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

I thought I might give a few observations on the current state of the hobby from what I see at the big Pittsburgh show this weekend. Seems like this has been a hot topic recently on the board, so I figure I'll give you guys an opinion on what I see this weekend:

Friday (yesterday) - dealer set up was at 8 am and I got there around 9:30 and got set up with just value boxes because I felt this is what would move here and I was right as cards moved very well for me. In walking around I looked at basically every dealer's setup and will again this morning too and noticed one thing - current pricing is EVERYTHING!!!

Here are my takes:

--Guys pricing modern stuff over comps. (higher end stuff)
--Vintage seemed to be the hottest stuff.
--Cheap graded cards were a big hit from a few dealers I saw ($10 range)
--Mid range stuff seemed to be priced from a month ago.
--Good attendance for a Friday with buyers generally looking for a good value.
--Lots of dealers talking about higher costs and inflation concerns, etc.

I'll be there all day today and give a breakdown as well.

Thanks! I did not realize there was a show this weekend... I may run over for a bit...

Michael

Thanks for the insight.

I agree with you that value boxes are a good way to go. So many people bring high end stuff to set up, but so does everybody else. These people forget as collectors we like the hunt and search and above all we like finding good deals.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the summary. As a buyer, I like the value boxes for PC and the search for hidden bargains. On the other end, I can understand the higher costs for dealers. Hotel, gas, grading, set-up/show fees and etc. have all increased. Margins are definitely tighter.

I am currently standing outside the convention center about 75th in line to get in. The show opened 50 minutes ago. I take this as a good sign for the state of the hobby!

enjoy it!

no such thing as a bad show imo

What's the body odor factor compared to pre-pandemic levels?

I didn't notice any body odor... Kind of surprising considering the 30 min wait to get inside the door. Nice show, though!

Michael

How’s it compare to prior experiences at this show or others? Any differences?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You forgot the one about everyone having a smallish Pelican brief case that they tote around with them.

[QUOTE=panamamyers;18196541]You forgot the one about everyone having a smallish Pelican brief case that they tote around with them.[/QUOTE]

As a Pelican elitist, this is incorrect. Everyone has the knockoff Apache cases

Also $1-10 boxes will always be the way to make $ at shows. I did a show last week and turned my $1500 invested “dollar boxes” into $3k selling out to another dealer 1 hr after show started.

Starting the cycle of making nice $1-3-5 boxes again as it’s the best way to cover expenses and make $

Picked this up today:

T206 Christy Mathewson Piedmont PSA 1

[QUOTE=solt0131;18196653]Picked this up today:

T206 Christy Mathewson Piedmont PSA 1[/QUOTE]

That’s seems like a very fair price for it.

On the other end of the spectrum, I picked this up for $1.00...

[URL=https://sportscardalbum.com/card/e6i1b54m/created-equal][IMG]https://sportscardalbum.com/c/e6i1b54m.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Michael

Here were my observations from the show today:

--Very few people bringing stuff around to sell.

--Did not sound like any high end was moving at all and it seemed like it was because the price was just too high / people did not have interest in buying or putting out the cash.

--Value stuff doing very well, not just as my table but from the other dealers that had value boxes as well. One dealer told me he did $1000 in just dimes and quarter cards.
Show traffic was strong thru the main hours of the show (11-3) on a Saturday.

--Heard more than one dealer say they are getting concerned about the costs of doing a show now (gas, tolls, hotel, table cost) and this will play a bigger role going forward.

--Cheap slabs selling very well....example: stuff in the $10 - $15 range.

Anyway, hope this helps shed some light on how things are out there.

Seems like the market is crashing right before our eyes

[QUOTE=boxbuster7;18197409]Seems like the market is crashing right before our eyes[/QUOTE]

Not a chance. The vintage market is hotter than ever and demand is super high. This show has always been considered 70% vintage but modern was gaining quickly. There are a lot of buyers out there, you just have to price your stuff to sell instead of trying to gouge people.

seems like high end modern is dead in the water. the cheap fun stuff is still moving.

[QUOTE=panamamyers;18196541]You forgot the one about everyone having a smallish Pelican brief case that they tote around with them.[/QUOTE]

I definitely noticed this (or the knockoffs) at the show today. Shockingly low body odor, considering it was 90 in Pittsburgh today. Hardly any sealed boxes at the show. Normally there are at least a couple big wax dealers there. Not today.

[QUOTE=solt0131;18197417]Not a chance. The vintage market is hotter than ever and demand is super high. This show has always been considered 70% vintage but modern was gaining quickly. There are a lot of buyers out there, you just have to price your stuff to sell instead of trying to gouge people.[/QUOTE]

Let me clarify my comment. I don't really do vintage so it was purely based off 1990s-2020s cards.

[QUOTE=boxbuster7;18197409]Seems like the market is crashing right before our eyes[/QUOTE]

I'm curious how you got that from this post? My interpretation from reading the same post is the market is strong.

No one is going to learn anything about the market as a whole from one show in one city. The auction houses and ebay have always been the indicator of where the hobby is at. Some stuff is up, some stuff is down, like anything else.

same as it always was

[QUOTE=rwperu34;18197625]I'm curious how you got that from this post? My
interpretation from reading the same post is the market is strong.[/QUOTE]

It may be the 100 recession/inflation/crash is coming threads posted a week also. But to answer your question:

"--Did not sound like any high end was moving at all and it seemed like it was because the price was just too high / people did not have interest in buying or putting out the cash."

"--Heard more than one dealer say they are getting concerned about the costs of doing a show now (gas, tolls, hotel, table cost) and this will play a bigger role going forward."

[QUOTE=hairysasquatch;18196451]What's the body odor factor compared to pre-pandemic levels?[/QUOTE]

The most important question has yet to be answered.