Qualcomm Stadium Swap Meet

I love Qualcomm Stadium Swap Meet! I enjoy browsing the aisles of merchandise with my teenage girls. They always find new cosmetics or vintage clothing. I just give them some money and send them off and then I go my way. We usually meet up at the Food Court and enjoy the band as we eat. And they usually have discount coupons online for us to get in a little cheaper. For a Wednesday night– this is a fun place to hang out and pick up a few things I need.

O.K., I have been planning so many times to head down to check out the evening Swap Meet at Qualcomm. Swap Meet at night AWESOME idea right?!
I thought so. All fired up and ready to go with my two printed coupons one for each person because, it was TWO dollars each person to get in without them.
RESULTS? Amazing idea with a horrible execution!
I can’t even begin to tell you what it was like. But, I will give it a shot.
Something like a cross between thrift store dumpster with a man selling all broken furniture and someone else selling t.v.‘s that were taped so the screen would not fall out and tweaker central with clothes & home goods thrown all over the ground expecting you to sort through them in the dark. People actually had flash lights so they could shop. The used make-​up, Christmas items that were old and broken that you would or should just throw out were a sample of the finds.
The aisles went in all different directions without rhythm or direction. You would see old clothes & shoes next to a Mexican candy booth with open food. Amazingly disconcerting to say the least.
We went down about 3 aisles thinking «This is insane, it’s got to get better» so we just kept going. It only got worse and more weird. IT IS THE QUALCOMM TWILIGHT ZONE!
I could go on for 5 more paragraphs about all of the bizarre sightings at this swap meet.
PLEASE DON“T WASTE ONE OF YOUR EVENINGS GOING TO AWFUL SWAP MEETS!
DO NOT!@!@!

I like the spot which is very central and easy access from any part of san diego. It takes time to build a good amount of vendors and customers, and it shows because it’s hard to find good stuff here. All in all it looks like management is trying hard. They have live music and plenty of food. They should change hours because they go late and the lighting is bad so it’s hard to look at stuff with deficient light.

I felt like this is such a waste of time. I hope it gets better soon with more vendors. Seemed like more of a garage sale throughout. We did get fresh produce for cheap but I don’t think it’s worth going. Hoping it does get better though! Nice to just walk & look, I guess.

This review is for the ACE guy, PAUL W. He is the most cheerful and kind hearted person there. He’s at every event at Qualcomm event where ACE is needed and no they don’t charge for parking here, at the meet. He waves at everyone coming in. A real southern charmer. I’d just do a loop in the parking lot to get a giant wave and cool Paul smile. When ever he sees me (known him for 10 years now) he says «HEY THERE BABYDOLL» yall may think it weird but he’s the type of guy you want to run into at Qualcomm. What a gem. Wave back if you see him. Listen close, he has good advice, too!

I really really like this swap meet. A lot! First one I know of that opens at 2 and closes at midnight. I hate weekend swap meets. If I’m selling I have to be there before the butt crack of dawn. And I’m having a heat stroke before noon. This is a great location, has more one of a kind finds, lots of food vendors and a few store front shops. I highly recommend this Wednesday night swap meet at Qualcomm. It’s busy with shoppers but not to the point of being overcrowded like Spring Valley or K obeys. I had a blast

Omg they will not except the coupon on your phone. No where on the coupon do it say it must be printed out. Everywhere else take coupons over the phone, why do they think they are better? Wow just wow

I liked it, I think its a great idea they do need more advertising, better lighting, and 2 dlls is too much for entrance but its fun to look around at night time I found a few good deals on christmas stuff I will be back :)

My daughter and I love swap meet shopping… just to find cool and unusual items. This was our first time, and a huge disappointment :(First of all, it’s supposed to open at 2:00. LOTS of vendors were still driving in and setting up when we left at 4:00. And the vendors that were open had pure junk! This to me is a sign of very poor management!!! If you say you’re open at 2:00, your vendors should be set up, ready to sell at 2:00! The only saving Grace was, my 13 year old daughter got a henna tattoo for $ 5. Oh, and the food vendors were good too.
I’ll give it one more chance. But this time in the evening, when it’s not so hot and more vendors are set up.
I would compare this to a Friday at the Koby’s Swap Meet. Well actually, it’s not even that good.

