Selling Cards At My First Show in Years... HELP!

[nightbreedbeats]

First here is some background;
I got into cards and collecting during the Mid 90's. Well things were alot easier then, Jordan Inserts, RCs, and refractors were the business.
Now there is so much stuff going on in basketball cards its hard to keep up.

I mostly have RC AUTOs from just a few players I like/collect.
Unfortunately I got rid of my G/U and low #'d cards for my D Wade PC, so Im left with mostly "Mid-End" stuff.

The card show is in Tempe, Arizona at a very upscale mall.

My questions are :

what do I bring? - should I just focus on selling a few RC AUTOs from hot players I have or focus on cheaper cards from Suns and ASU or U of A alumni

what do I price cards at? - noticed that most dealers list full book

what products or who is "hot" right now at card shows?

is it a good idea to set-up a "cheap box" with superstar base, inserts, rookies, and parallels organized by player names and sell them for $1-$2ea?

Just looking for any help because the show is in a couple weeks and need to be prepare myself.

THANKS

[xavieronly1]

Not sure your location. But if you pack a team from your location helps more.

Just bring superstar or star RC. Gudy gay, deron williams stuff are hard to sell at good price.

No dealers will pay for full book price. Unless it is something 1/1 that they can name any price, they are looking at less than half of the book price.

Almost impossible to sell at $1-$2 on base/inserts/RCs/parallel. They are looking at 0.1-0.25 each.

Conclusion, they are looking to resell. They are not looking for collection. Even a card sells for $150 in ebay, they will only buy at $110 at most. ($120 is you are very lucky)

[tutall]

Always have a "bargain bin"... People love to dig through them and make sure to stick a couple cards in there from time to time during the show so that person finds a hidden "gem" that makes them buy more. Dont make it too expensive as i find it easier to make more money on volume as opposed to bigger dollars on one card... and seriously, who wants to lug everything back home with them....

Put some packs together too.... decent GU/Auto and 5 base/insert cards for 5 bucks.... Things like that sell like hotcakes

[nightbreedbeats]

Conclusion, they are looking to resell. They are not looking for collection. Even a card sells for $150 in ebay, they will only buy at $110 at most. ($120 is you are very lucky)

well if Im selling at a show, my market customers should be hobbyists not other dealers, right?
If people are only buying to re-sell Im better off just putting my stuff on ebay.
Boy, I hope you are NOT right because I would be ™™™™™™ off if people were at the card show trying to pay below ebay!

[xavieronly1]

well if Im selling at a show, my market customers should be hobbyists not other dealers, right?
If people are only buying to re-sell Im better off just putting my stuff on ebay.
Boy, I hope you are NOT right because I would be ™™™™™™ off if people were at the card show trying to pay below ebay!

I didn't know you are going to sell as a dealer, not as a collector who goes to sell back to dealers.

Then, you can do $0.5~$1 bin. People buy more than they want from it. And people will pay below ebay for sure since you don't need to suck up 12% fee from ebay and paypal and shipping.

[nightbreedbeats]

Always have a "bargain bin"...
Put some packs together too....

Yeah I was for sure going to do the bargain bin. I like your ideas on how to work them.
The "packs" idea seems good too, but I dont have alot of cheap GU/AUTOs that I would want to put in there.

Well you gave me 2 good ideas man, I really appreciate that!

[nightbreedbeats]

who goes to sell back to dealers?

Unfortunately I did that recently and saw the card I sold selling for almost double what I got for it! somebody paid full book for it!

Thats why I thought, its better to be a dealer then buyer.

[xavieronly1]

Most cards can sell at or ver full book value if you don't care to wait. I can do the same without being a dealer. In mall show, I expect kids are your customers, not collectors.

[Bluedogcards]

Ok first have fun, when i did shows in NJ in late 90s, i made more money with a bargain bin, and a common box, my commons were selling like hot cakes for 25 to 30 for a dollar, the second day of the show all the dealer around me had commons boxes to.... good way to get rid of stuff like that, bargain bins are also good, but watch your prices most likly all the other dealers will have them to, the more time you keep people at your table the better off you are.

[nightbreedbeats]

Ok first have fun, when i did shows in NJ in late 90s, i made more money with a bargain bin, and a common box, my commons were selling like hot cakes for 25 to 30 for a dollar....

Thanks! Yeah Im doing it more for fun more than anything. Plus thought it might be a good way to clear out some of my collection.
Well im for sure putting out a bargin bin, hopefully I have something people will like.

Xavier - Yes its in a mall, but last time they had the show seemed like a fair mixture of ages.
What is the best way to get kids to buy? Just the bargin bins and home-made "Hot Packs"?