Thoughts/Protocall on trading at Card Shows??

Hey guys,
I don't go to shows very often, but I was just wondering what your thoughts were on trading at them. I am not setting up, just going to browse, and I would like to bring a few cards that I'm looking to move. How should I go about doing this? Just bring them in toploaders in a bag, or what? Sorry for the newbie question and thanks for any opinions.

-Chris

I always carry a box around with me most dealers ask if I am trading or selling. They usually expect there end to be a little better from what I have seen. When I set up I go equal value always have a sign that I am trading and buying and enjoy looking at other peoples cards

top loaders an team bags are fine. Remember that like a pawn shop they cant give you face value for the cards they need to be able to turn around an sell them for a profit. Also i dont know where you live but it is easier for me living in michigan to unload Detroit players here then a good player from other cities because he knows that it wont sit in his cases for forever.

Some dealers will give you even trade. Personally I never understood why I should give the dealer a better deal (he's getting cards he wants, so obviously he feels they will go up in value or will be easier to move anyways) but if the alternative is selling the cards on eBay, your saving the 10% or so in eBay fees dealing in person so you aren't really losing.

Many times when you are dealing showing your cards to a dealer someone might come over and express interest, or you might have someone simply inquire if you are looking to trade. Make sure to be considerate to the dealers when you do so. If you are in middle of working a deal with a dealer (or anyone for that matter) finish with that person before seeing what the one who is inquiring wants. Also, if you are trading with someone who is not a dealer, make sure not to do so by a dealers table. It is pretty inconsiderate to crowd his space while dealing with someone else. Take the deal to a table that is empty or to the side somewhere.

I have found that on either end of a deal, there is one thing that makes transactions smooth for me... That is to know without a doubt how much you want for individual cards and the best deal you would give if someone wants to offer on everything you bring. eBay is your best outlet for price research before you go. Just check some completed listings and formulate your own pricing structure. This will keep you from fumbling for prices and cheating yourself since you are already well aware of current market value.

I've set up for a show a couple times and don't be this guy:

Guy came up to me with a 3 row box full of base cards and low-key inserts. The box looked like it had sat in a garage-leak for a week. After politely declining on buying any of his cards, he seemed irritated that I wouldn't and started flipping through all my star base/low insert cards that I had for 50 cents a piece (players like Pujols, Ichiro, Jeter, Howard, etc.)

He grabbed my remaining Pujols cards (violently I might add), started counting them on the table like they were playing cards. I asked him to be more careful, he just chuckled and said "yeah, sorry" After counting the Pujols cards (there were 20) he said how much for the entire lot?

I figured he wanted a deal so instead of the normal $10 I would've asked for I told him I could sell all 20 for $8 and he laughed then took like 5 cards out and said I can give you a $1 for these 5 ( just so happened he pull the 5 more premium brands of Pujols I had). I politely declined.

Then he asked, I kid you not: "Well can I just take these 2?"
I said: "Sure, that'll be $1"
He said: "No, can I just have them. You have tons of Pujols here"

Finally I lost all hope and didn't care about doing any business with this guy ever. So I just did my modest fake laugh and asked him to leave. He was literally mad, cussing at me, walking away.

Sorry for the long read but it was the most ridiculous experience I've ever had at a show.

Prepare to be lowballed. I haven't tried much, but it hasn't gone well.

markakis8 said:

I've set up for a show a couple times and don't be this guy:

Guy came up to me with a 3 row box full of base cards and low-key inserts. The box looked like it had sat in a garage-leak for a week. After politely declining on buying any of his cards, he seemed irritated that I wouldn't and started flipping through all my star base/low insert cards that I had for 50 cents a piece (players like Pujols, Ichiro, Jeter, Howard, etc.)

He grabbed my remaining Pujols cards (violently I might add), started counting them on the table like they were playing cards. I asked him to be more careful, he just chuckled and said "yeah, sorry" After counting the Pujols cards (there were 20) he said how much for the entire lot?

I figured he wanted a deal so instead of the normal $10 I would've asked for I told him I could sell all 20 for $8 and he laughed then took like 5 cards out and said I can give you a $1 for these 5 ( just so happened he pull the 5 more premium brands of Pujols I had). I politely declined.

Then he asked, I kid you not: "Well can I just take these 2?"
I said: "Sure, that'll be $1"
He said: "No, can I just have them. You have tons of Pujols here"

Finally I lost all hope and didn't care about doing any business with this guy ever. So I just did my modest fake laugh and asked him to leave. He was literally mad, cussing at me, walking away.

Sorry for the long read but it was the most ridiculous experience I've ever had at a show.

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lol wow

I just put a rubber band around them. No soft sleeves or anything.

55_marlins_sp said:

I just put a rubber band around them. No soft sleeves or anything.

Click to expand...

I do this as well, only taking them out if I need to wipe my mouth in the event that I may have eaten something greasy. Works like a charm.

Ant

aminors said:

55_marlins_sp said:

I just put a rubber band around them. No soft sleeves or anything.

Click to expand...

