Kam Super Swap Meet

Lots of farmers market finds. Lot of the same fruits and vegetables, but a good amount. There are not a ton of food vendors however. I recommend eating before you come. Free admission!

Carry a big botle of water!
Ok, so I got here at 8am. Came down Moanalua Road, turned left on Kaonohi St. The original entrance is now the exit. Head down towards Makino Chaya and turn into the driveway that used to be the exit. (Follow the leader) Parking is free.
Lots of stalls opening up all the time. (It’s so hot here, why would anyone shopping want to stay here all day?!?)Go way forward and make your way back if you don’t find one.
Lather on the sunscreen, put on the widest brim hat you own, and open up the biggest umbrella you found in your house or car. Better to have people with you that don’t mind being pack mules or take a rolling cart, because it’s really easy to buy a lot in a short amount of time.
I’m out! Have fun y’all!
Hit the munchie

The last time I’ve been to Kam Swap Meet was during my small kid days. Even now, I still get excited making a trip to the swap meet. If you haven’t been here, it’s almost like huge yard sale going on. Ranging from used clothes/​toys, electronics, housewares, collectables, etc. If you’re willing to dig through someone’s unwanted belongings, you might find something for yourself.
Parking is free but poorly maintained. Be prepared for lots of gravel and potholes. Upon leaving the swap meet, there’s only one exit, and cars are backed up all the way into the entrance because everyone’s trying to cut in and leave. If you’re in a rush, don’t park here.
What to bring:
— Cash: Most vendors accept cash, although very few accept card.
— Umbrella/​Sunscreen/​Sunglasses: It will get scorching hot if you go late in the day
— Recycling bag or extra bag: To use if you plan on buying groceries or clothes and you don’t want to be carrying the loads of plastic bags with you while you shop
— Appetite: The food trucks are a must try, especially the Filipino food. We only stayed for an hour, but we couldn’t find a vendor that sold cold drinks on a hot day :(

The place to be for thrift shopping, bartering, local vegetables and fish. My husband always buys gloves from this one vendor that’s always here. I like to go for the fun of walking around and checking out what everyone’s selling. Make sure you eat beforehand because the food is enticing. My fave vendors to pick up eats from are the dim sum and the huli-​huli chicken that’s cooking when u walk right up (mouth watering). Hmm, let’s see… you have your seasonal vendors and your permanent vendors. Difference? Seasonal are the folks looking to get rid of a few stuff they have lying around the house and the permanent ones you can even catch at the Stadium Swap Meet, these guys are the hardcore goers that are here every weekend and every Wednesday. I tried my hand at being a vendor a couple times when a girlfriend of mines convinced me. There are hardcore buyers too! These people are already eyeing your merchandise before you even get the chance to unpack. They’ll come up to your car with their flashlights and everything! Lol what an experience! Overall grew up coming to Kam swap meet, it hasn’t changed with the exception of entryway and free entry vs entry fee. Only thing I’d change is the parking.

The location is good and convenient. The condition of the place could be improved. Especially if it should rain. If you got slippers on, prepare some wipes. Met a few nice people trying to give away what they have left over for a buck. I also found some nostalgic items that brought back some memories. ATARI game system anyone? I will def be back to try more of the different kinds of foods.

To make your time worthwhile at the swap meet as a customer, you definitely would need to have a talent for finding treasure among another’s «trash». Unlike me, My mom possesses this talent. It would take me an hour to find something nice and worth buying at the swap meet, but my mom takes only 15 minutes. She’s also great at bargaining, and I’m not. I’ve witnessed her convince the seller to lower a $ 20 item to $ 10. I really don’t know how she does it. Apparently, the swap meet is not really a place for me, but definitely a place for my mom.
I do give this place 3 stars because of the food vendors. There’s quite a variety, from filipino to chinese to portuguese to american. If you haven’t stumble on that great find yet and you’ve been under that hot sun for an hour already, at least there’s great food to fall back on.

