A place where mercenaries, adventurers, Wilderness Scouts, Psi-Stalkers, and people of all kinds can come to buy, sell, and swap goods.
The area is a sprawling open space that takes up an entire city block. The outer rim is parking, and the inner square is open space where 800- 1 000 vendors set up tables every weekend, flea market style, to sell used goods of every kind. Only one quarter are small-time or part-time professional merchant dealers. The rest of the space is reserved for mercenaries, adventurers, wilderness folk, and local residents looking to sell used goods. For residents, that might include handmade crafts and artwork, nicknacks, antiques, furniture, and old clothes or household items. For mercs, adventurers and wilderness people, goods include weapons, armor, vehicles, ammunition, military gear, camping gear, uniforms, medals, salvaged parts and components, souvenirs and booty taken from their opponents (or victims), animal furs and horns, even animal heads and teeth, magic items, gemstones, books, and exotic items from far away lands or alien weapons and gizmos, or otherworldly paper-weights, nicknacks, artwork and junk that looks cool or weird, as well as (alleged) pre-Rifts relics.
This is a great place for deals - but buyer beware, because all items are sold "as is," "all sales final" (no refunds), may be authentic or a forgery, and prices vary from seller to seller. The same item may be offered by twenty different dealers at twenty different prices. Ultimately, the price depends on how badly the seller needs money. If the seller is a merc or adventurer down on his luck, the prices could be as low as 20-40% of the going market price. Most common items, including guns, E-Clips, armor and military gear, sell at a 25-50% discount below the standard market price of the item new. Only popular, hard to find items, magic items and "hot" items (for whatever reason) sell for their full value or higher (2-5 times higher than the normal market price). In some cases, a seller may not know what he or she has, or its true value, and may sell a weapon or magic item worth tens of thousands of credits for a couple thousand or even a few hundred. Likewise, a friend or relative who inherits their merc or adventuring buddy 's equipment might not know or care what the items are worth and may sell them at blow-out prices of 10-30% of their true value just to get rid of the junk, or because they hold sad or bad memories for the person (i.e., the loss of a loved one, a terrible war, persecution, etc.). These sellers are uncommon and lucky finds, but inevitably, a half dozen such deals are there to be found 1 06 times a weekend; typically early in the swap meet. Dealers may also buy, trade and swap goods with customers and fellow dealers.
A 10' long, 6' deep space costs 100 credits for a three day sales period, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; ten table maximum space allowed for any one vendor. The dealer can bring his own tables and booth display or rent sturdy but shabby eight foot (2.4 m) long by three foot (0.9 m) deep tables from the Hub Swap Meet organizers at a cost of 30 credits per each table for all three days. Prices are all half for residents (proof of c itizenship required). Swap Meets/Flea Markets run every week from Friday through Sunday, from 9:00 A.M. till 9:00 P.M., set up starts Thursday and Friday morning (starting at 6:00 A.M.), but additional goods/new stock can be brought in throughout the show.
Note: The Flea Market is always a popular and busy attraction for visitors, and also a good place for player characters to make discount purchases, trade surplus and booty, meet fellow adventurers, swap stories and rumors, meet with a client, or just spend a pleasant afternoon.
