I always walk out of there with some good finds. Stuff I couldn't get anywhere else...Stuff I could get somewhere else but got a killer price, new stuff at a discount with no shipping...
I can kinda see why some people get excited about garage sales. You just never know what you will find. Except we know every seller probably has something we would want. I can't tell you how many times a seller had a pile of stuff and didn't have any idea what it goes to. You dig through it and find some obscure bracket or trim item that you recognize as priceless...then find out the seller wants only 5 bucks for it.
If I was retired and had too much time, I'd buy a truck load of goodies at these shows and spend months selling them on e-bay to finance my projects. Pretty sure some guys do.
Over the years, I have made a few friends and contacts there too. Most of these sellers have 10 times the amount of stuff back home and in storage but they can't bring it all. I take the time to chat and I am never harsh with any of them. There have been a few occasions where they invite me to look through their storage units the following weekend and I have found more things I need. I got my super bee steering wheel that way for 10 bucks.
Couple guys I recall that had cars in storage too that they didn't bring to the show. A few years back, I turned down a solid super bee project because I didn't want to lose focus on mine. Now I kick myself for walking away from a $1,000 solid bee.
Point of my rambling is that the real deals are not always out in the open.