Sports Cards Store Owners

[MossMan]

Ok, so the only card shop around here is a pretty small shop in a strip mall. Anyways, I was in there a couple weeks ago looking for some auto'd cards to add to my PC. I'm going through the stacks of cards and found 3 or 4 that I needed. While going through these I'm just quickly glancing at the price on the card and saying to myself that they're pretty high but I'm sure he'll come down if I ask nicely.

So I finish going through them and ask if he'll take an Ebay price plus a few more dollars just to even it out a little more. After I ask him, he gets really defensive and says, "If I want Ebay prices, I'll list them on Ebay." But my point is that shouldn't the owner of a small card shop realize that he isn't going to sell any singles for the prices he has listed on them? I mean he's had some of the same cards in his stacks for over 2 years now because he won't budge on his asking prices. He wants $10 for a Quadry Ismail autograph and I think that that's about $5 too much for his particular autograph.

So let me know if you think that, even though it is there store and they can manage it how they want, shouldn't these owners change with the times and realize that going on Ebay is a lot easier than actually going to the card shop nowadays so they should realize that they're going to have to lower prices to meet what collectors are willing to spend?

[CmC918]

I'm not a owner but I can see both points. He wants to make money but also if he has items priced higher he will just lose money to people who will just get the same thing or similar on ebay.

[vikingfan101]

Well, as per my experiences, most owners charge bv, or more depending on where you live and what team they sell most off. Ridiculous, yes, do they care? No. Some sap will buy them sooner or later they figure.

[trampus]

The only single I remember buying from a card store was a Tim Couch RC back in 2000 off a rack of singles for $1 so I don't know exactly where you're coming from. Wait, I guess I do. Seriously though, I know what you mean. They can charge whatever they want and we can't do anything about it except pay too much or not buy it. That's why I rarely buy anything retail, us consumers never get any satisfaction.

[pwaldo]

So let me know if you think that, even though it is there store and they can manage it how they want, shouldn't these owners change with the times and realize that going on Ebay is a lot easier than actually going to the card shop nowadays so they should realize that they're going to have to lower prices to meet what collectors are willing to spend?

eBay is not "easier" than gong to a card shop nowadays.

All you have to do is look at the people who pay for cards and never receive them or they get cards that are damaged or not in the condition that the seller lists.

If I had the option of buying a card in person or buying it off of eBay and hoping that I get it and in the condition it states in 7-10 days then I'll take the in person purchase over it every day of the week. I'll pay more to know that the card that I'm getting is in great shape and is in my hands immediately.

With that being said should the shop charge reasonable prices?

Yes. If the card isn't selling in the shop then most good shops would slowly reduce the price of the card until it sells. If its $10 then go down to $7 and then down to $5 until it sells.

But if the guy doesn't have a need for money now and can afford to hold onto the card then selling it cheaper really doesn't make much sense unless you want to move inventory. If you don't then why would you take less. I mean he's right. If he wants to take eBay prices then the guy would be selling on eBay instead of having a store.

Now I don't know what your hobby status is like where you live but around here you could probably buy New York/Boston stuff off of eBay and then start up a shop and still make a killing. When a person gets hot in New England their cards sell off the charts and you can make a ton of money. So if you want to buy any New England players around here you are going to have to pay more than anywhere else but usually everyone else can be had for a reasonable price.

[Dillywill]

The card shops are waiting for all the people who know nothing about cards to walk in and soo there favorite player and go crazy its sad what they can do if there the only card shop in town

[pwaldo]

The card shops are waiting for all the people who know nothing about cards to walk in and soo there favorite player and go crazy its sad what they can do if there the only card shop in town

How is it sad?

I know people who buy video games at Wal Mart for $50 when you can get the same version at Best Buy for $30 but they do all their shopping at one store so they don't want to drive to another store. Some people don't want to buy off of the Internet. Its the same thing.

I mean why do people think that if somebody doesn't buy something off of eBay then they are complete morons? I've seen people on eBay pay $100 for a card and the same version of that card is going in another auction that ends a few hours later for only $20. I've seen people pay 4 times the "book value" of a card on eBay. eBay isn't always cheaper for things.

[Dillywill]

I dont like Ebay for cards at all either its just sad that card shops can take advantage of those who arent as knowledgable about Cards i like to buy cards on the forum everyone knows what the price should be and they wont be 10 bucks or double BV

[pwaldo]

I dont like Ebay for cards at all either its just sad that card shops can take advantage of those who arent as knowledgable about Cards i like to buy cards on the forum everyone knows what the price should be and they wont be 10 bucks or double BV

But who sets the price? Its the buyer.

If you don't want to pay the price you move on. If somebody comes along and pays the amount the person is asking that person isn't stupid or getting "ripped off" because they wouldn't pay that much if they thought they were.

An example:

You can buy a 2 liter bottle of soda in the grocery store for 89 cents but the bottle in the vending machines cost $1.99. Why do people pay more money to get less soda? Are those people knowledgable or not? What version would you purchase?

Everyone knows that more should cost more so why does less cost more in this case and why do people buy the smaller more expensive version 9 out of 10 times? Is the public being taken advantage of then? And there are problably thousands more examples like this out there. People will pay for something if they find it acceptable but the acceptable price to you and me is going to vary and that will with basically every person on the planet.

[htwheelz01]

You need to make your sig image smaller mossman.