How to Price Cards for Shows?

ProspectorKing

Doing my first show in awhile and was wondering how people price their cards usually. Do you price them based on

Beckett/SMR?

Completed ebay auctions- lowest ending price, highest ending price, something in between?

Rough guesstimate of what the card is worth/open to offers? If so, what % do you take as an offer- ex., say you have a card @ $200- what's the lowest you'd sell it for?

Something else?

Any other tips about setting up @ shows?

Thanks

yankeeno7

All depends on the card/s. Now, if I have an EX Mickey Mantle, Im going to want a higher percentage than say a Gaylord Perry. My "guide" is becket unless the card is already graded and slabbed then SMR is the guide to use. I havent done a show in quite some time and I know many people dont like this but I never sticker my cards with a price. Too many put stickers on with high guide price. I have always just walked away. At least if you dont have a price on them, you get the customer to ask about the price and negotiation can start there. Of course you can sticker your price if you are blowing out your cards at bargain bin prices. Problem with that is that you still have people wanting to pay 50% of your blow out price. Good luck on your show.

Allen

There is a thread on here about another member's first show. I forget the title of the thread, but I think it is something with "first show" in it so it should not be too hard to find. I did not put prices on my cards for a long time and then when I saw how many board members mentioned that they hate when nothing priced, I decided to price my stuff. I use hi Beckett value on everything just to give a baseline. When someone is looking at my cards I usually pitch that "The price on them is the book price, but most will cost a lot less than that." I think this is pretty effective. When you put no stickers I think it is bad because a lot of people do not know what the value of what they are looking at is. Other tips I would give would be to have stuff organized so that you can find it. Have supplies on hand, toploads, sleeves, small paper bags, sharpie, extra price tags, pada and paper. Write down everthing you sell and for how much. Be ready to negotiate, but do not give your stuff away. I usually keep a few things in mind when negotiating a price; what is the card actually worth (BV, condition, etc.), what do I have in that particular card(s), What would it cost to buy one on eBay?, How long have I been trying to sell that card?, etc. Do not let the buyer try to push you around, some people will try to do that. Also steer buyers in the direction of cards, say a 10 year old boy looks in your showcase and is like wow and Albert Pujols Autograph Card ! and the mom quickly chimes in with the classic mother/ kid baseball card block, "That card is $250, I am not spending $250 on a piece of cardboard!" Then just mention to the kid that you have some other really cool Pujols cards on the end of the table for $1 each. This will usually atleast get them to look then when he likes a few tell the mother she can get 6 for $5 or something like that. On the flipside, if an adult looks to be a casual browser and sees a card of a player or team they like for a few bucks, mention to them that you have a Rookie card or Autograph of that player in the showcase and show them. They will usually be interested and the card is marked at full book, say $50 then you can say, "If you are interested in that one too I can go as low as $25."

MooseDog

Every show I do I have a $1.00 box - which seems to attract the most attention and usually pays the expenses.

handyman

Whatever the maket value is ask 10X that.
JOKING!!!!

ProspectorKing

thanks for the tips all. i'll mostly be offering modern baseball, mostly slabbed (PSA 10s/bgs 9.5s). going to try to put together a $1/lower cost box b/c i know i love going through those and it seems like there's a decent demand for those.

nam812

I put a sticker on every card, and 2 prices on each sticker (one price above the other). The top price is the book value, and underneath that is the price Im asking for the card. After the first 2 or 3 hours of the show I tell potential buyers that all the cards are 10% of the lower price on the card. That always drums up a little more busines.