I remembered coming here when it was the outdoor theater and sit in the car and watch movies. Its always good to look for deals but some of these people just won’t budge with you look I’m here to help you get rid of it so you don’t have to pack it up in your car or van and wait till next week to try and sell it again. But some of them think that there sitting on a gold mine and the food is also good here before we leave the swap meet my daughter always wants an icee get there early cause when the sun comes up it gets super hot… No shade #looseweightforsure

As a Filipino, I feel as if this little «market» is such a pleasant surprise. Growing up, my grandmother would always come to this market for vegetables and I’d always tag along and now that Im older, I find myself tagging along still, just for the «tsitsirya», snacks I couldnt find anywhere else and havent had for the longest time.
They also have little food stands that sell hot food with filipino bentos, I recommend this one food truck, I dont remember what its called off the top of my head although they’re usually located on the side of building where they sell drinks from, the main building at swap meet with all of the tables. They come later than the other food stands, around nine but be prepared to be pushed around a bit, because as soon as they show up, everyone starts to crowd around, wanting to get first pick. Ive never personally tried one of their bentos although Ive been told its delicious, home made filipino food, food you’d see at home on your dining room table.
Another plus is that on Saturdays, they have home-​made Taho! I was so happy to find that, it was so good!
There is another «side» of the market, a flea market of some sort. Ive walked to that side a few times although never really stopped to glance so I cant review on that aspect of Kam Swap Meet!

Sometimes you may find awesome little things, though I only come here for the love of food.
Farmers Market, can’t get any fresher then that! I love how cheap it is. Nuff said.
Filipino Food! Ahhhh so mouth watering! Gotta try the lunch wagon bebot can’t miss it, it’s the red one! ^_​^
Sat/​sun, the fish market has awesome deals, especially for aku, $ 6 for 5 aku! (I don’t eat it, we use it for fishing bait lol) but anyway good deals.
Parking lot sucks! Haha our car is so low that driving through the pot holes and over the hills are like a maze! On the way out I always get freaked out with the spikes thinking that ima pop my tires lol! I know it won’t but that’s just my thinking.

We went to check this thing out. It was pretty nice taking a stroll just seeing what vendors are selling. Bought 2 green mangos for $ 1 each and a plant for $ 5. Oh, & free to park! You can find filipino snacks & food, fresh veggies & fruits. I’m not fond of old clothing & items though but you can def bargain.

Last time we were here, we bought 7 pairs of new slippers for $ 10. We use them in the house, especially for guests who aren’t used to walking on tile floor. My coworker liked the slippers so much that she wanted 7 pairs of her own.
And so the hunt began…
The free admission and free parking are pluses. However, the potholes and uneven parking lot left from the drive-​in days are minuses.
I got distracted by a dollar sale. The sales person was smart enough to see my weakness and offered me: «buy five and get one free». Uhg. How can I resist? I found a good Tupperware bowl without a cover, a cute Hello Kitty pouch, a sugar bowl for work, a large canvas tote bag and a black travel bag that another customer was looking at. I told myself, «if she puts it down, I’ll get it». Rats… she put it down. Now I have to search for my free item. What to get? Arg! Another bag! Yikes!
We got to the swap meet after noon. .kinda late. Vendors were packing up. Some were gone. We combed through the die hards and found the slipper lady! She was glad for our last minute sale and gave us 8 for $ 10! Bonus! Mission accomplished! I even ended up with more slippers for my house guests! I’m a happy shopper!

what: hawaii’s oldest outdoor shopping experience
something good: it was my first time here to the kam swap meet. my first impression was that it is completely different from the aloha stadium one. as soon as you get to the entrance there are vendors selling raw seafood (fish market style) and as you maneuver through the swap meet you will definitely notice that the vendors and things that are being sold here are way different from the vendors at aloha stadium. this is the aloha stadium swap meet’s older and grungier sister ;) ! the things here are used, but on the bright side you can definitely find unique finds and old treasures! i saw many things that could be used as vintage décor, and things that definitely would be considered diamonds in the rough !
something not so good: can be a little grungy! but treasure hunts are always a little messy!
something to try:

I’m a farmers market girl. Fresh fruits and vegetables at a discount compared to grocery stores? Count me in!
I’m also a thrift girl. I can spend hours sifting through racks of coal to find that one diamond.
However, i’m NOT a swap meet girl. I hail from San Jose, CA. Home of one of the largest swap meets in the country. For some reason, sifting through someone’s absolute dirty garbage does not appeal to me. Even garage sales do better than this.
If you’re anything like me, I’ve just cut your swap meet exploring in half. People bring their trash here to sell. I mean trash. Some have maybe 20 items you know would normally be in the dumpster if they hadn’t invented swap meets. 2 pairs of socks, one plate, and a lightbulb. I’m sure you’re halfway to the dump already. The truck’s already packed. Just Go!
The meat of the swap meet is by the fish market, along the fence line closest to the parking lot and the last two rows closest to the vendor entrance. This is where they sell the filipino food and the fruit & veggies.
Trust me. I’ve combed these rows multiple times for glimmers of diamond specs. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any. In fact, you probably want to stay away. You might be implicated as an accomplice when you see the vendor making keys out of the back of his van using a telescope to peer into the high-​rise condos across the street. (This has happened people!)
If you want to cross this off your bucket list, or want to check out the meet for the pluses I mentioned earlier, don’t park in the swap meet lot. Sure, there is always plenty of parking, but you will spend forever trying to exit. Luckily I live close enough to walk. Actually, scratch that. If there is a farmer’s market closer to you in walking distance, go there instead.

