Are card shows good for buying mid-end cards?

[Sportfreund]

Just wondering if card shows are generally a good place to buy mid-end cards ($20-80ish) or if I should stick to online for those? I know they're good for buying completed sets or cheap GU/autos or sealed packs but I don't really follow the market and mostly collect base cards so I'd have no idea if the price is fair or a bargain or if I'm getting ripped off when it comes to single mid-end cards.

[JRSuperstar]

Yes, as far as I know. A good booth will have a bit of everything to suit all shapes and sizes.

[piper1]

There are some great shows for deals depending on where you live.

[Sharky94]

I sold cards at shows for a few years about 10 years ago. The short answer is: Yes and no. At a show, you have to buy from a dealer that has to pay a fee for his table. So he has to make a profit off his card sales to pay for the table. And generally, that is why they are at the show -- to make a profit. Some people with tables, though, are just huge collectors that want to sell off all the stuff they open and don't want to keep. That is what I was doing. They aren't doing shows as a source of income, so you can generally get better deals from those guys. It always pays to talk to the dealers to get to know them a little, especially if you plan to return to later shows.

The good thing about shows is, if you find a card, it is right there. You don't have to wait for shipping or dealing with someone on EBay. And you can always negotiate with the dealer. No BIN offers with no ability to send in an offer. If you get to know a dealer at a show, after a while, some of them will give you better deals than with people they don't know. Some even learn what you are looking for and will try to find stuff you like. I've had dealers pick stuff up for me and stash it away, waiting for me to show up, rather than put it out on their table. Different dealers are as different as people everywhere. Some are nice, and some are a-holes. Some will give you deals, and some will always ask for way more than the card is worth. You just have to find the nice ones, and let the soccer moms get ripped off by the jerks.

One thing to remember at a show: if you want to negotiate a price, always wait as long as you can. Cards are always cheaper late in the afternoon than first thing in the morning. Dealers have been working all day, they are tired and want to go home, and they don't want to have to pack everything back up. Of course, if it gets sold during the day, then you lose out...

[Sharky94]

The other good thing about dealers is they specialize in the local teams, so they always have cards of those teams. They also have a financial incentive to find cards at prices as cheap as possible, so they may watch EBay and everywhere else even more than you. I actually got my Evgeni Kuznetsov Acetate YG from a show dealer for about $25 cheaper than I ever saw it on EBay. So he had to have found it for dirt cheap because even though he was giving me a deal, you know he was still making a profit on it.

[Mack26]

Card shows in my eyes are the best place to buy cards especially mid range. You can see the card and make sure you like the condition. It also does not have shipping charges and you get it right then.

[Rraincock]

oh my dream would be to find a card show with Red Deer Rebels cards in it... oh to dream.