I do this as well, only taking them out if I need to wipe my mouth in the event that I may have eaten something greasy. Works like a charm.

Ant

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I just usually hold the cards while eating a slice of peach cobbler or enjoying a rack of ribs ...

55_marlins_sp said:

aminors said:

[quote="55_marlins_sp":3g07o3x8]I just put a rubber band around them. No soft sleeves or anything.

Click to expand...

I do this as well, only taking them out if I need to wipe my mouth in the event that I may have eaten something greasy. Works like a charm.

Ant

Click to expand...

I just usually hold the cards while eating a slice of peach cobbler or enjoying a rack of ribs ...[/quote:3g07o3x8]

Never tried ribs. I do drink overfilled drinks, though, and enjoy some hot wings.

It's okay though. I lick them clean if I get anything on them.

Ant

markakis8 said:

I've set up for a show a couple times and don't be this guy:

Guy came up to me with a 3 row box full of base cards and low-key inserts. The box looked like it had sat in a garage-leak for a week. After politely declining on buying any of his cards, he seemed irritated that I wouldn't and started flipping through all my star base/low insert cards that I had for 50 cents a piece (players like Pujols, Ichiro, Jeter, Howard, etc.)

He grabbed my remaining Pujols cards (violently I might add), started counting them on the table like they were playing cards. I asked him to be more careful, he just chuckled and said "yeah, sorry" After counting the Pujols cards (there were 20) he said how much for the entire lot?

I figured he wanted a deal so instead of the normal $10 I would've asked for I told him I could sell all 20 for $8 and he laughed then took like 5 cards out and said I can give you a $1 for these 5 ( just so happened he pull the 5 more premium brands of Pujols I had). I politely declined.

Then he asked, I kid you not: "Well can I just take these 2?"
I said: "Sure, that'll be $1"
He said: "No, can I just have them. You have tons of Pujols here"

Finally I lost all hope and didn't care about doing any business with this guy ever. So I just did my modest fake laugh and asked him to leave. He was literally mad, cussing at me, walking away.

Sorry for the long read but it was the most ridiculous experience I've ever had at a show.

Click to expand...

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I have another good one like this:

Long time ago I set up at a one day show that charge $1 admission. I had a plastic bin on my table with a large pile of cards that I was asking 10 cents each on. I had a guy spend over an hour thumbing thru each and every card, neatly stacking them up in 2-3 stacks as he went thru them. Nobody else could get past him while he was doing this. After he was done, he handed me 4 cards and asked if I could take a quarter for them cause he lost his job and had to "cut back" on his expenses. I laughed, took the three cards and buried them under the rest of the stacks and knocked them all back into a pile and told him, "You just spent too much money getting in the door then." The part I remember the most was seeing this same guy a few weeks later walking around the Sun Times show in Chicago with a box of cards in holders and screwdowns. Must have gotten his job back I guess.

At my LCS we get guys that have a few card in toploaders in there pockets, to some guys with backpacks full of stuff, just dont be a walking dealer or youll probably be asked to leave from the promoter as Ive seen at my shows a bunch of times. let the dealers ask you if your selling/trading next your better off first trying to trade for something your interested in rather then selling, as dealer at my LCS and it was for the most part decent stuff I probably would do even trade to help you out.. but if you wanted cash I would need to buy it, put it in my case, and make somewhat of a profit. so lets say a Tommy Hanson auto goes for $55-$60 on ebay, Id offer $45-$55 on it knowing Id make a somewhat of a profit, Im one of the more fair guy, but beware you also have your rapists who would try to give you $20 and theyll get it if they been doing this for a while and are slick enought to BS you,just dont jump at the first guy that offers to buy your stuff...my best advise WORK THE ROOM, hope that helps a bit

My personal story:

I don't trade at shows(ever) but I do some trades with a local dealer quite a lot. Most of the time its just for complete crap base cards that I really don't need. Its never a star card either. I mean literally cards I have no use for. Basically I take what I need for the set completion, take all players I collect out as well, and then off the rest go for trade. It works pretty good.

But I had a little bit of a hurdle I ran across that I wasn't too happy about. At the start of our trades I was trading what was left of my comic books for brand new wax and even a little bit of older wax(1997-2005 baseball, basketball, and football). He was generally pretty good when it came to boxes he already owned. He always let those go considerably cheaper. But the new wax ...well he would pay...lets say a hypothetical $80 for a hobby box, then turn around and tell me he wanted a $100 trade value on it. Plus he would not give me, on my higher value items, even 50% of what they were worth. And you need to trade higher value items for something like that or else you'll be trading a whole slew of stuff for one box. I have a comic worth say $100...he might do $40 trade for it. At first I let it go on for a while since I felt he was actually going out of his way by having to buy a wax box to trade. Plus he said he had a hard time moving things that were more expensive out at his shop since it was at a flea market.

But I soon noticed him selling the things I traded him quite easily and making a lot more than the trade value he gave me on it. I brought it up and he obliged by giving me a little more per item but not a whole lot. In any case I let it go since I was just happy to have somebody to trade this stuff to for the stuff I actually wanted. For some reason its almost impossible to find a shop around here who does comics and sports stuff and the only couple I know of would have ***** me raw on the deal.

