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

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

True!

So you are saying sports cards dealers have a chance?

[insert Jim Carrey gif]

Dismissing dealers at card shows as idiots is underestimating how successful low-IQ people can be at making money. You don't have to be a genius to have a good hustle.

[ironfireman]

Originally Posted by mfw13

There are a LOT of "dealers" out there who are really collectors/flippers just setting up at shows, and who don't really have great business skills or know much about running a successful business.

Yeah I was some kids table who had a auto Trout card for $600 - he openly said to a customer that comps where 360ish and he really didn't want to sell just if someone really wanted it that bad... I took about 30 inserts from him out of .25 box; Bomb Squad Raptures, Judge, Trout, Harper, Soto... I guess he only thought autos and #'s were worth anything. Thanks dude!

[xposipx]

The hotel show in Charlotte this prior weekend was the same as it typically is. It's small with the same familiar faces every time. I go there to trade some stuff with one dealer who is great who has high-end WWE. There's also a couple guys there who occasionally have really fun quarter boxes to go through. I picked up about 300+ of those.

It's always pretty full and tough to navigate in such a small space, but there's very few unfriendly or uneducated dealers there. About 25% has overpriced junk you can walk by without any hesitation, and about 25% had a showcase with very few cards just looking to buy collections for 50% value. The other 50% were legit and had some cool stuff here and there.

There's one guy with graded high-end vintage that is fairly priced (at ebay or 10% below). There were 2-3 overpriced vintage dealers as well. There's the same awful dealer with overpriced wax that appears to be potentially fondled as well. Everyone else has ultra modern stuff priced relatively close to Ebay and would negotiate. Those guys were almost all friendly, too.

My two negative interactions weren't too bad. One was with a young guy who clearly didn't know cards well trying to front like he had a lot of money. He asked what I had to look at and tried to Google an Acuna 1/1 leaf auto for a good 5 minutes while I browsed his stuff. He couldnt figure out the product and got frustrated and wouldnt make an offer because he couldnt figure out how to value it. I would have taken $100-120 which is around 60%. It's clearly someone who will be in and out of the "hobby" quickly. There were also some younger know-it-alls saying the word "comp" over and over and haggling that got on my nerves. They are young, so I don't let it bother me too much.

Lots of kids with pelicans trying to trade or sell lower end modern and realizing no dealers want it. That doesn't bother me much because it's just kids. There were a lot, though.

My other "bad" interaction was more just interesting. One dealer I've seen who typically quotes prices off the top of his head had a new box of 1999-2005 autos and mem. Lots of stuff you don't see much. Probably 150 cards or so in the $5-20 range. I saw a lot I wanted and a lot I could trade/sell. He said he had it out the whole show and only sold 2 cards from it and seemed surprised. I asked him how much for the whole box and he said he just bought it for $2,200 and was happy with that but would need $3,000. That just shocked me because he got swindled on it. I would offer about $900 for it, but obviously didn't. It probably had $1500 in it if you singled it all out on ebay.

Anyway, I sold a card for $110 and spent $120, so I did what I always do. Sell enough to break even on what I buy and hoard low-end.

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by xposipx

The hotel show in Charlotte this prior weekend was the same as it typically is. It's small with the same familiar faces every time. I go there to trade some stuff with one dealer who is great who has high-end WWE. There's also a couple guys there who occasionally have really fun quarter boxes to go through. I picked up about 300+ of those.

It's always pretty full and tough to navigate in such a small space, but there's very few unfriendly or uneducated dealers there. About 25% has overpriced junk you can walk by without any hesitation, and about 25% had a showcase with very few cards just looking to buy collections for 50% value. The other 50% were legit and had some cool stuff here and there.

There's one guy with graded high-end vintage that is fairly priced (at ebay or 10% below). There were 2-3 overpriced vintage dealers as well. There's the same awful dealer with overpriced wax that appears to be potentially fondled as well. Everyone else has ultra modern stuff priced relatively close to Ebay and would negotiate. Those guys were almost all friendly, too.

