[madamson]

Ok.....so last time I ranted about someone not knowing what they wanted for a card, etc. I'll get back to that dude in a second. But, here's another doozy (SP?) that got plenty of us dealers talking today. This focuses on the ETHICS OF CARD SHOW DEALERS or...unwritten rules I should say. Here's how it went.

An elderly gentleman walks into the show carrying 3 small brown boxes. He's very cordial and says hi to people as he walks through. He stops at a table and asks the dealer if he is looking to buy some "older cards". Dealer says sure and he proceeds to go through the boxes. A few other dealers get a whiff that a deal may be struck on all of it (still not knowing what is in the boxes, mind you) and a buzz circles the room. The dealer buys a single card from the gentleman and the seller asks, "Do you think anyone else is buying older stuff?" The dealer directs him over to another older fellow who sells mostly vintage and they start to chat. By that time, most everyone has "stretched their legs" to see what the guy had. Here's where I got upset...no, pissed is more like it. As these two are negotiating, two guys who shared a table are almost in the lap of the seller, staring. They wait until the moment is right and then proclaim that they want to look at what he has also. Now, the other fellow whose table this is at, is not finished going through the boxes. He didn't seem to be annoyed at these two, but I was even though I, too, was interested. Long and short of it, the two guys that were hounding didn't get a chance as the guy sold the cards to the one he was currently dealing with. So, my question is: Is it NOT proper card show etiquette to keep your nose out of someone else's negotiating unless you are directly asked for input? I honestly can say I have never seen this happen before and would never leave my table to go try and snipe a deal out of a fellow dealer. Just my 2 cents.

Also, the dude I originally wrote about in this thread regarding not knowing what to ask for his cards, etc. was there again today. Again, he pretty much sold squat and not only that he needed to have NASCAR blaring on the TV in the room. Some of the dealers ended up turning it down and, well, the guy got up and left the show because of it. Good riddance. Maybe he's done with doing shows altogether.

Happy Collecting!

Mark







Good Evening,

Set up at a local card show today. As usual, once traffic started to slow down, I walked around and visited with some of the dealers and such. Came across one table that had a vintage card I was interested in. It was a common card from 1939 Play Ball and it was graded a PSA 3. I'm into vintage pretty heavily now and thought this might be a nice card to grab since I don't have many from that set and the fact that it was graded a 3 made me think it could be had for a reasonable price. Here's the conversation:

Him: "Anything you're interested in?"
Me: "Yeah, I like that Play Ball card you have. What are you hoping to get for it?"
Him: "Gee, I don't know."
Me: "Oh."
Him: "I haven't even looked to see what I should sell it for."
Me: "Ok. Want me to swing back later?"
Him: "Sure."

So, I swing back in 2 hours...having noticed that his table has been sssssssslllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwwwww. As in, no one has even stopped at his table to look.

Me: "Did you get a chance to come up with a price yet for that Play Ball?"
Him: "Not really. I've been buying and selling so much I haven't had the time."

Now, he has no obligation to sell the card to me...but why put something on the table (front row, center) if you don't have an idea of what you want for it? I'm not saying that he has to have EVERY price memorized for EVERY card he has on his table...which was about 40 total. But at least come up with something...or don't put it out was my thought.

I know what you're thinking..."Did you make him an offer?" The answer is I didn't. I think I was too busy trying to wrap my head all around what was happening.

I guess one of my biggest pet peeves at a show is a dealer not knowing what he/she wants for something. In a way I kinda felt sorry for him because he didn't sell much (if anything) and other than the Play Ball card he didn't have much.

Other than that, it was a great show. Picked up a couple goodies for the PC and sold around $300 to stick away for the Heritage case in March!

Sorry for the long story!

Mark

[Hofcollector]

Total tool box. As you stated, if your a dealer bringing cards, be ready to sell. I've had plenty of tip toe conversations where I ask what they're looking for and they him and haw for a minute but they always know a number. They may throw out a number and I may counter but I've never had someone not give me a number. Occasionally the card in question will have zero pricing and they'll ask me or I'll ask them what they think but a conversation at least takes place.

[y2hood]

When in doubt, say $10. At the very least it covers his cost of grading (or whatever a PSA grade costs). If he goes up from there, at least you gave a starting point.


Sorry you couldn't make a deal, sounds like it would have been a sweet piece of history to own.

[Hofcollector]

When in doubt, say $10. At the very least it covers his cost of grading (or whatever a PSA grade costs). If he goes up from there, at least you gave a starting point.


Sorry you couldn't make a deal, sounds like it would have been a sweet piece of history to own.

PSA is SUPER expensive. Sometimes it's waaaaay more than the cards actually worth graded.

[madamson]

Funny thing is...after the show I thought to myself that I should have offered $10! However, I always prefer that the seller toss an offer out first. It's just my quirky personality.

[y2hood]

Funny thing is...after the show I thought to myself that I should have offered $10! However, I always prefer that the seller toss an offer out first. It's just my quirky personality.

I respect that. I actually scored a Rocky II trading card in a PSA case a year ago. Guy picked it up at an estate sale and had no idea what to price it at. So I did my $10 thing and he said "sold."

[DrMitchJ]

My experience ... I've only been to 1 very dinky card show, but I've been to hundreds of comic book conventions. I really don't like to haggle. So I expect a dealer to take the time to grade and price a book fairly (which means I expect him to make a profit ... Just not 1000% from me). If I like it, and I think the price is fair, I buy it. If not, there's usually plenty of other dealers and my 'want list" was usually very long so I had plenty of options.

The 2 things that always p!ssed me off was 1) no pricing 2) inflated pricing.

No pricing meant either the dealer was too lazy or he wanted you to engage in a conversation about something he had, that now he knew you needed/wanted. That gave him the upper hand when negotiating after he asked you to make an offer. In those circumstances I always went with the ridiculous $1 offer. Usually, that annoyed the seller very much & I walked away laughing.

Inflated pricing meant either the dealer was being opportunistic and playing off the buyers' ignorance or he wanted to engage you in a conversation about something he had, that now he knew you needed/ wanted, once again giving the dealer an edge. Usually I just walked away in disgust. The dealer usually would try to call me back ... "Hey, don't walk away ... I accept all reasonable offers" and I'd say, "price your books reasonably and I wouldn't be walking away".

Needless to say, you always have the final word since you have the money and they paid to sell at the show. If they don't get your money, dozens of other dealers would be happy to accept it instead.
I'm sure it's the same exact story at card shows!

[Phillies_Joe]

I like a lot of others don't like to haggle. Doesn't matter what side of the fence I'm on. Selling- if the card says $125, that's what I want for it. Buying - tell me the price or I just keep moving. Nobody sb setting up at a show, not knowing what they want for a card. Hard to tell without being there, but if you made an offer, I bet they would have been right on the phone conferring with somebody / the owner of the card. Best to have just walked away....sweet card or not.

(PS...I never take advantage of anybody that appears or obviously does not know what they are doing (buying or selling)....I sleep better that way!)