Observations on the current state of the hobby from a show this weekend

[imbluestreak23]

Originally Posted by LVDan

Im going to call Oct 1 through Turkey Day the bottom of this year's offseason pricing for now. The well of really cheap auction wins seems to have dried up considerably the last 10 days, at least for the crap I buy.

I have been getting outbid on lots of stuff too, specifically if it's quality.

This weekend I did score some deals as my watched auction page was maxed out, lots of good stuff got liquidated ending this weekend which was fanatastic.

[theshowandme]

Idk if anyone has been paying attention, but the recent auctions at Love of the Game (LOTG) and Robert Edward Auctions (REA) have shown that quality pre-war and vintage is selling very well.

I love shows, but the best places to buy right now might be these types of auctions.

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by theshowandme

Idk if anyone has been paying attention, but the recent auctions at Love of the Game (LOTG) and Robert Edward Auctions (REA) have shown that quality pre-war and vintage is selling very well.

I love shows, but the best places to buy right now might be these types of auctions.

Thanks, may have to check them out.

I do always laugh at people saying that all true vintage is going down and to sell now. For baseball, it has always been about history and the game not changing a ton. However the NBA & NFL have drastically changed in the last 30 years (within my lifetime).

NFL: Use to be about the ground & pound. Get a solid RB and line (offense and defense) to win games. Now RBs are extinct and it is who can outscore the other team.

NBA: Big men in the 90s used to rule the world along with a great SG. It was an inside out game. Now its who can make the most 3s and flop the most

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Raleigh504

Thanks, may have to check them out.

I do always laugh at people saying that all true vintage is going down and to sell now. For baseball, it has always been about history and the game not changing a ton. However the NBA & NFL have drastically changed in the last 30 years (within my lifetime).

NFL: Use to be about the ground & pound. Get a solid RB and line (offense and defense) to win games. Now RBs are extinct and it is who can outscore the other team.

NBA: Big men in the 90s used to rule the world along with a great SG. It was an inside out game. Now its who can make the most 3s and flop the most

I mean, baseball used to be "get 'em on, move 'em over, get 'em in." Now it's launch angle, exit velocity, and the three true outcomes. Singles are worthless. At least the shift is gone, but it was better to try to hit over the shift for doubles and homeruns than the slap the ball the other way for an easy single.

I don't think we can say baseball hasn't changed just like the other sports. It's the same analytical driven strategies that resulted in 3 pointers in basketball and no running game in football.

[discodanman45]

1980's stuff is still doing ok in baseball. For how much of that stuff was printed, it is holding up way better than expected. Selling raw 80's cards is not difficult at all. Graded on the other hand is a steal for 8/9's compared to raw comps. Probably just uneducated flippers buying that stuff thinking it is all 9/10's.

[theshowandme]

1990s baseball refractors and inserts are actually pretty damn hard to find at larger regional shows.

The $0.25 boxes have become $1 boxes, and the $1 boxes have become $5 boxes

[beauspencer]

1990s baseball refractors and inserts are actually pretty damn hard to find at larger regional shows.

The $0.25 boxes have become $1 boxes, and the $1 boxes have become $5 boxes

This is exactly what I noticed at the most recent Chicago Sports Spectacular. More than 400 tables and the "bargain" boxes were awful.

[bhundley]

Originally Posted by beauspencer

This is exactly what I noticed at the most recent Chicago Sports Spectacular. More than 400 tables and the "bargain" boxes were awful.

Since we're talking value boxes, I am curious what the preference is among those here as far as organization...

- Sorted by price only ($1, $5, $10, etc.)
- Sorted by sport only with prices marked by card
- Sorted by type of card (rookies, stars, numbered, auto, etc) with prices marked by card
- Some combination of these

[hermanotarjeta]

Just curious for value box dealers - how do you decide what cards to put in what value box?

Do you put cards that sell for 99 cents in the $1, $2 or $5 boxes?

How expensive do cards get that you put in your $1 boxes - up to $5 on eBay?