Finally made the time to check out this place for the first time since it opened 8 months ago. I can honestly say, «I’m a fan». I don’t know what’s up with people getting all huffy about the «junk». Its a SWAP Meet. It comes with the territory and that’s never gonna change. I came with an open mind, and found some great used and unused stuff amongst the mass of what people are selling away.
What I like about it:
1. That it runs through the evening! I’d rather walk through a night cool breeze, shop, eat, and people watch than doing the same thing with the scorching sun down my back.
2. Be sure to print out their coupon for $ 1 entry fee on their website and have a coupon for EACH person.
3. Come after 6pm. It’ll be in full swing. The «garage sellers» tend to be more apt to lower their prices later in the evening, notably during the last 2 hrs. I scored some amazing finds at next to nothing here!
4. The prices on fruits and veggies rivals farmers market prices, as I expect it to. I noticed swap meets in general have better prices.
5. Food trucks have reasonably prices menu items here. The majority of the food trucks serve Mexican food but I did come across food trucks that serve Sushi, Filipino Food, and the typical Hot Dogs/​Nachos/​Cold Drinks. I highly recommend their 99 cent fish tacos.
6. Live music near the food area.
7. Inflatable jumpers for the kids to play on for free. (I had kids with me)
What could use improvement:
1. I left shortly after 9pm. The swap meet could use a little more lighting near the «garage sellers» area but nothing serious.
2. The layout could be more well defined. I felt the vendors and the individual sellers were a bit too close together. I’m sure that’s an easy fix. I like the layout of Kobey’s slightly better but then again, Kobey’s have been around for YEARS vs this place.
3. More advertising of the Swap Meet. I can’t believe that a good chunk of my friends still have no idea that there is a Swap Meet here on Wednesdays.
4. Entice more vendors to sell here! I’m more of a foodie. There’s no such thing as too many food trucks or too many vendors selling food!
From the vendors, I noticed this one guy selling those Bamboo Memory Foam pillows that I saw at the SD Fair recently. I scored 2 queen pillows for $ 30. The Fair was selling them for $ 50 and
is selling the same exact pillows for nearly $ 40 for 1! I know a steal when I see it.
Another great find was a «seller» who sells discontinued/​unused SEA WORLD items on the cheap. Like 80−90% off retail. Those cute travelling coffee mugs were selling for $ 2 (orig. $ 17), cute baby clothes for $ 1-​$ 2, Sea World kids swords $ 2 (orig. $ 10), and every stuffed toy and accessories you can think of was next to nothing here. You would certainly miss her if you don’t stop and look around the sellers. Its not like she advertises her goods. Shoot, my friends and family will have no idea…
Also from the sellers, I was able to buy nearly brand new cookbooks for 50 cents to $ 1; unused grocery items like soap, face moisturizers, shampoo at a ridiculous low price. Like I said, I think the sellers lower their prices towards the last 2 hrs of the meet.
Anyways, in closing… this swap meet is still in their rookie year. I’m sure it’ll get bigger in time. I saw a pretty good turnout tonight. I’m glad I didn’t go when it started last November. From what I experienced and read from previous reviews, looks to me that a good majority of the kinks have been worked out. I would definitely come here again every now and then.

This Swap Meet was widely publicized when it first opened and I’ve been wanting to go check it out for the longest time. We finally went yesterday. To say that I was disappointmed is a huge understatement. Row upon row of nothing but garage sale CRAP. Now, I know there’s always a section at any swap meet that caters to those who enjoy looking through that kind of stuff. But there’s also a section of NEW items. This place had MAYYYYYYYYYYBE two stands that had new items for sale. The rest of it was nothing but garbage. To make matters worse, they charge people a $ 2 fee to get into the place. Really??? You should be paying your patrons to come in! Suffice it to say that I don’t think I will ever go to this swap meet again. To sum up the experience… it was a giant DUMPSTER DIVE, and it stunk.

A friend gave us a coupon for $ 1.00 admission the other day and mentioned that this was a great place to get some cheap stuff as well as sell.
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. We were out of there in 10 minutes. When I think swap meet, I think market.
It was an incredibly weird mish mash of literal garage sale crap — no joke, we’re talking used kids toys, old nintendos, books, etc — and one or two actual businesses like DirecTV. There were a few cool stands stands, but most were just blankets covered in junk.
I don’t mean to bash the people working there because it’s obviously hard work, but I didn’t want to go to a garage sale without the houses.

