For those of you who attend card shows....

yankeeno7

I was a a show today and of course there are a lot of the same guys who sell vintage, mostly raw. One thing I notice is that overall, many of them have the same stuff show after show after show. Im just looking around, not really in a buying mode. But Im trying to figure out why they do not seem to move product. Im sure this one show is not the only show they do. Are they over priced? Over grading which leads to over pricing? They overprice because they really dont want to sell and just show off their cards? Is there a lack of interest in raw vintage? I'd enjoy hearing people's thoughts.

MULLINS5

<< <i>I was a a show today and of course there are a lot of the same guys who sell vintage, mostly raw. One thing I notice is that overall, many of them have the same stuff show after show after show. Im just looking around, not really in a buying mode. But Im trying to figure out why they do not seem to move product. Im sure this one show is not the only show they do. Are they over priced? Over grading which leads to over pricing? They overprice because they really dont want to sell and just show off their cards? Is there a lack of interest in raw vintage? I'd enjoy hearing people's thoughts. >>



It's probably a little of all of the above except lack of interest in raw vintage.

Beck6

I have noticed that at a lot of shows guys are there to buy. They set up in the hopes that some little old lady will come in with a box of 1952 topps still in the packs. They want to sell just enough to break even. Some guys really don't have enough to fill the table, so they will just set up everything they have, overpricing the stuff they want to keep.

jay0791

I have stopped going to shows and stores. Been at least 7-9 years now for shows.

Very few stores left around here.

Same people same stuff same ole overpriced everything.

Around here dealers pull out all the premo cards and send them in for grading. Anything PSA 7 or above gets sold on ebay.

They also will not pay enough to get the high grade cards from collectors.

I do enjoy just walking around and talking cards with people.

Ironmanfan

I usually end up just buying supplies

IMF

MikeyP

I have not attended a card show in years. I do most of my purchasing online. The Internet makes it very difficult for dealers to sell the usual product at a card show. Most card show purchases are probably more likely to be impulse purchases these days.

eyebone

<< <i>I have noticed that at a lot of shows guys are there to buy. They set up in the hopes that some little old lady will come in with a box of 1952 topps still in the packs. They want to sell just enough to break even. Some guys really don't have enough to fill the table, so they will just set up everything they have, overpricing the stuff they want to keep. >>



I think there is alot to this. Eyebone

Dodgerfanjohn

The last show I attended was almost entirely vintage.

Combination of

-pre war, which I don't collect
-obscure stuff, which I don't actively collect
-boxes of mid grade late 60's and early 70's stuff...looked like vg/ex and ex. Unfortunately the table that had the best of these...some dude and his lady were spread out and rifling through everything just enough so that someone else couldn't.

I spent 5 minutes there and walked. It's just not even worth the effort when eBay is so easy, accessible, and affordable.

itzagoner

some 20+ years ago, being the dealer at a show and advertising to buy wasn't such a bad position to be in, especially with a handful of cash. folks were happy to take it in exchange for their notebooks and shoeboxes. even little old ladies. setting up and putting out cards was just stuff to look at, and we rarely made a sale of substance.......unless it was with another dealer.

one way or another, we were going to buy our way out of town, so much as to set up appointments to view private collections during down times.

the best part of all this was the flights home, earning persistent attention from nearby passengers and funny looks from flight attendants while we took turns perusing the books and boxes.

if we'd sold not a single item over a 2 or 3 day weekend, it didn't matter as long as there was too much to carry home.

bounce

It's the same here - basically the same dealers every show, pretty much the same cards and autographs although there are a few guys who do add some new things from time to time.

Raw cards are ALWAYS over-graded here which then leads to overpricing. Even the graded vintage is overpriced, I don't think the dealers here bother to consult the VCP or SMR (not advocating either, but you could certainly defend your pricing with it) and they DEFINITELY don't bother with recent eBay sales. I can't tell you how many 1956 PSA 5s I've seen at PSA 7 prices.