Parking is difficult here so I agree with another Unilocaler come here early! My family loves coconut and coconut juice so this place was the only place I could get them in mass amounts. Downside: $ 5 per coconut! Gone were the good olé days. The husband wife team who work very hard are experts though and bring lots of coconuts to choose from.

For the longest time, my BF (Tyler M.) and I had been planning on going to the Kam Swap Meet (only recently I learned that it’s «Super»). I had boxes of clothes to get rid of and since my family heard we were going, they gave me some of their stuff too. Tyler had a lot of his own stuff to sell — a crap load of pocket knives, a telescope, just a lot of random things.
Anyway, he’s sold there a few times before and knew how it is run so here is your very own cheat sheet:
1. price your items for twice as much as you really want for it because people are gonna low ball you *I priced my clothes for $ 2 each and 3 for $ 5 — a lot of people wanted $ 1 each
2. get there as early as you can *we got there at 6:30 am — make sure you set your alarm correctly, my alarm for work already goes off at 5:45 am, so I didn’t think I had anything to worry about, but my alarm was only set for Monday through Friday and we went on Saturday! Good thing Tyler set his alarm too!
3. put out your cheap stuff first, «stuff you don’t mind getting stolen…» were Tyler’s exact words, the rest went like this «They are going to mob you when you first get there so you won’t be able to keep track of stuff…» *which was soo true, we just took out my boxes of clothes and people going through it all with their flashlights
4. Bring lots of change (not just ones and fives) and plastic bags *even if they haggle with you from $ 15 to $ 10, they’ll still give you a hundred dollar bill, those punks! And you’d think that people going to the swap meet would bring their Trader Joe reusable bags, but noooo… they want your crappy Don Quijote plastic bag!
5. Don’t count your money until you get home… it’s bad luck
That’s pretty much everything you need to know! We didn’t even set up a tent, just one table that we busted out an hour or so later and the boxes of clothes were on top of a tarp… by the end of our day the clothes were in a huge pile.
There is a lot of people watching to do at the swap meet too! The shoppers and the sellers are a very interesting group of people. It is a fun experience and I’m glad that we finally did it… whatever we didn’t sell, we ended up throwing in a box and writing «FREE» on it! People came running after that!
We made waaaaay more than we thought we would, which was a really nice surprise! You’d think with all the clothes I got rid of, I’d have more closet space, but nope. I don’t even have any spare hangers! I’m going to go through my closet again to build some inventory for next time!
ps: if you have any «luxury» items to sell, I suggest you sell them on ebay — you’d probably get more money than selling them at the swap meet or even taking them to those consignment shops. I didn’t even bother bringing those, Tyler helped me sell those on ebay!

I’ve been coming here with my parents since I was little. When I was younger I liked the tents with toys but my parents wouldn’t really let me have them which is a good thing now that I look back.
My parents basically focus on the food products. They know what they want and have mental calculators of which vendors have the better deals and/​or products. It amazes me how they know which is better and I know that I probably wouldn’t be able to do that.
Yes there are some vendors they bargain with… *sigh*. My mom comes here frequently and since some vendors are Filipino they speak in Tagalog or Ilocano.
I avoid the tents they sell their old stuff. Meh, but I would like to try and be a seller. o_​O
I’ve visited this place as they close up. Some vendors don’t even want their stuff anymore that they leave it in big piles. I’m thinking, you were just trying to sell that and since you can’t sell it, you’re just going to discard it? Oh well, it’s truly junk. I’ve seen a golf cart with a wagon attached come through and pick up the junk.
But, early bird gets the worm. So if you want the ‘better’ picks they have to offer get there promptly.
Parking is alright but a bit bumpy. Also bring umbrellas and use sunscreen, it can get hot!

