Bangkok Warehouse Flea Market Prices A 1920s Cash Register At $1,500, An Old Oil Sign At $200 And A 1970s Stereo At $1,700, Yet He Hasn’t Bought A Thing

·

·

Picture a warehouse in Bangkok, a short way from the Chao Phraya River, packed from wall to wall with the kind of vintage treasure most of us have only seen in magazines. That is where YouTuber @LifewithSerg spent a weekend afternoon at the Nick Factory Vintage Flea Market, and he walked every aisle with his camera rolling.

An old brass cash register with mechanical keys sitting on a counter.

The price tags are the real story here. A 1920s cash register, an old oil sign and a 1970s stereo all had numbers on them that would make a collector pause, and yet he left without buying a single thing.

A 1920s Cash Register Comes With A $1,500 Price Tag

Deep inside the first hall, he stopped at an early 1900s National Cash Register, which he dates to the 1920s. “Look at that thing. That is beautiful,” he says, then goes looking for the tag. The seller wanted 45,000 Thai baht, which he works out to about $1,500.

Anyone who has priced antique registers at home will know that is not a crazy number for a handsome brass machine with that much character. Heavy, ornate and built like a tank, these registers were made to sit on a shop counter for decades.

An Old Oil Sign Goes For $200 And The Coca-Cola Signs Come Cheaper

Not far away hung a wall of signs. One that caught his eye was an old Castrol sign, priced at 6,000 baht, which he says comes to about $200. “That’s a nice sign. That’s beautiful. I love that,” he says.

Later he found a whole pile of vintage Coca-Cola signs at 2,000 baht each, around $60 apiece. He admits they look newer than he first thought, maybe from the 1980s, but he was still plainly delighted by the sheer variety on display.

The Stereo That Cost $1,700 And The Record Players That Cost As Much As New

Then came the music gear. A 1970s Telefunken compact AM/FM record player was priced at 48,000 baht, or about $1,700. “That is a very cool piece and quite expensive,” he says.

Other record players he looked at were priced at about $180 and $300, and on those he was blunt: “Honestly, those aren’t great prices. That’s about what they cost new.” Not every table is a bargain, and he was not shy about saying so.

Toys were a different story. A vintage Astro Boy robot he adored carried a 10,000 baht tag, about $300, and he called it gorgeous.

Giant Mascots, Space Age Chairs And “Thousands And Thousands Of Dollars” Of Signs

This was no ordinary flea market. He describes it as a curated event, more like a collector’s playground than a pile of dusty junk. Along the way he spotted a giant Hamburglar from McDonald’s, a huge jeans boy mascot, a light-up gummy bear and bowling pins stacked up like trophies.

In another corner, he came upon a wall of enamel signs. If you know your old signs, he says, these are original porcelain enamel pieces, and he says they are worth “thousands and thousands of dollars.” There were Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Shell signs, plus a Philips sign about 8 feet wide and 5 feet tall, which he called the rarest thing he saw.

The furniture and electronics had a space age flair. He pointed to Rosita Vision 2000 stereo systems from 1970s Germany, a Weltron 2005 from the early 1970s, and a row of egg chairs he said he would love to own. There was also a stacker jukebox with lights that changed colors, and bronze-toned stereo gear from the 1980s.

Vintage Cars, Scooters And A Citroen Food Truck Outside

Outside, the show spilled into the yard. He saw an El Camino he guessed to be from 1959 to 1961, and a Mustang fastback with GT badges, which he thought was a 1967 or 1968 with a 390 cubic inch engine. A couple of Volkswagen buses sat nearby, along with a Vespa and a whole row of Lambretta scooters.

A Citroen H van, built between 1947 and 1981, now works as a food truck. He also found a 1959 Chevrolet Apache with a wood bed, restored to a shine, and a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia from the mid 1960s.

The event ran from 3 in the afternoon until midnight over three days, and he visited on day two. It drew a crowd, and the vintage gas pumps, 60 to 80 years old and in amazing condition, were a hit with the kids, though he thought the old bicycles were an even bigger draw.

Why He Walked Out Empty-Handed, And What You Can Learn From It

After hours of browsing, he sums it up with a grin: “Somehow I haven’t bought anything yet. And that’s a good thing.” A smart collector knows that falling in love is easy and that walking away is a skill.

His tour offers a handy lesson for anyone shopping vintage anywhere. Check the price against what the same item costs new, and against what comparable pieces have actually sold for, before you hand over any money. A record player that is secondhand should not cost as much as a fresh one off the shelf.

When it comes to enamel signs, take your time. Genuine porcelain signs are heavy, glossy and made of layered glass-like coating on metal, and chips often show the dark metal underneath. Reproductions can look convincing from across the room, which is why careful buyers study the edges, the weight and the wear.

It also helps to remember that prices quoted in a foreign currency can mislead. The dollar figures here are his own quick conversions from baht, so exchange rates matter if you plan to buy abroad. Do the math before you smile and nod.

For anyone who loves nostalgia, though, this market is a feast for the eyes. From a 1920s cash register to a space age stereo, the whole warehouse felt like a time capsule, and he says it was one of the coolest vintage markets he has visited in Bangkok. Sometimes the best souvenir from a flea market is the memory, and the photos do not cost a thing.

More Stories You May Like



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *