Your LCS: Sealed Boxes Vs. Singles

[Fritz]

Love your avatar. RIP Dime


It's really suprising to see that so many stores sell by book value. Kind of depressing actually.

Got to see him in 04, he laid waste :D

You have to consider the rent/bills a store has in order to operate when they price their cards. At the same time though, they would likely sell more singles if they were priced accordingly & maybe get more cash moving overall in the end.

[Craig2]

I've been in plenty of shops all over the country that sell at, or close to, book value. I certainly don't think it's an effective way to sell, and I'm surprised that it's so widespread.

Another local shop (in Welland) has an owner who looks up recent Ebay sales when you ask about a price. That seems far more effective, and it's one of the few shops where I'm comfortable buying singles.

[CoolHandLuke]

My store does not have many and they all sell at BV. The reason is simple, they have to pay for the store and employee. They wont do checklist because it's not worth it for them. That is more a business call and not like it use to be back then. Now with internet the single card market is pretty much all on Internet. That explain in part why they do not go much into singles unless they take the time to list them on Internet and often they will tell you to buy them from internet as it less work for them. So less cost in selling them since they can charge via shipping the cost to pull the card and mail it.

[canucksfan007]

Im not sure how my LCS owner works with others, but if he knows you by name we can haggle on singles and most often ( unless its the super new stuff ), we will work out deals based on ebay sales. I know he has tons of singles, the problem is his shop isnt big enough to have them all out, so he has to go to the back section in another part of the mall to look for things. I would say about 10% of his singles are in the front, with the rest being a 10-15 minute walk and search away from his actual storefront.

All other stores ive gone to use Beckett value. I think theres 2 reasons why:

1 - Most LCS owners are from a different generation of collecting and havent yet gotten with the times
2 - LCS owners that sell by BV are really just trying to get that extra dollar. They hope someone comes in that doesnt have hobby knowledge so they can flash a book in front of them.

It helps that my LCS is a powerseller on ebay and a seller on beckett, so he is pretty in the loop with how online sales are. ( hes also a member here yet he doesnt post very much )

I usually pick up my singles at shows. We have our regular 15ish dealers that come every month to set up. 7 - 10 or so of those quote BVs to everyone, yet they tell everyone they sell online. Those are the guys that dont sell a thing. Then theres the other dealers that come every month with fresh stock and a willingness to move cards at the real market value. The only time these guys go with BV is when there are no current listings. Theres 1 dealer that will even haggle with box prices with you. Whenever we buy our boxes for the show, we get everyone together and see what they want and make an offer on those boxes. He goes to his paper to see what he can do and we always work out a deal.

[theboxbreaker96]

My LCS owner sells his singles by book or close to it and everytime I go to the shop the same singles are still there. He doesnt sell many singles but he does sell quite a few boxes. I have never bought one single from him so I do not know if his prices are negotiable. I always buy boxes and packs at the shop though. He is reasonable with box and pack prices and is willing to negotiateon those.

[FuriousD82]

I list a ton of singles on ebay at (usually, ie 95% of the time) 1/2 of high BV if interested

[Yakupov4calder]

My LCS sells by Low BV......... I am really lucky.... picked up a setoguchi rookie exclusives for $15!!

[mooneyes]

Wow, seems lame not to sell or even have any singles for sale and on display. to me that is part of the attraction of going to a LCS, just to see all the eye candy. That gets me in the store and i usualy leave with something! One particular shop has around 10 card boxes at 50% off BV of some decent cards that he adds to weekly. I go every Saturday and browse through at my leisure just in case I find a gem that catches my eye. I usually get sucked into a "pack war",around 6-10 guys open a pack of artifacts or whatever and best pull takes em all!
I think the difference with this owner is he actually enjoys the hobby himself and he probably does better business wise because his shop is a fun place.

[Sportfreund]

I don't have any LCS but there's a flea market on the weekend below the mall and the guy sells a lot of singles and some complete sets. Usually reasonable prices (though the commons are cheaper online). If I see a nice auto or something a player I like then why not.

[30ranfordfan]

LCS doesn't have much for singles. I suspect they must open a little product themselves... But I'm taking about a display case of mayhem 100 cards at any given time... And not much in terms of value in there. They stick to mostly pack and box sales.