I’m reviewing this as a buyer and not seller. I can’t imagine myself setting up in the dark and arguing with people who want to lowball you all day.
Come here early perhaps about 7−8am. Any later, good stuff might be gone. Most of the sections are for swap meet sellers with a small section for produce (2 rows) and a row of food vendors.
The cool stuff we’ve got in the past would be Coke McD glasses for $ 2 a whole set, a whole lego set for $ 20 when its worth much more, and even vintage toys! We even decorated our tree awesomely by just buying from here.
Parking is a hassle so if you can find street parking, do it!
100 Reviews, 1 Day ⁵⁹⁄₁₀₀
January 12, 2013

This here is the for-​locals ghetto swap meet. Want some cheap veggies but dont want to drive to Chinatown? Kam Super Swap Meet. Need some filipino condiments? KSSM. Looking for cheap chinese kitchen stuff (and again, dont wanna try to find parking in Chinatown) KSSM. Need some camoflage BDU/​fatigues? KSSM or the surplus army place on Nimitz. Rusty tools from the 70s? Yup, KSSM.
I usually go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, which is great for 10 for $ 20 tshirts and snacks but its mostly tourist junk. We went to KSSM to look for an old N64 but the one guy who had one wanted $ 75! Unfortunately, I didnt feel like negotiating, but instead found a used (and working!) Game Cube for $ 20 with 2 games. A steal!
As noted by the other reviewers, there isnt a fee anymore to enter or park, but parking is now on the side, the driveway that used to be the exit of the drive-​in (age check!). If you try to enter on the right side, you wont be able to, not only are there tire spikes, but its coned off so you’ll have to do a u-​turn somewhere and look for the entrance.
I wish they would start showing drive-​in movies again, I miss those.

Review as a Seller
This place has all sorts of things from clothes, food, tools, to do hickeys and do dads for sale. It cost $ 30 to sell your items. Kam opens up to sellers on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 5am. Fridays at 6am.
Tips
1. Recruit people to sell with you
It’s a mad house I’m telling you. Before you open up your car doors the hagglers and hoarders are coming with their flash lights. So you need someone that looks intimidating and that can stand their ground. Cause these people are professional.
2. Bring a Tent or 2 and chairs
It’s hella hot. I usually leave by noon.
3. Price it higher
People come to the swap meet to make a bargain. If you start of a little higher then what you are actually going to sell it for then you might sell it for what you want.
4. Don’t say yes to the first buyer who low balls you!
Suggest to them to come back again and if you don’t sell it then MAYBE you will sell it to them.
my experience:
It was raining and a lady with a cute chunky baby spotted my Combi stroller. I intended to sell it for $ 30. It was in fairly excellent condition and my son just out grew it. So she really low balls it, $ 5. She gives me a sob story. That it’s raining and her baby is heavy. So I felt bad for her and sold it for $ 5. Later on that day, I find my stroller in another area being sold for $ 50! Papers that I left in the back pocket were still there. I wasn’t sure if the person I sold it to sold it to the guy or it was her husband. After that experience I never went too low on the price that I decided.
5. Price everything before hand
6. Bring several calculators
7. Bring at least $ 50 in change. Depending how your items are priced and how much items you have. If it’s mostly priced at $ 1.00. Make sure you have a lot of $ 1. If you have items priced over $ 20 you would need to bring more change.
8. Save plastic bags to bag the items that are sold
9. Bring snacks and drinks for you to munch on.
If you forgot they have food trucks and snacks for sale on the opposite end of Kam.
10. Things that people always ask for:
* military clothes * tools * jewelery * name brand bags * games
* DVDs * electronics
Remember another man trash is another mans treasure. Bring whatever you have. If you have anything left that you don’t want to take home you can donate it to Salvation Army.
Unilocal Challenge 365: ⁰¹²⁄₃₆₅

I made the mistake of coming a little late during the weekend. Dude, it’s 9a.m. how late can I be?
The sun is starting to glare even stronger as I inch my way, making a right turn onto the dirt road parking lot. I wish I had brought my umbrella with me.
The overall idea is mainly used items and people are having yard sales here. There’s not much to rave about the shoes, clothes, houseware, cellphones, paintings, furniture, etc. You have to be willing to dig through piles at times to find a gem.
There’s also another section of the swap meet where prepared food is sold. There’s a bunch of filipino food and dessert, dim sum, open flame roasted chicken… I thought it was a bit pricey.
However, the fruit stands were great. Next time I’m skipping everything else and heading to the fruits, vegetables section. Really that’s why I came here to check out the farmer’s market section of this joint. I was able to purchase the usual bananas, papaya, guava at more than fair prices. I would be back if I’m feeling adventurous and want to waste an hour to buy fresh fruits.