Yup, it's Monday.
I haven't done one of these segments in a long time so figured hey, let's do this.
So, I just want you to grab a cup of your favorite warm beverage in your wife's mug, or your own,
then walk over and sit down in your most comfiest chair, take a breath, relax.
Yeah, I used Jessica's mug again.
Let's just talk in this NEW segment.
So, I recently went to a card show again, my second one in thirty years (I will certainly be posting on this) and noticed one trend......OVERPRICING!
It was really disappointing to walk into a card show and find $2 cards marked up to $20. There were lots of that and plenty of wax flippers especially for Pokemon. They were charging almost two times what they got them for.
I am all for letting sellers price what they want to sell them for, but do they actually sell anything? And what about the poor kids-sometimes literally-going to these shows trying to find their favorite Pokemon or favorite sports player and the prices are jacked way up? They most likely go home with nothing or way overpay for something a simple eBay search would have landed them the card cheaper for.
Now, I don't have a lot of money and went there with basically not much too spend and I found it really hard at each table to even spend anything. Though, in the end I did because well, I went to a card show. As I said earlier, I will go on more about this and show off my cards in another post.
For today, are you finding this same kind of thing at your local card shows? How do you think they can resolve this? How do you shop at these?
Let me know below and hope everyone has a Magnificent Monday.
*Coffee Card Blogger Out*
Well...like you I didn't have the funds to do it but I went anyway to the monthly show on Saturday at the mall picked up a couple singles at first $.40 thought i was done *impersonating of Steve Harvey * show me that you went home after spending only $.40 *buzzer sound & back to normal voice* nope found a table had some wantlists items spent $30 on a stack then the dealer convinced me to buy 2 3200ct boxes of the stuff I went through started 4 new sets from the stuff for $35 *back to Harvey voice* show me went home then *buzzer strike 2 & back to normal voice* I was starting to leave when I forgot to stop at Barnes n Noble for my May Beckett then I shouldn't had done being again not working since Subway let me go (I didn't feel like posting about it yet but stay tuned for it) bought 2 blasters of 26 Heritage pulled in 1 box a Cal Raleigh GU & a Deckle Edge of his record breaker hit card(Deckle Edge is ft anyone want lmk) as well a Brent Rooker on card Autograph total amount spent at B&N $75 i still need to pay a personal loan in 2 weeks a car load in 4 weeks another house payment in 5 weeks I wish I could find some place to work at night & get hours like I was getting at Dollar General & get paid reasonable everyweek so I can afford going to shows anyway my 7th coffee from Sunday is telling me I need to get to bed so I'm not cranky working at school job in the morning then filling out more applications afterwards hoping to get interviews sorry for my long read but kinda had to get it off my chest since a few friends I have are long distance card collecting people like me & a few only will talk to me over the phone sometimes well gotta run have to be up in 8 hrs for school night all
ReplyDeleteHappy Monday! Haven't gotten my coffee yet... but I'm planning on grabbing some at McDonald's this morning on my way into work. Glad you were able to make it out to a card show. Looking forward to seeing your pickups.
ReplyDeleteNow... onto your questions.
a. Honestly... most of the money I have spent at card shows over the past 20 years were on bargain bins (example dime, quarter, or dollar boxes). I think most of my purchases were solid deals, but every now and then I'd pay high for a card I really wanted. I guess I could check my blog, since I have documented all of my card show purchases over the years.
That being said, these days I pretty much avoid buying stuff out of dealer cases... unless it's someone I know. The reason is I don't go out of my way to buy graded cards anymore and in my area that's what you'll find in most cases. However when I do purchase big cards, I always check eBay to see what they've sold for and come to an agreement we're both happy with. There are plenty of times when my friends say "no" and there are times I say "no"... but that's just life.
I'm curious if these $2 cards listed at $20 (that you mentioned in your post) can be purchased on eBay or Sportlots for $2. Or is the complaint that cards you would expect to be selling for $2 are actually being priced at $20 (at shows and on eBay). Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with a dealer putting $20 on a sticker as long as that is what it's selling for on eBay. But if eBay listings have it for way less then that's just silly on the dealer's part.
b. Assuming these dealers are pricing $2 cards with a $20 sticker... I think the hobby will resolve this on its own. I don't know any collector who will regularly pay two to ten times over market value on a regular basis. Sure I've done it when I wanted to complete a set. But that's when I'll pay a buck (shipping included) for something I know is a Junk Wax Era common (valued at 1¢ to 5¢). But I wouldn't do that on a regular basis. I don't think collectors will either. And dealers can't afford to pay the table fees without selling, so eventually he/she will have to adjust their prices.
c. I pretty much covered this in my first response, but if I see cards overpriced... I just move along to the next dealer. But like I said... I usually try to avoid dealer cases and seek out bargain bins.
👍
ReplyDeleteHaving never been to a card show I guess I really can't comment. My Magnificent Monday ended up being an all-day rain. Still a good day no matter what. Enjoy the hobby all!
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