Less customers and more sellers trend

Guru

I've been doing shows where I live off and on for about 4 years now. This summer I couldn't set up at shows because I'm working two jobs and just didn't have time to get things together. However, being the loyal show attender that I am I thought I'd stop by each month at my local card show to say hi to my collecting buddies and see if I could find some deals. I was also working on completing my 75 Topps baseball set.

My second job is ending this week and I'll be setting back up in September. I am, however, growing concerned about a trend I'm seeing in my area though. In the last year there have been more and more sellers appearing at this show and on local online gathering places than previous years. This trend has rapidly increased since May as my local card show has increased the number of tables they offer to the point that last month they started pushing into the dining area of the VFW hall where it's located. I'm beginning to see a lot of people I've never seen before and several from as far away as Chicago, Cincy, Louisville, W. VA., etc. I'm also seeing people who used to be customers now set up at the show as sellers more and more.

I was also informed that there will be 3 new shops opening in my area here very soon as well. I'm growing concerned about the market here in Indy getting overly saturated with too many sellers and some people, like myself, are going to get pushed out. I'm also concerned that my local card shop, whom I am very loyal too, quite possibly could see a down turn in sales due to competition that could lead to closing its doors at some point....mind you that's speculation. It's starting to remind me of the late 80's early 90's again.

While this is good for the buyer, as competition will drive prices down, my concern is the long term effect could be horrible. I don't think that all of these shops will survive and I'm hoping that the one that's been around for awhile will. I also think that when you have too many sellers at a small show you're going to start losing people if no one is walking through the door. Just my thoughts.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this or seen this in your area?

BLUEJAYWAY

Just like in any other area of commerce the strong will survive in retail-Fair pricing, good customer service,location,promotion etc. As far as previous buyers now becoming sellers the same credo will apply to them as well. Perhaps these new sellers feel they will get more for their goods as a seller at a show rather than taking (what they may perceive to be) low ball offers from dealers for their mdse. Of course they will have to figure in the show set up cost for the tables,time,travel,dealing with the public. When all that is considered it may become unappealing. But if the business of cards in your area is picking up, perhaps it may be the beginning of the 90's "gold rush" all over again.

Mapleleaf

Around here it is a grading rush. Everyone looking for quality raw cards so there are lots of buyers for that.

Did your dealer buddies complain that sales were down or that there were fewer buyers or that they had to cut prices?

It's not unusual for buyers to become sellers to realize some gains in value.
Once the crash hits those sellers usually disappear and the cards hide in their basement.
True collectors will buy more when the prices have crashed though right now I am willing to bet there are more than a few speculators in the hobby.

Guru

The complaints stem from the fact that a number or former buyers are now selling and the market is getting saturated.

yankeeno7

I think it should be taken as a good sign that the market is getting stronger. People are seeing it as a venue for business opportunity once again.

Dont worry about sellers driving the prices down. The prices are what they are and your biggest competitor is ebay, not the guy set up on the table next to you.

The market will weed people out so be on your best to provide good service, good prices, and good product so you will survive if this is something you want to do as more of a business.

With that, do not underestimate how cheap people will sell their cards. The better price you get, the better price you can give. Often times people walk away angry or disgusted with your offer then come back around an hour later and want to sell. I used to tell people that Im taking the risk for what I am buying from them and may never sell it or have it dump in price. My reward is the work I do to sell. Some people understand that, many do not.

mtcards

I think there is a trend now that more and more people are trying to sell their collections off for whatever reason and the first attempt at selling the collection is at the local card shop. Going there means at best, you are going to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% of the going ebay rate, maybe even less for slow selling cards. Of course, the seller(s), having only priced their cards at book think that they are being ripped off and then look for further avenues to sell, so they try ebay and find that their stuff is selling for significantly under book value and after a few low dollar sales, realize that ebay is not the way to get the amount they want. As a last resort, they now try setting up at shows, at this point, they either finally figure it out that their stuff isnt worth as much as they thought and price it accordingly OR they go back to the shop they originally went to and accept the original offer.


I am always amazed at the number of people who come into my store and have two or three folders of early 90's junk and cannot accept the fact that full sets of that stuff doesnt sell well at $5-$10 a set, much less pages of damaged commons.

Sabrgeek

I think it's a great sign that people want to do shows and stores, etc. I know in the Dallas area, there ia a growing interest in running shows again and I would bet the stores are coming soon.

Anything that increases interpersonal relatonships is fine by me.

Rich