Do you even check prices on what cards you put where?

Do you ever purposely put $10 cards in the $1 or $2 boxes?

How much of a premium are you willing to give to box diggers?

How often do you reprice your discount boxes?

[Philthy]

Went to a monthly local card show in Omaha yesterday. I usually only go to this show every few months because its the same dealers with a lot of the same inventory. Was fairly busy, but I'd say a lower turn out than the last several times I've been.

I only collect baseball and there were quite a few cool cards available. I was able to pick up an Mookie Betts 1st Bowman Chrome Orange wave refractor. Those are unnumbered, but its not a card you see very often. I also tried to negotiate for an Ohtani US1 Gold /2018 PSA 8, but the dealer and I were too far apart.

I had my backback on and a couple dealers asked if I had anything to trade/sell. Thought it was a good sign if dealers were interested in buying. I mainly brought my stuff in case I was trading into baseball. I have been mostly buying the past 2 months with the goal of offloading a ton in February and March.

Next week is the quarterly show in Lincoln and will be the last one I attend for the year. Hopefully I'm able to pick up another cool card.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by theshowandme

1990s baseball refractors and inserts are actually pretty damn hard to find at larger regional shows.

This is the same for basketball. Some of the refractors I am looking for are insanely overpriced and very limited in supply.

[LVDan]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Just curious for value box dealers - how do you decide what cards to put in what value box?

Do you put cards that sell for 99 cents in the $1, $2 or $5 boxes?

How expensive do cards get that you put in your $1 boxes - up to $5 on eBay?

Do you even check prices on what cards you put where?

Do you ever purposely put $10 cards in the $1 or $2 boxes?

How much of a premium are you willing to give to box diggers?

How often do you reprice your discount boxes?

When I was doing shows if something was borderline I’d put it in a more expensive box on day 1, if it didn’t get bought after a day(or a show) I’d just keep bumping it into lower priced boxes until it sold. I relied mostly on instinct instead of looking up a lot of completed sales unless it was something I was super unfamiliar with.

[hammerva]

The obvious answer is all of the above

but since table space is an issue, at the very least it should be grouped by sports and then price

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by LVDan

When I was doing shows if something was borderline I’d put it in a more expensive box on day 1, if it didn’t get bought after a day(or a show) I’d just keep bumping it into lower priced boxes until it sold. I relied mostly on instinct instead of looking up a lot of completed sales unless it was something I was super unfamiliar with.

I can imagine it would be difficult to remember what cards came from what box towards the end of the show.

[Philthy]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Just curious for value box dealers - how do you decide what cards to put in what value box?

Do you put cards that sell for 99 cents in the $1, $2 or $5 boxes?

How expensive do cards get that you put in your $1 boxes - up to $5 on eBay?

Do you even check prices on what cards you put where?

Do you ever purposely put $10 cards in the $1 or $2 boxes?

How much of a premium are you willing to give to box diggers?

How often do you reprice your discount boxes?

I have setup at a handful of shows and I always have a 4000 count box of dollar cards. This is just a hobby for me so I'm sure there are better ways to do it. For me, this is a way to move a lot of cards that are not worth listing on ebay. I only do baseball and I sort the cards by team.

I do 6 for $5, 10 for $8, and 50 for $25. I have cards in there that are probably worth any where from $0.25 to $5 (at the time I put them in there). Anything more than $5, I have a small binder that fits toploaded cards. I stick $5-$20 cards in there and the kids love it. I've sold over $200 just from the dollar box a couple times which is a massive win for me at these small shows.

I will say that at the last show I setup at, Elly de la Cruz was on fire at the time and someone find a couple paper 1sts in the dollar box. Good for them!

[LVDan]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

I can imagine it would be difficult to remember what cards came from what box towards the end of the show.

