NSCC Recap- 7/25
 

First full day of the National. What a start for me (and many others). Got stuck close but not too close to the IX. I asked the Uber driver to take the side road and I hopped out and walk on the grass next to the highway to get there! I wasn't the only one as we were around 10 or so people marching through the grass like our lives depended on it! lol

Well, got my workout in for the day. Here are my observations:

* [B]Prices[/B]- It depends on what you are looking for. I noticed that many dealers were pretty firm on pricing. Stingy on knocking down prices. I was haggling over $3 discount or $4 discount! That happened several times where I had to make sure I had singles since dealers were not interested in going the "usual" route of $5-$10-$15 etc. off. It's a dollar here, a dollar there! That's new for me! For the cards I was looking for, it was pretty much eBay prices and a few dollars off. I'm happy to pay eBay prices for rarer cards that I believe are good off-season buy's. So, all good there.

* [B]Selection[/B]- It's crazy how inventory moves so quickly in two ways:

1. One dealer had his entire showcase overhauled with brand new stuff maybe 1 hour after I left. I came back for a card and it was gone, along with the rest of the showcase! It was replaced with a new group of cards. He said that someone bought him out while he was buying a whole big lot from another person!

2. One card I was eyeing, but walked away. Came back to take a second look, it was gone. Then I walked 2 booths over, there it was, at a MUCH HIGHER price! Crazy!

* [B]Food[/B]- I got lucky with the food. I walked to the sandwich spot by the wall before noon (around 11:40ish) and the line was maybe 10 people. When I got my sandwich, the line was around 50+ people! All food lines were super long. I forgot about the VIP food...may have to try that tomorrow.

* [B]Dad/Son Moment[/B]- Was waiting for a dealer when a dad/son combo came through:

Dad: Show the dealer your card

Son: Hi, are you looking to buy?

Dealer: Sure, what ya got?

Son: Here you go

Dealer: Nice card how much you want

Dad: Well, we paid X amount for it, so...

Son: DADDDDDDD you were not supposed to say how much we paid for it!!!!

Dad: I was just being honest so he can give us the best price

Son: Argh, forget it!

Hilarious...love interactions like this. The son knew better how to negotiate, that is awesome to hear!

:flex:

Fun stuff, resting now, and getting ready for a new "non-uber" game plan tomorrow!

Great recap; thank you for sharing.

Great recap. I ran across a couple of dealers that I think they just pick their prices out of thin air. One even had a sign at his booth that sign that said "we don't want to hear about comps." He was downright rude to a young kid about it and made me say to myself I won't even consider given you a dime.

I had my own experience with another dealer that had no price on the card I wanted (Mark Stone auto), I asked the price, even though normally I pass by the dealers that can't be bothered to put a price tag on it. He said $100, I told him there were several comps at $50 and asked for room to meet in the middle, he said nah. That's a big gap between what he thinks it's worth and reality, especially on a hockey card.

Some of these grumpy old guard dealers may want to get with the modern times and embrace technology, or if not, hope you ain't complaining about a bad show.

that story is awesome....

Are there many "influencers" with cameras walking around and as many pelican boys around?

[QUOTE=Squareburgers;19552163]Are there many "influencers" with cameras walking around and as many pelican boys around?[/QUOTE]

Card Collector 2, couldn't even get a real table to sell singles and had to use a breaker area for his setup (where he's not allowed to sell singles) I guess.

On one of the pods I saw I guess a lot of newer dealers couldn't get tables so tried to set up their own event off campus around the national.

Online is not reality.

[QUOTE=Squareburgers;19552163]Are there many "influencers" with cameras walking around and as many pelican boys around?[/QUOTE]

I’ve seen a handful of them but not a ton. Much heavier presence of “influencers” during the trade night, which makes sense to me because they can use their platform to dupe kids into selling cards to them for 70% comps. But during the show itself I haven’t noticed a ton of it.

[QUOTE=mrb842;19552168]Card Collector 2, couldn't even get a real table to sell singles and had to use a breaker area for his setup (where he's not allowed to sell singles) I guess.

On one of the pods I saw I guess a lot of newer dealers couldn't get tables so tried to set up their own event off campus around the national.

Online is not reality.[/QUOTE]

We went to the off campus trade night as the real trade night was way overcrowded. We were extremely disappointed to find out as we're others that it was cancelled at the door. The organizers didn't even bother to mention it on social media that they cancelled the event. Extremely disappointing

[QUOTE=Aribasebal;19552258]We went to the off campus trade night as the real trade night was way overcrowded. We were extremely disappointed to find out as we're others that it was cancelled at the door. The organizers didn't even bother to mention it on social media that they cancelled the event. Extremely disappointing[/QUOTE]

I went to the off site Hockey trade night, small but cool. Reserved section of the restaurant. Guys who set it up must have given out drink and maybe food tickets. I only had a coke but no charge. They did a free multi box break and entered everyone. Good time.

Then I tried the “After Show.” Like you said, must have been cancelled. Saw constant stream off people walking in with their cases and walking right back out. Kind of lame to waste people’s time like that. Why promise if you can’t deliver?

[QUOTE=Squareburgers;19552163]Are there many "influencers" with cameras walking around and as many pelican boys around?[/QUOTE]

Nope, saw very little of that. Only cameras were when they were doing deals at a table...nothing more than that.

[QUOTE=ejs23;19552380]

Then I tried the “After Show.” Like you said, must have been cancelled. Saw constant stream off people walking in with their cases and walking right back out. Kind of lame to waste people’s time like that. Why promise if you can’t deliver?[/QUOTE]

Granted I will hope that the set up of Thursday and Friday was better than Wednesday when I got there but the biggest problem with the "After Show" is that most of the people setting up tables actually went to the National and got there very late. It was about 7:30 and maybe half the tables were empty. Did they show up an hour or so later? I would hope so

Also thought it was funny that the "After Show" had some bargain basement card cleaning company. I don't know if the National had Kurts or someone else like him there