After I got rid of all my comics he ended up still wanting to trade for things now and then. Except I had some really high priced items and he started getting to where he was really trying to rape me on the deal. We had one such potential deal working and he was really raking me over the coals. I had to have a talk with him. Since I wasn't asking him to buy any new wax...all I was doing was trading for stuff that had been in his shop for quite a while...I expected a better deal. None of this stuff had sold, the stuff I had to trade would, and he still wanted to have the upper hand. By that time we had grown to be somewhat friends but he never seemd to lose the "dealer" mentality. He always had to come out on top. So now I jsut bring him junk. if he wants it cool. If not...oh well.

Its my opinion that if someone is not having to put out money up front(like buying something specifically to trade to you), and you have some decent stuff to trade(something that won't sit on their shelf collecting dust forever), then the trade ought to be pretty even. Why do people feel the need to make even more money off of a trade? Now if they go and are actually, by coincidence, able to sell it for more, then more power to them. But if I have a card that is worth just as much as one you have, and the one you have is not selling, and the one I have is, then why not do a straight up trade(if I decide I want the card) and then just be happy to turn around and sell what I traded you? Most dealers won't do this and I have never figured out why? I mean I understand the need to make profit, but why try to screw the guy you're trading with too?

As for selling...I wouldn't even bother.

You should not get an even deal because you pay a few dollars to get in to the show. They are paying a few hundred to be there. Before they sell a card they are in a whole a few hundred.

Topnotchsy said:

Some dealers will give you even trade. Personally I never understood why I should give the dealer a better deal (he's getting cards he wants, so obviously he feels they will go up in value or will be easier to move anyways) but if the alternative is selling the cards on eBay, your saving the 10% or so in eBay fees dealing in person so you aren't really losing.

Many times when you are dealing showing your cards to a dealer someone might come over and express interest, or you might have someone simply inquire if you are looking to trade. Make sure to be considerate to the dealers when you do so. If you are in middle of working a deal with a dealer (or anyone for that matter) finish with that person before seeing what the one who is inquiring wants. Also, if you are trading with someone who is not a dealer, make sure not to do so by a dealers table. It is pretty inconsiderate to crowd his space while dealing with someone else. Take the deal to a table that is empty or to the side somewhere.

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jcmint said:

You should not get an even deal because you pay a few dollars to get in to the show. They are paying a few hundred to be there. Before they sell a card they are in a whole a few hundred.

Topnotchsy said:

Some dealers will give you even trade. Personally I never understood why I should give the dealer a better deal (he's getting cards he wants, so obviously he feels they will go up in value or will be easier to move anyways) but if the alternative is selling the cards on eBay, your saving the 10% or so in eBay fees dealing in person so you aren't really losing.

Many times when you are dealing showing your cards to a dealer someone might come over and express interest, or you might have someone simply inquire if you are looking to trade. Make sure to be considerate to the dealers when you do so. If you are in middle of working a deal with a dealer (or anyone for that matter) finish with that person before seeing what the one who is inquiring wants. Also, if you are trading with someone who is not a dealer, make sure not to do so by a dealers table. It is pretty inconsiderate to crowd his space while dealing with someone else. Take the deal to a table that is empty or to the side somewhere.

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True. But they should also nto try to make money on trades. Unless what youa re trading has very low sellability.

predatorkj said:

True. But they should also nto try to make money on trades. Unless what you are trading has very low sellability.

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The average dealer is only going to make a trade if he can either profit or move the new item faster than the trade bait.

f2tornado said:

predatorkj said:

True. But they should also nto try to make money on trades. Unless what you are trading has very low sellability.

Click to expand...

The average dealer is only going to make a trade if he can either profit or move the new item faster than the trade bait.

Click to expand...

Very true.

I can tell most people in this thread have never set up shop at a show before. So let me enlighten you. It's a money making venture that costs money to do. The whole(read: sole) purpose is to make money. It's not a swap meet, nor a event of charity(normally). They are there to make money, period. Every transaction will benefit the dealer one way or another. Knowing this as fact is going to save time and hassle from the get go.

Most dealers will trade by a 3 to 2 factor. You give 3, they give 2 in an apples to apples scenerio. The deal may sweeten a bit depending on the sell-ability of what your offering, but still will always benefit the dealer. Selling is a bit trickier. But one should never expect anything above 60%-70% of current value. With exceptions being made on expensive, in-demand cards. If a dealer can buy a card for $1000 he knows he can sell for $1100 right away, then he will gladly give the 90%. However, when selling the $10 - $100 or so cards, he may have to sit on for a while, do not expect near current value.

Most of us here have better, more profitable, options so this may seem fruitless. But it's how it's done at shows. And if you are unwilling to abide by this, then so be it. There are many out there willing to adhere the card show standards. You will not be missed.

i think we scarred off the guy who asked if he should bring cards to his local card show lol.