CONTINUED PT2 (I recommend you read PT 1 of my review found BELOW this one)
and this is when I am told that my spot has no electricity… and the nearest outlet is over 300 feet away AND happens to cross the middle of the walkway sooo that would be a potential hazard for people walking around at night, I don’t want to be a part of that… AND NO FOOD TRUCKS! NONE. this is NOT what I signed up for. So it’s 30 minutes before the grand opening since I already wasted 1hr trying to answer my questions that I had already gone thru the trouble of asking BEFORE this whole fiasco and now I had to relocate, by the time I was done setting up it was already an hour lapsed from the grand opening –_​_​– niiice… after I finish setting up I look at the crowds… a pretty mediocre crowd considering the «Grand Opening» and «heavily advertised» claims I had heard, the crowd size was reminescent of a SLOW Saturday at the Kobeys Swap meet or a regular Friday… I figured maybe it was the spot I was in… so day 1 I rake in a whopping $ 40 woooo raking it in!!! Oh wait… the spot was $ 50 and the fuel to get there was $ 10 and my setup time… oh sh*t I worked for free… well musta been my luck since I had to go thru all those changes.
obviously I was upset, the management was very poor, they didn’t know what they were doing despite their claims of having YEARS of experience running a swap meet, I could go on and on about all the flaws of their advertising campaign, no facebook ads until a couple days after I asked about why they were not running (funny) now it seems that they just take down your name and say they will call you back and they never do, they had a NO DOGS policy yet on the final day of my fiasco one of the owners casually walks to my booth to talk to me while touting his giant dog on a leash –_​_​– I am told that supposedly people were missinformed about the electricity yet you would think they would make a note of it since I called regarding it about 6 times AND visited several times to make sure I got my «electricity» which I did NOT get. The spots are way overpriced and the entrance fee is too high, they could have run better marketing campaigns and none of the people who claim to have years of experience show it.
I decided to wait it out and asked the people in the office that unless they could get me everything I had originally done my due diligence to ask for to ensure myself a good space that I would not be coming back, they took down my name. corner spot, with electricity, near the food trucks or middle rows by the food trucks.
This swap meet was originally 60% larger on the grand opening days, their space reservation procedures are a joke, we were FORCED to purchase all spots 100% money down in advance yet the same vendors redeem those ONE TIME NEW VENDOR coupons and get their spaces for the exact same price we advance reservation people paid… wow… what a deal. and the spots were smaller than we were told which I believe they later fixed…

This swap meet was good. I bought a nice bonsai for 12dlls and some incense. They have live music in the food court area, which I enjoyed. There’s different business from second hand to new. Clothes, bags, even mac makeup, mexican candy, ice cream and some low quality items. People repairing phones and items for the cellphones. I even found a business who gives massages just like at the malls.
The not so good is the lighting. Once it gets dark, they don’t have enough light around, so careful watch your steps you’re walking in the dark. Trust me watch your steps as the pavement is really bad and craters all around. However, I’m not complaining lol. I love it’s on Wednesday as I work the weekends and I don’t get to go to the other swap meets. This place is my new spot for a good walk and some interesting items. I will go back again and bring some friends too.

What can I say about this place. .. .
Unfortunately, nothing positive.
First of all, I consider myself a swap meet whore. I love Spring Valley swap meet, I go there often, as well as Kobeys, as well as swap meets in Calexico. With that being said, this was depressing.
First off, $ 2.00 to get in. Seriously? You might not think that this is a lot, but for swap meet standards it’s ridiculous. Especially for what I saw, I wanted my money back.
We went up to the counter to pay, we had a $ 1.00 coupon that this place spams all over their Facebook page, so I was assuming the $ 2.00 entrance fee wouldn’t be a big deal.
Unfortunately they don’t take coupons from your phone. This was obnoxious. First of all, you’re a brand new swap meet, you’re trying to get people in and business going and people to talk about this place. The woman just said flat out I need to be able to count the coupons. Sorry.
Sorry I won’t print out a $ 1.00 off coupon, because that sure as hell is cost effective. Not.
Anyways, we proceeded into the dump and walked down every single isle of this place.
I’ll just sum it up for you.
3 kids sketchy looking carnival rides.
Rows and rows of cell phone crap.
Lots of used junk straight out of the back of. TJ van
.. . And your stereotypical fruit stand.
That’s all. That’s it.
It was dismal, there were barely any sellers!
We arrived at 3:00 pm, they open at 2:00.
Cars were driving around and it was obnoxious to avoid them. People weren’t even set up! Get your shit together people it’s fucking 3:00PM!
Overall, don’t bother with this place, it’s a joke.