My two negative interactions weren't too bad. One was with a young guy who clearly didn't know cards well trying to front like he had a lot of money. He asked what I had to look at and tried to Google an Acuna 1/1 leaf auto for a good 5 minutes while I browsed his stuff. He couldnt figure out the product and got frustrated and wouldnt make an offer because he couldnt figure out how to value it. I would have taken $100-120 which is around 60%. It's clearly someone who will be in and out of the "hobby" quickly. There were also some younger know-it-alls saying the word "comp" over and over and haggling that got on my nerves. They are young, so I don't let it bother me too much.

Lots of kids with pelicans trying to trade or sell lower end modern and realizing no dealers want it. That doesn't bother me much because it's just kids. There were a lot, though.

My other "bad" interaction was more just interesting. One dealer I've seen who typically quotes prices off the top of his head had a new box of 1999-2005 autos and mem. Lots of stuff you don't see much. Probably 150 cards or so in the $5-20 range. I saw a lot I wanted and a lot I could trade/sell. He said he had it out the whole show and only sold 2 cards from it and seemed surprised. I asked him how much for the whole box and he said he just bought it for $2,200 and was happy with that but would need $3,000. That just shocked me because he got swindled on it. I would offer about $900 for it, but obviously didn't. It probably had $1500 in it if you singled it all out on ebay.

Anyway, I sold a card for $110 and spent $120, so I did what I always do. Sell enough to break even on what I buy and hoard low-end.

Hopefully I wasn't one of the bad sellers you are referring to. I have sold at it a few times along with other locations. This show always have good sales overall but hard to predict what people actually want. This last one my golf, hockey and some local teams moved, but Jordan/Kobe/LeBron/Manning/Brady/etc. didn't move. Two shows before that people were looking and buying all of them. The quarter bins seemed to move a ton for other dealers and I stopped bringing mine (sold it on eBay instead) since no one would look through them and wanted $1-$10 cards. Had a few people ask if I had any high-end cards ($1k & up) which I don't bring anymore. Last show my 90s cards moved a ton and this time only a few moved (people completing sets).


There were a lot of kids who were trying to sell/trade, and when asking how much they want it for, they never knew what it went for and would throw out a high number. When you would show them what they actually go for then they would always say that's too low and seem to get upset you didn't give them what they wanted. At the end of the show there were a few kids saying they wanted to sell all/certain cards (wouldn't show you them) and wanted several hundred for them. I will say about the ones who sold wax, they did give some nice deals to other dealers before the show. I bought a few that I ripped during the show and pulled some nice cards. I was able to get boxes for under current comps.

Also I have only done 1 table and the only time I have done 2 is I actually lost money at a show (no one came to it, maybe a hundred tops). I may look into adding a second table and get more inventory with $0.25 boxes, $1 and then showcase items (local teams, graded, autos, relics, etc). Will wait to see how the next one goes before deciding to get more inventory.

[xposipx]

Originally Posted by Raleigh504

Hopefully I wasn't one of the bad sellers you are referring to. I have sold at it a few times along with other locations. This show always have good sales overall but hard to predict what people actually want. This last one my golf, hockey and some local teams moved, but Jordan/Kobe/LeBron/Manning/Brady/etc. didn't move. Two shows before that people were looking and buying all of them. The quarter bins seemed to move a ton for other dealers and I stopped bringing mine (sold it on eBay instead) since no one would look through them and wanted $1-$10 cards. Had a few people ask if I had any high-end cards ($1k & up) which I don't bring anymore. Last show my 90s cards moved a ton and this time only a few moved (people completing sets).


There were a lot of kids who were trying to sell/trade, and when asking how much they want it for, they never knew what it went for and would throw out a high number. When you would show them what they actually go for then they would always say that's too low and seem to get upset you didn't give them what they wanted. At the end of the show there were a few kids saying they wanted to sell all/certain cards (wouldn't show you them) and wanted several hundred for them. I will say about the ones who sold wax, they did give some nice deals to other dealers before the show. I bought a few that I ripped during the show and pulled some nice cards. I was able to get boxes for under current comps.

