One thing I really like about Bill, my go-to dealer at the monthly card show, is that while he's friendly and will joke around with everybody, he's never up in a customer's face trying to make a sale. There are other dealers that are immediately in your shit like, "Can I help you find something? Who do you like? You like the Seahawks? Howbout Michael Jordan? I've got a Joe Montana rookie that's real sharp." It's like, back off, bro! Just greet me with a little smile and nod and let me check out what you've got. If I have questions, I'll ask. Granted I'm definitely an introvert, but I tend to keep my distance from in-your-face dealers.. trying to catch a quick glimpse at what they've got without them latching their talons into me.
Let's bust out the rest of my pickups from Bill's quarterboxes that I plan to hang onto. (Still a trade bait post to come.) This will be quick.
Gold Miggy, throwback McCutchen, purple Giancarlo, A-Rod /1989, and Greinke 1st Edition.
Jenkins and Killebrew numbered out of /1000, with Bob Gibson being a hair more scarce at /999.
Fisk /400. I bet the facsimile auto on the Tom Seaver has caused many a double-take. It's /750. Glavine. Schmidt.
Finally, a couple cards numbered to 100. Roberto Alomar 54/100. Andre Dawson 61/100.
That's it! Nothing too amazing, but for 25 cents each, sure.
Thanks for reading.
I can't stand the way-too-overanxious-to-make-a-sale vendors. I stopped wearing jerseys to card shows because I'd have so many people try and sell me stuff based on whatever I had on at the time (especially my Roberto Clemente jersey).
ReplyDeleteI have to imagine if two dealers have the exact same inventory at the exact same prices that the less aggressive one probably will make more sales. I stay away from the guys that hound other buyers. I go to card shows not to be hassled, but to settle up to a dime box and eventually make a little small talk once I've been sitting there a half-hour or so. LOL
Delete"I bet the facsimile auto on the Tom Seaver has caused many a double-take."
ReplyDeleteIt caused at least one - got me. Also, dealers like that never get my money; just let the deal happen.
Your quarter box guys are way better than my quarter box guys! You really tend to pick out the exact kind of stuff I'd take in a heartbeat if I saw it in a quarter box.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely a lot of stuff like junk McGwire and Sammy Sosa cards to weed through, but I was lucky to find a nice cache of numbered cards that was responsible for the majority of my stack.
DeleteWow. HOFers numbered to 100 for 25¢ each is insane. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I dislike more, the people who try to get in your face the second you start looking at something or the people who don't have any interest in putting any prices on anything. I don't mind talking to people after I've been at someone's table for a minute or two and have clearly picked out a thing or two that I might want to buy, but I don't really want to engage or be engaged when I don't even know if I want to make any kind of purchase. And as far as the sad no-price people go, I get that it's tedious to put a price tag on every single card you have, but people should seriously embrace the convenience of sorting things by a pricing tier (quarter, dollar, whatever) and make an effort to put at least a starter value on the more expensive items if that's something you have. Not everyone likes to haggle... in fact, I feel like maybe only 10% of the population actually is interested in having a conversation about money with total strangers. It's weird. I don't fully get it.
ReplyDeleteDid you check out the magic show? It seems pretty magical.
Yeah, I agree about the no-price guys. If I spot something I'm really interested in, I might ask. But when they say, "Hang on while I grab a Beckett," it's like, nevermind.
DeleteAnd no, I totally missed out on the magic show. That'd be neat to check out sometime.
When card shows were a thing in my area I already know most of the guys that would set up so I would talk them up. The out of town shows were the exact opposite, and I didn't like to play 20 questions with every dealer.
ReplyDeleteI feel a little bad for dealers like that who catch me at their tables. They usually offer rookies first, which I could'nt care less about. Then it's either shiny or graded stuff which I don't want either. I'm like the anti-customer because I don't want any of the big hype stuff.
ReplyDelete