Every weds 2−10pm. Free carnival rides for kids. 8 roach coaches, live band… Not to mention some pretty good deals :)

The food here is so bomb! The place has definitely improved since the first couple of weeks I was here. Everything is more organized=)

This has been the first swap meet that I have been to since living in SD. I do have to say, I was not overly impressed.
I did find a few good steals (a clock and a lime juicer), but items were WAY too over priced. I understand people need to run their business, but did not expect such high prices.
There was a good variety of ‘shops’, but a lot of the same stuff. I couldnt tell you how many cell phone like shops and e cig shops there were!
With this being on a weekday, I have to wait until after work to go, and by then it is dark, and the lighting is not the best. Makes it hard to see everything. Should have thought that a little more through.
Although we did not eat here, you would expect there to be a little more food trucks. The lines on them were huge, so we went elsewhere after we were done walking around.
There were signs that said NO DOGS, yet I saw a few dogs. Just because they are little and in strollers, doesnt mean you can cheat the rules. My 90lb boxer is very well behaved, and yet I cant bring him because I cant sneak him in a stroller or bag.
The people that come here are VERY rude. Just because you have some years on me, does not mean that I have to move out of MY way for YOU. It got to the point where I stopped moving out of the way for people and allowed people to bump into me.
Lastly, I think it is redic that we have to pay to shop! Come on, you make money off the vendors, you really need to make people pay to browse around?! Yes its is only $ 2 or $ 1.50 with a coupon, but that makes me not want to come back. I am already spending money shopping, I dont want to spend more to walk around.

Let’s be fair, this last Wednesday (Nov. 6) was the first of Qualcomm’s new swap meet, so we can’t quite expect it to be off the hook right away. I assume that it will take a while for the word to get out and make this thing live up to its potential.
I kinda liked walking around, looking at swap meet stuff in the evening, but they need better lighting. They also need some more food/​eating options. There were 4 lame food trucks (which were ripping people off, but since there were no other options hungry people caved in), a churro stand, ice cream truck and a couple stands grilling corn. Boring.
I think that this new swap meet venue has potential to be a pretty cool thing, it just needs tweaking.
Suggestions:
Better lighting
More food choices (this is a perfect food truck gathering opportunity)
Organized stall set-​up
More farmer’s market type fruit/​veggie stands
All in all, I think that this is swap meet will improve with time (I hope).

There is potential for this Swap Meet to do well, but after checking out the newest kid on the Swap Meet block, it under delivered on providing a cool new experience to the bargain hunting, San Diego community.
When we arrived, we both just left our day jobs around 5:30 and made our way here. Fortunately, we entered the parking lot on the side that was less chaotic, so we were able to park close to one of the entrances without much hassle. The line to get in moved quick and since I ‘liked’ their Facebook page prior to our visit and showed them their profile pic, I got a whooping $ 0.50 off the two dollar admission. My hubby wasn’t a fan, so he was charged full price since each customer must present the FB page on their own phone.
Anyway, we managed to speed walk through the inconsistent rows of vendors. There were tons of gaps between vendors, which would have been better had they required each vendor to fill each space side-​by-​side. Instead, there were major gaps between aisles, lack of lighting with some (I’m sure they were getting used to this outdoor evening event as well and will plan ahead for next time), cracks on the asphalt that were wide enough to cause harm if you weren’t paying attention to where you were walking and just an overall ho-​hum experience.
I didn’t necessarily leave empty handed, I did walk away finding a cool Tupperware container that was similar to what my Mom has (which I wanted for myself) and some hair product from another vendor that sold it for $ 11 a bottle when it normally sells for $ 25 at the stores.
Would we go back? Eh, probably not. I’m hoping the organizers of the new Qualcomm Stadium Swap Meet will work out all the kinks after last night’s grand opening and provide more vendors with a lot more variety. Last night’s vendors who literally sold junk outnumbered the vendors that sold things that were worthy to stop by their stall and take a look. With the holidays close approaching, this would be the perfect opportunity for sellers to maximize on sales, but the organizers need to do a better job with getting the word out there for better sellers to sell their goods so it’d result in more return visits from us. In the meantime, I’ll continue on with my on-​line and Costco shopping to knock more gifts off our Christmas list. Best wishes to QSSM though.