Also I have only done 1 table and the only time I have done 2 is I actually lost money at a show (no one came to it, maybe a hundred tops). I may look into adding a second table and get more inventory with $0.25 boxes, $1 and then showcase items (local teams, graded, autos, relics, etc). Will wait to see how the next one goes before deciding to get more inventory.

Nope - sounds like one of the good ones. I had a good conversation with one dealer about how he was struggling to figure out what people were looking for. And inevitably, whatever he left at home would be what people would ask for. It was pretty funny - he's a good one with good prices and super friendly. Bought some Kyle Tucker from him a couple shows back. I imagine with such limited space, it's hard to hit a home run with what people are searching for.

It was very odd - VERY few Panthers cards on the floor from Steve Smith and Delhomme and other favorites that would movie quickly.

[solt0131]

The absolute hottest stuff right now at shows is value items - $50 and under.....all the way down to .25 cent cards.

[bigdog2003]

Originally Posted by solt0131

The absolute hottest stuff right now at shows is value items - $50 and under.....all the way down to .25 cent cards.

Do you think the reason the .25-$5 cards are moving so much has to do with the influencer guys showing more $1 box buys? I admit I watch some of these videos, and more and more of them are moving to buying $1 box stuff to flip instead of showing the $5-10k buys.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by bigdog2003

Do you think the reason the .25-$5 cards are moving so much has to do with the influencer guys showing more $1 box buys? I admit I watch some of these videos, and more and more of them are moving to buying $1 box stuff to flip instead of showing the $5-10k buys.

why? lol

[notfast]

Originally Posted by solt0131

The absolute hottest stuff right now at shows is value items - $50 and under.....all the way down to .25 cent cards.

This has always been the case.

Other stuff is flashier but you make your money with the stuff under $100

[bigdog2003]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

why? lol

By watch I mean have them on in the background while doing other stuff.

[xposipx]

Originally Posted by bigdog2003

By watch I mean have them on in the background while doing other stuff.

Don't feel bad. I do it too the same way. Mainly because it's what I've been doing for years and it's cool to see what others find. I'll scan a few of the better cards from this haul this time. What they don't show is that you have to dig for HOURS to find a few $8-10 cards. It's not viable to do unless it's fun for you and you have good knowledge. They definitely make it look like you can make $100 in a minute or two. What they don't show is the hour of sorting through junk prior to that.

[sandlotsportcards]

Originally Posted by solt0131

The absolute hottest stuff right now at shows is value items - $50 and under.....all the way down to .25 cent cards.

That's why I have been accumulating a $1 box, sent a small sub to SGC for the Topps Special, and have a decent amount of sub $100 things for hopefully setting up at one of the two monthly shows here. It just hasn't been working out timing wise and the shows have been busy enough that no one cancels their table. My son has also been accumulating a good amount of low end Pokemon and separating his Holos to build a $.25 box. I think he would do really well selling Pokemon.

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

why? lol

To see how the other half lives.

[bigdog2003]

Originally Posted by xposipx

Don't feel bad. I do it too the same way. Mainly because it's what I've been doing for years and it's cool to see what others find. I'll scan a few of the better cards from this haul this time. What they don't show is that you have to dig for HOURS to find a few $8-10 cards. It's not viable to do unless it's fun for you and you have good knowledge. They definitely make it look like you can make $100 in a minute or two. What they don't show is the hour of sorting through junk prior to that.

That's the part people don't get about anybody that resells online. They see vintage clothing sellers, card sellers, general resellers, that post videos of finds and are like man these people are making money in no time doing this. They don't see spending an entire day driving to various thrift stores, flea markets, sitting at dollar boxes at shows for hours, to make money. They also don't see the days you don't find anything and spent 8 hours spending money/time that you won't get back.

