Card Show Rant

[vikingfan101]

Man, I went to my first card show in years today. Was pretty excited to see what I may find. Right when I walk in I can just see the prices, all high, all rip off's. Guy has like 40 Randy Moss Jerseys. I go up, ask some prices. Hes like, Ill take half of whatever I have written on the back of the card. I flip it, $100? I go, the card books 30. Oh, well it sells higher. The card was a normal jersey card. Nothing special.

Ended up getting a Moss Patch for $15, probably overpaid but I needed it. Ended up only spending $30 at the show, and probably wont go back.

No one would haggle, made some fair offers on some cards and then the BV came into play. "Well it books $80, Im already asking $35, this is a steal", said one of the dealers.

Now, if it was a steal, wouldnt it be gone almost 3 hours into the show? I think so. I offered $30 for it, and $25 for a card he was asking $30 for, and he wouldnt budge. And its not like they were spectacular cards.

End of rant, just kinda disappointing. Very few deals to be found anymore :icon_evil

[dmajik]

Sorry to hear it. I haven't purchased from a show like that in years... still way too big of a gap between what some people want and what you can pay on Ebay.

[vikingfan101]

Exactly. And now Im even angrier, the guy told me his Moss Patch booked $40, and I offered $15. He accepted. Come home and check its $25. Unreal.

Bought very little, this is all I ended up getting:
3 Packs Penny Sleeves - $2 (This was my best deal, Lol)
Pacific Heads Up Quad Jersey McNair, Dyson, Mason, George - $5
Aspire Sidney Rice Auto - $5
Sage Demeco Ryans Auto /999 - $3
UD Moss 2 Color Patch - $15

[chibearsrule]

sorry to hear. i live in denver and while a lot of the dealers want a lot on everything there are 3 at most shows that will bargain(atrains one of them). and most will trade. i find much better deals most the time trading than buying(crazy huh) but the best usually come with card/cash deals. and the thing the ones who charge too much dont get is they dont make money. the 3 with good prices kill their numbers every time. and those 3 always have new cards. the other ones have the same cards year round cause no one will buy them. thats why shows suck now, is cause too many are living in the early 90s when a 3$ base card sold for $3. it dosent work like that any more. with the internet there are too many other options. these guys would rather sit there for 3 days trying to rip off 5 people then make good deals with 100s. they will be obsolete soon enough if they dont adabt and figure it out. Later

[vikingfan101]

100% Correct.

If your not willing to make a deal, your not going to sell. Simple as that. Its just like a rummage, very rarely do you get the asking price, everyone haggles. If your not willing to come down a few bucks, then your not going to sell it.

Ive never traded at shows, it seems there are more dealers than collectors. Is it worth bringing stuff to trade?

[fdgowin]

What cracks me up is when you make an offer, and the guy says he can get more than that on the internet. If that were so, why wouldn't he just sell it on the internet and save the expense and trouble of setting up at a show?

fdgowin

[vikingfan101]

Yep, but its the opposite way around when they want too much, then there saying you should go to Ebay if you want it so cheap.

Oh well, cant win em all. I just wont go to that show again, Lol.

[jedijohnson]

I haven't been to a show since the mid-1990's (there are only two a year here in Hawaii....weird to me since collecting is huge here)....refocusing...:)
Anyway, back then, most guys would be more open to trading after they'd "made table" (broguht in enuff $$$ to cover the cost of a table at that show).
I'd suggest if you want to trade, go to the show later in the day. You may miss the "pick-of-the-litter" wrt selection, but by then most guys have "made table" and are more willing to trade. Just my 2 Cents...

[vikingfan101]

So do you guys just bring a binder or something, or how does that guy? Dont really wanna walk around with a huge box, Lol.

[jedijohnson]

I would take a small box of my "hot" cards. Star players, etc...
Cards that you think the dealers can move...