I think it's a combination of everything you've said, along with the idea that vintage seems to always get a little more expensive over time, and I think most of these guys think if they hold it long enough someone will eventually pay up. I beg to differ, but that's just me. I'd much rather sell for something reasonable if possible and move on to the next thing. There's always another card or set to find to make money on. And I could potentially see the buying angle, there are always people walking the show looking to sell cards, but I've also heard some of the offers thrown out and they're 99% of the time well below the eBay prices again, so why anyone today would agree to do that is hard for me to understand. Maybe it's just the time and effort, I'd rather hustle a little and get the extra then let someone else do it, again that's just me.

If I was a "dealer", I'd worry at least a little bit about inventory management and TURNOVER. If you aren't turning your inventory, there's no chance you're making money. You have to actually SELL to make any money.

And I also don't subscribe to the common "dealer" concept - just because you pay for a table doesn't make you a "dealer". It just means you rented space for display. What I would normally buy and sell is unlikely to make me enough money to pay the table fee for the show, so I choose to just use the internet. It costs, too, but primarily only when I sell something. However, I buy and sell a few thousand dollars worth of stuff every month, and I'm SURE I'm selling more than half of the guys I see setting up at shows. Does that make me a "dealer"? I don't think so. If I paid for a table at a show, would that make me a "dealer"? Again, I don't think so.

Topgun6580

I just attended the White Plains show and that seemed to be the case. A lot of Raw Vintage mid grade cards all selling for Beckett prices. Saw several Reggie Jackson RCs that would probably grade 5 or 6's with a $300 price sticker on them. Ha!

BLUEJAYWAY

Over the years I've heard the same refrain in regard to vintage. That,according to many dealers at shows, all anyone is buying (the customers that is) is vintage. Yet when I do go to a show that's all I see is tables full of vintage. If it is selling so well why is there so much around? Yes, the 9/10's may be rare in vintage, but if you want to put a mid-grade set together of 5/6's it is relatively easy. This is a grade I can be happy with.

byronscott4ever

Some guys seem to just enjoy getting out of the house and talking to other guys all weekend. I've seen them set up TVs to watch the game even. In Minnesota, in the summer, when the weather is good only the die-hards want to go to a show instead of doing something else, especially when the show is in the same place and has the same dealers. Of course, if there's an interesting or free autograph signer, then it may change. I think promoters who put shows in different places and have better prices bring out newer sellers which is always good.

PMKAY

I rarely go to shows. The ones I have been to the last few years are similar to how many of you describe them here. Lots of vintage (80s and older) cards that should be priced at half of what they are priced at and even that would be a stretch. I'm not into the bargaining aspect of buying at shows so if if i think a table is too high priced I just move on. The odd time I will engage one of these sellers in a conversation and more often than not they tell me that they do not sell online and really "don't know nothing about that grading stuff". That would explain the high prices.

mtcards

Have the same experience from a flea market this weekend. Just south of Louisville KY, there is a pretty big one. Go to it when Im in the area, so stopped by this past Sunday on the way back from watching the Reds/Braves series in Cincinnati. The indoor part has people who rent booths and are there every week. One guy had cards and had a showcase that said "all cards 50% off unless marked "Firm"" One was a Kobe Bryant Skybox rookie for $20 marked firm.....will be hard to sell that when dozens sell weekly on ebay for under $5 each. The rest of his cards were all modern overpriced jersey cards/autos. The only vintage he had were all priced at book for cards that might grade 6 on a good day. Many of these dealers price according to the way things "used to be" and they will never change.

On the flip side, there is a new breed of buyer, that in my opinion is just as bad. They are the ones that rifle through every single card and want to inspect the corners/centering/edges/color and expect someone to sell you a perfect card, but pay the same price that a damaged card sells for. I had a guy come into my shop Thursday and he was interested in my Topps Miguel Cabrera RC and was trying to say he could get them on ebay for $10....WRONG!!! He looked at my near perfect raw Marino and Elway RC's and said he could get them on ebay for $15 all day..WRONG!!!!

With the advent of the internet, you have clowns on both the buying and selling side....many of them find their way to shows. Honestly, how I buy and sell in the shop is simple. I pay a percentage of the ebay sell price plus shipping (Usually 50%, but sometimes more for hard to get items) and I sell at 25% over the ebay sell price plus shipping. I have found that selling at those prices is enough of an incentive to get a buyer who buys on ebay and is a great price to the "Beckett freaks".

mattinglymint23

i want to live in a town where i can hit a card show on a monday!