[wubh]

I only sell on COMC and exclusively lowend and have been steadily moving a lot of $1-$5 cards recently, most of which are priced more for the PC rather than a quick flip.

Interestingly enough, I've noticed that I'm selling way more mem cards recently.

Yesterday, an Indiana sports fans bought 10 Jermaine O'Neal Pacers jersey cards including 1 that has been in my port since 2012 plus 4 2000s Colts jersey cards. I also sold 5 2008 Masterpieces Captured on Canvases (gorgeous, kinda want them back now lol) to another user the same day.

Looking through some other recent mem card sales this moth, I've sold 2 MLS cards (to different users), 2 early 2000s Pacific NFL, a DeSean Jackson rookie, 3 mid 2000s NBA, and 1 Pacific Titanium hockey.

I had all of these priced at $2.49 so I doubt anybody is looking to flip. But most of these were probably actually game used as opposed to the ultra modern garbage.

[xposipx]

These are some of the highlights and PC cards from .30 cent boxes and a 50 cent boxes form the Charlotte show. I picked up 350 or so cards for $120. You won't get rich, but can find some fun stuff. About 200 of the cards were 1st bowman chromes from field positional players 2021/22 as well. Ranging from 50 cent cards to about $3-4.

69967888038__D55392F3-5127-42C0-AE9B-DEA340D55AFE by xposipx, on Flickr

69967801192__9395E176-85A5-4F3F-B2EC-E6D6A28E0955 by xposipx, on Flickr

69967665465__102497FF-B495-4464-A6A5-0DA2932B1C07 by xposipx, on Flickr

69967586792__8E81E3EC-6A11-4AF5-BC7F-9E58A551B3AB by xposipx, on Flickr

[imbluestreak23]

Big show coming up in PHX. I know one guy has a giant spinning wheel, $5 per roll and whatever it lands on I think is the card that you get. That freaking wheel spins all dang weekend.

I'll have my own little board game. Thos things are super popular with the kids and I loaded them up last year with some good stuff. A few $5 rolls landing $40 and $50 cards makes a kids day

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by imbluestreak23

Big show coming up in PHX. I know one guy has a giant spinning wheel, $5 per roll and whatever it lands on I think is the card that you get. That freaking wheel spins all dang weekend.

I'll have my own little board game. Thos things are super popular with the kids and I loaded them up last year with some good stuff. A few $5 rolls landing $40 and $50 cards makes a kids day

I’d pay $2.99 for 10 rolls.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by wubh

I only sell on COMC and exclusively lowend and have been steadily moving a lot of $1-$5 cards recently, most of which are priced more for the PC rather than a quick flip.

Interestingly enough, I've noticed that I'm selling way more mem cards recently.

Yesterday, an Indiana sports fans bought 10 Jermaine O'Neal Pacers jersey cards including 1 that has been in my port since 2012 plus 4 2000s Colts jersey cards. I also sold 5 2008 Masterpieces Captured on Canvases (gorgeous, kinda want them back now lol) to another user the same day.

Looking through some other recent mem card sales this moth, I've sold 2 MLS cards (to different users), 2 early 2000s Pacific NFL, a DeSean Jackson rookie, 3 mid 2000s NBA, and 1 Pacific Titanium hockey.

I had all of these priced at $2.49 so I doubt anybody is looking to flip. But most of these were probably actually game used as opposed to the ultra modern garbage.

I also sold a jermaine o'neal jersey card - I had an interesting thought though.

The majority of the cards I sell weren't the cards that got pumped in 2020 and 2021. So I'm actually having a pretty good year with lower end stuff. In 2022 though I made about 50% less than 2021 and 2020. So I definitely still felt the effects of the market crashing.

It seems to be the cards people are gravitating to more than cards like Luka prizm 2nd year psa 10 base and all that stuff that got pumped to oblivion.

[imbluestreak23]

Originally Posted by eastbayak

I’d pay $2.99 for 10 rolls.

