Aloha Flea Market

I'll be in Oahu in July with the family and I was wondering if anyone has any information about folks selling ukuleles at the Aloha Flea market at Aloha Stadium. I saw in a previous post that someone picked up a Leolani zebrawood tenor for $170. Sounds like a good deal. How many vendors sell ukuleles there and are there some sellers to avoid?

The last time I went there, I remember 2 big vendors. The one I remember was "Nice" brand ukuleles. He has a video up on youtube....

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvemi5efs0I

The other vendor's name I forgot.....they have all different makes of ukuleles in their tent. Good thing about both vendors is you can play them and try em out before you buy one. Buy what sounds good to you and what feels good in your hand. You have to be happy with what you are buying.

I've been there 3 times and I would say that a great majority of the ukes sold there are not especially good deals. There are tons of Leolani, Kala, and other no-name ukes. There were two booths owned by the same person that sells a lot of Kanile'as and that was probably the only vendor that was interesting. But their prices aren't any better than music stores such as Good Guys or Hawaii Music Supply unless you can haggle with them.

I would suggest buying a uke in Oahu from a music store instead of the flea market. I certainly did not see anything that represented a great deal there.

gjsong said:

I'll be in Oahu in July with the family and I was wondering if anyone has any information about folks selling ukuleles at the Aloha Flea market at Aloha Stadium. I saw in a previous post that someone picked up a Leolani zebrawood tenor for $170. Sounds like a good deal. How many vendors sell ukuleles there and are there some sellers to avoid?

Click to expand...

yeah that was me. i have to say im sort of a cheap skate. especially at fleamarkets. or wherever i think i can get some kind of deal. at the time i knew nothing of ukes. and i totally lucked out with the leolani. turned out to be one of my best sounding acoustic ukes at the lowest price. i think it had something to do with the fact that the flea market was closing at the time i bought it. because the next day, we went to some uke store on waikiki blvd and i saw the exact same uke with no case included for $295. hahaha.

i have no clue about what else i saw out there. but if i ever find myself back on oahu, im definitely going to check out what they have. i dont expect to see anything higher end than a kala, but you never know.

I bought a Leolani Zebrawood Tenor at Aloha Flea Market last year for under $150.00 and it came with the case. There were quite a few different vendors there - so I'm sure you'll find what you're lookin' for there.

Depending on what you're looking for. If you're looking for handmade namebrand like Kamaka, GString, Ko'olau etc. I think you're better off going to the factory. Most of them are on O'ahu. Check the websites for phone numbers, addresses and authorized dealers. My brother picked me up a "Nice" 8 string tenor (all koa), several years ago relatively cheap. A friend of mine picked up a Kamaka HF-36 for $700 from Dan's Guitars (dealer) which is a really great price. You didn't mention your budget, but you may also find better deals on the internet. Go check it out, look at your options and go from there. Good Luck.