereafter, Heathkit Electronics and ECI's store on Ross Avenue by Central Expressway provided a new and larger site. In the event of rain, the new site allowed sellers to locate under the elevated Central Expressway roadway. The City of Dallas was reportedly unhappy that so many user to user sales were taking place without corresponding sales tax revenue to the City, and periodically tried to shut-down the operation. After various efforts, and with a new larger parking area available, the First Saturday sale moved to its present large parking lot site at Ross Avenue and Central Expressway. Now the older Heathkit Electronics (now gone) and ECI stores are an overflow area along with other parking lots in the area for this huge sale.

How big is the sale? Would you believe up to 10,000+ people and nearly 1,000 vendors can be found during some good weather sales. Even with sleet and snow, I have found hundreds of vendors and over a thousand buyers at this sale. Actually, you can often get great buys when the weather is bad and the competition for buyers is hot!

The character of the First Saturday sidewalk sale has changed a lot in the last decade. Years ago, there was a lot of radio and electronics parts and test gear to be had. But today, you will find 90% of the sale items are related to computers and software rather than electronics. In fact, I sometimes think you can find more clothing, perfume, and videotape sellers than electronics and radio sellers.

See my page on the World's First Microcomputer and related hysterical and historical microcomputer collection amassed largely at these sidewalk sales. Only a decade ago, you could find many handwired computers and electronic kits for sale. It was not unusual to find a $2,000+ computer from two or three years before selling for $50 to $100.

To a degree, you can still find electronics and test gears and even radio equipment and parts, but you have to look harder. Prices are often very good when you do find something, as few people today seem to be into building or designing their own electronics projects.

The big bargains today are in outdated software and computer hardware. Currently, you can buy 486 Windows PCs with hard disks and video cards and 16mb of memory for $25-50 and up. Last month, I saw MAC Performas with RGB monitor and 8MB of ram and SCSI hard disks for $35 and up. I bought the original disks (dozens of them) for Microsoft office for the Mac for $5, with Claris graphics software thrown in. In fact, if you can live with software that is not the latest thing, or even one or two versions out, you can get some incredible buys. I have various software such as Aldus Freehand and Adobe Photoshop with the original disks and manuals bought for $5 each! For perhaps $100-200 US, you could have a 486 or Macintosh box with corresponding (2 years+) software and a lot of computer power. As prices on new PCs drop to below $1,000 US, the prices on older PCs get so low as to make them seem almost a steal. Thrown in a laser printer for under $100 and a scanner ($25 up) and you are all set!

Finally, S.M.U. students can now use their student ID cards to take the #21 bus from campus down to the sidewalk sale (get off at Ross Avenue by the Guadelupe Church and walk up 3 blocks). Just flash your SMU ID card to get a free ride back to campus too. That's good news if you spend all your money on buying stuff at the sale!

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