Local card shop

lilmule

Well the local card shoparound here closed its doors for the last time today. Lets all take a moment of silence.

Allen

Guru

Man, that sucks. I don't have a card shop anywhere around here now and it's driving me crazy.

mudflap02

I went to mine today for toploaders. They had a box of 07 Topps Heritage, marked down from $89 to the bargain price of $75. These can be had online for under $50 delivered. I asked them if they would sell it for $60, and they pretty much acted like I was crazy. Convenient place to buy supplies, but I will stick to the big card shop in the sky for any sort of actual hobby purchase.

stevek

Yea, another weasel, RIP.

F1ferrari

On the flip side, I just recently discover another card shop in my area! I had 2 that I frequented, but I ran across another that doesn't have quite the 'card' selection of the other 2, but has an impressive selection of sports items of all kinds. Caps, jerseys, McFarlane figures, autographs, etc. I bought a bunch of supplies, and noticed a Tony Gwynn Topps rookie laying in the case, and since it was the only card I needed for my 1983 set (again, thanks BobaFett72) I thought I'd ask what they would ask for it. He looked at the pile of other stuff I was buying and said "You can have it for $10". I may spend a lot of money there this Heritage season.

stevek

The card shops that have diversified a bit, and those not trying to rip off children for a dollar everytime the kids come in the store when no one else is looking, are the ones which seem to stay in business.

stormsurge

Th one closest to me closed a few months back.

DrJ

Well card shops are a thing of the past in the area where I live. I can drive about 30 minutes and reach one, but I end up overpaying on singles and typically only use them for supplies. Ebay and a shrinking buyer base (expensive packs, fewer overall retail outlets) has driven most of the locals out of business. The early 90's were terrible for the value of cards due to overproduction but on the same hand one could drive down the main drag in most towns and run into a card shop or two, a news agency selling cards, a few conveinience stores selling cards, and a couple of retailers (K-Mart, Caldor, Ames, Jamesway) selling cards. More supply resulted in more people in the hobby and allowed local stores to flourish.

Unless a shop has a hard core customer base from years and years of continuous service, the only way to survive these days is by carrying other goods such as Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, Bobble Heads, and other non-sports related junk.

J

lilmule

I purchased a lot of supplies at the card shop, when I did purchase packs of cards I usually gave it back to the owner for him to pass out to the little kids, also the owner always helped little kids when it came down to them asking what they could buy for a dollar, Or if the kid only has a few cents or something like that, then he always worked it out where he gave them a pack or 2. Of course he always charged full price to the adults for everything once in awhile he gave discounts of course just to keep us comming in. The reason that I heard why he closed his shop was because he was getting too old, he tried to sell the shop for awhile but everyone didnt want it. Remember when we first started collecting it was not for the profit, for me It was for the player and the hobby, by opening up packs and getting the player who you were looking for, for a set. This shop helped kids to be kids and adults to be kids as well.

Leiascards

Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, Bobble Heads, and other non-sports related junk.

Call Magic junk if you want, but some of the old stuff sells for big buck. Still kick myself daily for passing up those boxes of Beta and Arabian Knights for 40 each back when they first came out. For 200 dollars today I would have about 100K in unopened boxes had I bought them and kept them.

gamehunter

One minute of fart noises for the overpriced crooks who are going out of business.

HighChopper

My card shop is terrific. Guy's a mortician by day, card dealer by early evening.

Loads my kids up with tons of worthless wax boxes (i.e. 1990 Score). Great guy.

Most the time I'll ask, "What do you want for these?"

"Just take 'em," he'll say.

Real nonchalant. His childhood card shop. Didn't want to see the doors closed for good.

Lots of cussing and good-natured ribbing.

Should visit him more often.

RipublicaninMass

my guy is great! I buy supplies and he has baout every unopened pack from 1980 on. I always but a few packs from there, grab some supplies. Vintage is a bit pricey compared to ebay.

WinPitcher

This shop helped kids to be kids and adults to be kids as well.


You mean to say he wasn't a weasel?


I'm shocked.


Steve


<eyeroll>

BobaFett72

my local card shop is full of junk, disorganized, idiot owner, overpriced and not very friendly. I can only hope that it shrivels and dies.

perkdog

My local card shop has a ton of modern packs and patch/sig cards that have no appeal to me. He does have some late 60's and up "Vintage" material which is way overgraded and priced. Not for me, but I do see a lot of kids ripping open packs and having fun so it serves its purpose I quess...

bigtec9

Most card shops have considerable overhead to sustain. Unlike most ebay stores they have rent lites,etc. so their prices are going to be higher. You need to take it easy on the theory that if their prices are high they are crooks.If they are too high for you then just move on to the next one.