I bet a game could be set up to make that happen lol

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by imbluestreak23

I bet a game could be set up to make that happen lol

Haha probably. When I was a kid, my LCS had a "yahtzee" game.

$1 for a single roll.
$2 for 3 rolls.

6 (1-1-1-1-1-1) and 36 (6-6-6-6-6-6) offered the best rewards.

You should try that once and see how it goes. Shoot, I might have to do this once at a local card show. Maybe have one for "low-end" and one for "mid-end"

[imbluestreak23]

Originally Posted by eastbayak

Haha probably. When I was a kid, my LCS had a "yahtzee" game.

$1 for a single roll.
$2 for 3 rolls.

6 (1-1-1-1-1-1) and 36 (6-6-6-6-6-6) offered the best rewards.

You should try that once and see how it goes. Shoot, I might have to do this once at a local card show. Maybe have one for "low-end" and one for "mid-end"

That's exactly what I did last year. Odds of a 6 and a 36 are 1 in 46K. Getting a sum of 18 to 24 occurs 58% of the time so that's where you put the lower tier stuff, but the rare stuff out in the corners.

I'm going to have one for either $5-$10 a roll and another at $50-$100 a roll. I custom designed the boards and the big one is a "high roller" board lol. My last big show the $5 rolls literaly paid for the tables and I gave away some good stuff. Low value hits were a combo of superstar bass, Julio Rodriguez BB21 rookies, while the rare but likely hits were $40-$75 autos and GU. I'd usually give a break if people bought 5 rolls where they get another roll free.

I remember seeing them as a kid and a guy had an 86 Fleer MJ on one end and an unopned box of 86 Fleer basketball on the other so I wasted a bunch of money trying to get them lol

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by imbluestreak23

That's exactly what I did last year. Odds of a 6 and a 36 are 1 in 46K. Getting a sum of 18 to 24 occurs 58% of the time so that's where you put the lower tier stuff, but the rare stuff out in the corners.

I'm going to have one for either $5-$10 a roll and another at $50-$100 a roll. I custom designed the boards and the big one is a "high roller" board lol. My last big show the $5 rolls literaly paid for the tables and I gave away some good stuff. Low value hits were a combo of superstar bass, Julio Rodriguez BB21 prospect cards, while the rare but likely hits were $40-$75 autos and GU. I'd usually give a break if people bought 5 rolls where they get another roll free.

I remember seeing them as a kid and a guy had an 86 Fleer MJ on one end and an unopned box of 86 Fleer basketball on the other so I wasted a bunch of money trying to get them lol

What?! Did you ever own a card store in the SF Bay Area?!

I'd love to play your low-end ($5-$10) roll game. Great move to offer a free roll if someone buys 5, makes them feel like they've already won something.

Shoot, I'd be doing the same if I saw a 86-87 Fleer MJ RC or unopened 86-87 Fleer box on such a gameboard too!!

Sorry, I hate to do this but I needed to correct one mistake in your post (bolded).

[ObanMontecristo]

I’m going to the Philly Show this weekend- hoping to pick up 2 bigger items I’ve been wanting to replace/get for my PC. Want a Trout 2011 Update PSA 10 (I had one a while back but sold it and want to replace). Also want an ‘81 Topps Bird/Magic/Dr. J (maybe a PSA 6 or 7).

[vintg]

Originally Posted by ObanMontecristo

I’m going to the Philly Show this weekend- hoping to pick up 2 bigger items I’ve been wanting to replace/get for my PC. Want a Trout 2011 Update PSA 10 (I had one a while back but sold it and want to replace). Also want an ‘81 Topps Bird/Magic/Dr. J (maybe a PSA 6 or 7).

i like the trout update (have a bgs 9.5)

i LOVE the bird/magic rookie ICONIC (have centered sgc 5.5 and 6.5)

good luck

i get a "doublebill" sat- bridgeview, IL, sun- orland park-IL