For sure. I used plastics as an identifer. Toploaded cards priced as marked, sleeve + cardsaver for $1 cards, sleeves only for .25 cards, raw dog for .10 (or whatever)

[imbluestreak23]

Originally Posted by beauspencer

This is exactly what I noticed at the most recent Chicago Sports Spectacular. More than 400 tables and the "bargain" boxes were awful.

You can't really blame them really. Tables at shows that use to be $50/table are now $150-$200. The $200 tables are now $600.

If you view $1,000 in tables as equivalent to eBay fees, you need to sell ~$10,000 at eBay market rates to get somewhere comparable to what you would get just selling on eBay. If you pay $1,000 in tables and only do $5,000 in business, you're paying a 20% seller fee.

Seems like deals use to be better when table fees were cheaper.

[Raleigh504]

It almost gets to the point when the table fees drastically increase to either only bring large dollar cards or hope to move alot of inventory and bring a bunch of stuff that you can't set out yet.

[discodanman45]

The future of card shows will be mystery packs and breakers opening packs for you. Who cares about collectors when the hobby is full of gamblers with addiction problems.

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

It’s funny, box flipper bois who swear they are true baseball and basketball card collectors inexplicably become hockey and non sport “collectors” overnight - they are like flies that follow the stench, mistaking their love of cards for the love of the flip.

E Pack is dangerous for these folks...can blow through $100+ in 30 seconds. Upper Deck is making a killing with all of these Bedard "chases" for digital cards that can be redeemed for physical cards in 8-12 weeks. Right around when Series 2 drops...

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by bhundley

Since we're talking value boxes, I am curious what the preference is among those here as far as organization...

- Sorted by price only ($1, $5, $10, etc.)
- Sorted by sport only with prices marked by card
- Sorted by type of card (rookies, stars, numbered, auto, etc) with prices marked by card
- Some combination of these

- Price
- Sport
- Team

Wouldn't worry too much about type of card...that's part of the hunt in the bargain boxes.

[LVDan]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

The future of card shows will be mystery packs and breakers opening packs for you. Who cares about collectors when the hobby is full of gamblers with addiction problems.

I can envision a spinning wheel of misfortune with a big header titled Jackson Holliday Topps Chrome RC with 100 “winning” slots :
40 base
10 refractor
5ea sepia, prism, pink
3ea Negative, Magenta, purple, purple wave, teal, teal wave
1ea- blue and better up to orange ref
Guys set up to sell their rainbow stashes like this for $2k at $20/spin.

[bjw]

Originally Posted by LVDan

Im going to call Oct 1 through Turkey Day the bottom of this year's offseason pricing for now. The well of really cheap auction wins seems to have dried up considerably the last 10 days, at least for the crap I buy.

Same experience for me, detailed in my lengthy post previous page. I was outbid on everything I went after at REA Sunday night. That turned out to be the perfect end time for sellers in those auctions when the Friday close had the Dow Jones and gold just about all time highs, and crypto in a healthy rebound right through Sunday night.

[zakcollects]

Not a card show topic but still sort of state of the hobby -

I've been noticing a weird upward trend on eBay of people doing Auctions but with pricing set at or above BIN prices. I don't really understand the intention except to inflate card value and sell nothing.

[89Giants]

Originally Posted by imbluestreak23

You can't really blame them really. Tables at shows that use to be $50/table are now $150-$200. The $200 tables are now $600.

If you view $1,000 in tables as equivalent to eBay fees, you need to sell ~$10,000 at eBay market rates to get somewhere comparable to what you would get just selling on eBay. If you pay $1,000 in tables and only do $5,000 in business, you're paying a 20% seller fee.

Seems like deals use to be better when table fees were cheaper.

This is why I havent set up recently even though I want to. Ive set up at 2 shows and my goal is always to make it to where the table is 10% or less of my sales. I have a good amount of great bargain .25c & $1 cards but shows at minimum now are charging $100 for a 6ft table for a show that is from 10-4 on a saturday. 2 day shows minimum $150. My .25c cards are common #'d, star low end inserts, parallels. $1 cards are jerseys, autos, better inserts.