Leiascards

There is high then there is ridiculous.. I don't mind paying 100 for a box I can get on Ebay for 60 or 70 locally, BUT the local shop sells those 60 to 70 dollar boxes for 250 to 300 per box.

mtcards

I somehow have a hard time believing there are more crooks who operate card shops than there are on ebay and even at shows. The "crook" card shop owner theory goes back to the days when kids used to whine to Beckett and every other publication in the reader's write sections about how dealers will only pay $5 for a $20 card. Card shops are just like everything else, some prices are higher, some are lower, it doesnt mean they are crooks.

Heck, the (10) different award stores within a 40 mile drive from my store sell a 9x12 plaque for $24.95 + engraving, which usually amounts to about $15-$20 for a total of $40-$50, I sell mine for $19.95, including engraving. It doesnt mean that those guys are crooks, they may have higher rent and stuff. Besides, I get THEIR business occasionally.

Ebay has ruined the local card stores by "flooding" the availability of product. As mentioned above, local shops have overhead which can amount into the thousands each month, the local Schmoe who sells on ebay sometimes has ZERO overhead. Combined with the lost price of shipping, the knowledge of actually seeing and touching what you are getting, and a person to complain to if you feel you were wronged is worth the extra dollars of a local shop sometimes.

Dont get me wrong, I agree that there are "Crooks" out there, but no more than any other industry.

kingraider75

The card shop in my old town, Simi Valley, CA (20 miles to the NW of downtown LA) closed two years ago. The town has approx 120,000 people and couldn't support one card shop.

My new town, the San Fernando Valley, (10-15 miles to the NW of downtown LA) has about a 1.5 million and there are about 3 or 4 cardshops. Two of which, I actually buy some items from. One has prices that are competitve with ebay (within 10%), while the other is closer to my house, but is not so competitive with ebay (within maybe 20%), so there it goes.

I think the entire Los Angeles County area has maybe 10 stores now. I believe there were 30 stores back in 1992.

brian26

I think it is a little strong to label every card shop owner as a crook. I'm sure there are plenty of crooks who own shops, but there are also many good-hearted guys.

I frequent two shops here in the Chicago area because I really like the owners. Its fun to go in once a month, get some supplies, and shoot the crap with them about sports. One guy in particular, on the north side, is a really nice fellow who is nothing but kind to me and my wife whenever she tags along. He's often told me off the record that the only reason he can stay open is because the Yu-gi-Go tournaments he holds on Saturday with all of the kids helps support the business. He's not ripping the kids off by any means, but that product is super hot, and he's just providing them a place to play the games and buy packs. It's a statement about Ebay more than anything. As has been noted, these shop owners have tremendous overhead and just can't make a profit on cards that are being sold on Ebay for 50% of the price. Hopefully the good guys can sustain, because I think it's important to have brick-and-mortar establishments to hopefully help see this hobby passed down.

BobaFett72

"You need to take it easy on the theory that if their prices are high they are crooks"

my one and only card shop in town (city actually of 100,000) doesnt have a single vintage card that isnt dinged creased or stained; yet still prices everything at full high beckett. His prices are high and he is a crook

jimq112

There were 2 shops left in my town besides one who is really only an ebay shop. I wanted to buy my father in law a box of cards to open tonite, maybe some topps chrome or something, nothing exciting.

I haven't shopped at either since I stopped buying packs a few years ago.

One isn't there any more, the other was closed this week for the holidays and had a sign closing 12/17 thru 1/2. Guess there must not be much demand for cards around Christmas.

I really miss the last real card shop here. Guy was great, he got a real job and left the card shop hassles.

tedh111

The key to running a card shop is to not be overly concerned about pricing, but rather about service. I own a shop, and we are generally 20% higher on our wax, and we can be equal to 2 or 3 times over ebay on our singles. It is all based on supply and demand. If i think i can get a bit more on a card in our local area, i will price it higher. If it does not sell, i will adjust it. ON many cards it it does not matter if i price a card at $5 or $10, i will same the same amount, so why would i sell it for $5? But we also do have discount areas and a huge $1 section with probably about 15-20 thousand cards in them. These cards can book as high as $10 and people love treasure hunting or just finding cheap cards of players they like. ... As for service, that is where you can really make a store stand out over the internet. We will buy and trade with our customers, take ebay and in store cinsigmints, help build modern and vintage sets, give away free cards to kids, we do grading and autograph submissions. We also help local schools, sports teams and churches by donating products and help by sponsering the teams.... All in all we try and make collecting fun and i think that is what is most important...