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

[ThoseBackPages]

Breakers keep wax up

[Neal]

Originally Posted by tconte

At a show in Delaware today. Guy asking $3200 for US175 Trout PSA 10.
I know a person can ask what they want for a card but why waste time
with those prices. I find my time on the weekends to be precious. I would
not want to waste my time doing the work to set up at a show and list
a card on my table at $3200 when they are going for 2k or less on ebay.

That's just me.

I was at the same show. One thing I noticed was the number of pelican case carriers seemed to have tripled and all were looking to either sell or trade for vintage.

Som other observations ....

Regular buyers were also looking to sell to get money for the National but weren't offering deals to us behind the table - not many dealers are going to buy at comp or higher.
Many dealers were also seeing buyers offering 50% on fairly priced cards, many of which were below comps to begin with. Buyers are becoming more aggressive, which is fine, but it seems as if they are sensing an inevitable market shift and want to beat it for the flip
Vintage cards and wax were the two areas I saw the most activity

Small show in a small state, but some interesting observations to me. The hobby will be fine for collectors but it is changing fast.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Originally Posted by Neal

I was at the same show. One thing I noticed was the number of pelican case carriers seemed to have tripled and all were looking to either sell or trade for vintage.

Som other observations ....

Regular buyers were also looking to sell to get money for the National but weren't offering deals to us behind the table - not many dealers are going to buy at comp or higher.
Many dealers were also seeing buyers offering 50% on fairly priced cards, many of which were below comps to begin with. Buyers are becoming more aggressive, which is fine, but it seems as if they are sensing an inevitable market shift and want to beat it for the flip
Vintage cards and wax were the two areas I saw the most activity

Small show in a small state, but some interesting observations to me. The hobby will be fine for collectors but it is changing fast.

This shows how desperate these guys truly are. But yet they make believe they’re big shots.

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Everyone’s sticker at about 10%-20% above eBay on singles and wax.

Lots of foot traffic and lots of pelibois - more sellers than buyers.

Lots of trading, not a whole lot of cash moving around.

I walked around the Chantilly show yesterday looking for a Hank Aaron RC. Looked at a bunch, didn't find the right one.

Saw a bunch of cases walking around.

Saw one table with banded stacks of 100s, 'BUYING'.

Saw one table with price tags on the graded stuff. Peak prices. '19 TC Vlad Jr base chrome PSA-10, $225. The refractor is there or slightly under on ebay. Looks like $90-100'ish for the base Chrome PSA-10.

Best to be pricing with a dry-erase marker these days.

[cardsin47]

Originally Posted by k13

Try selling it...
Most don't even bother bringing wax to shows because no one will buy it unless beyond cheap.

Not the case ( get it? ) with the Wax that I deal in…..

[mwash1983]

So to update the Albany show today I spent 12 dollars did well enough to make money after gas expenses. There was a lot of trading but sense not a lot of buying though I do know one guy who sold $1000.00 of Pokémon and was moving O’Neal cruz. Basketball market is dead and no one was buying prizm blasters and hangers despite them being 45. I trade a Caufield canvas yg for an Adam fox artifacts auto and some series 2 UD packs. With the 12 dollars I picked up a Damien Harris illusions RPA /99 three color patch for 8 and I picked up an Alex Manoah and Andrew Vaughn topps sapphire rcs for 4.

[cardsin47]

Originally Posted by oldgoldy97

As the best cards pop up, wax gets less desirable. When redemptions expire, wax becomes less desirable. When a company goes out of business, wax becomes less desirable.

Yes…. You are correct. The examples you gave here are VERY vulnerable/ I was thinking more about the Investment Level Blue Chip wax that is my Niche - that stuff is virtually bulletproof once it reaches a certain level of widespread desirability

[here2havefun]

Went to Chantilly yesterday mid-day. It was very busy. I saw people spending money, and lots of people trying to sell to dealers and trying to make trades with dealers. I didn't buy anything, but my want-list is very short and specific.

I did almost buy a 97 Flair Showcase Diamond Cuts Griffey PSA 10, but passed on it. It was priced right around recent comps though, which was refreshing. Shoutout to Black Jaded Wolf for pricing her cards reasonably.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by cardsin47

Not the case ( get it? ) with the Wax that I deal in…..

He has no idea what he is talking about. A good rule of thumb, is if you are doing something that he says you shouldn’t be doing you are on the right track. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he has never owned a sealed case, yet is giving his opinion on it.

[cardsin47]

Originally Posted by premium1981

He has no idea what he is talking about. A good rule of thumb, is if you are doing something that he says you shouldn’t be doing you are on the right track. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he has never owned a sealed case, yet is giving his opinion on it.

What’s your problem P-81?
Is “he” referring to me in your post?

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by here2havefun

Went to Chantilly yesterday mid-day. It was very busy. I saw people spending money, and lots of people trying to sell to dealers and trying to make trades with dealers. I didn't buy anything, but my want-list is very short and specific.

I did almost buy a 97 Flair Showcase Diamond Cuts Griffey PSA 10, but passed on it. It was priced right around recent comps though, which was refreshing. Shoutout to Black Jaded Wolf for pricing her cards reasonably.

you must be lying, Sir

BO says the hobby is dead

[LVDan]

Originally Posted by cardsin47

What’s your problem P-81?
Is “he” referring to me in your post?

Trece


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by cardsin47

What’s your problem P-81?
Is “he” referring to me in your post?

I was agreeing with your stance. You quoted k13 stating wax cannot even be moved unless you deeply discount it. The "he" was k13. He never knows what he is talking about. I would have said "you" if it was about you.

[cardsin47]

Originally Posted by premium1981

I was agreeing with your stance. You quoted k13 stating wax cannot even be moved unless you deeply discount it. The "he" was k13. He never knows what he is talking about. I would have said "you" if it was about you.

Thanks for clarifying- as you know, these Boards can sometimes make it unclear who a comment is directed at

[cbuskstwar]

Update from show in Ohio:

Nobody looking at Basketball or even asking
Everyone wants Tom Brady rookies
Prizm football retail boxes were selling at eBay ++

[k13]

Originally Posted by premium1981

He has no idea what he is talking about. A good rule of thumb, is if you are doing something that he says you shouldn’t be doing you are on the right track. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he has never owned a sealed case, yet is giving his opinion on it.

Wax was easy move till 6 months ago.
Now its a painful dribble and I'm not talking about junk wax.

If you don't have a legit store you are not getting top money for it or/and will take you forever to sell.

My LCS can sell junk 30% over Ebay sales.
Other people can list on FB for 50% off Ebay and no one will care.

But now even my LCS is stuck with 30 extra cases of a hot product they can't move. It will be a painful long sell.

[hermanotarjeta]

Until you physically go to a card show, you really can’t appreciate how many cards are actually out there.

It is starting to feel like the early 90’s again, where almost every dealer has practically something of every player you are looking for in general.

The overproduction is getting overwhelming and doesn’t really inspire purchases, especially at these current price tags.

[anusinha]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Until you physically go to a card show, you really can’t appreciate how many cards are actually out there.

It is starting to feel like the early 90’s again, where almost every dealer has practically something of every player you are looking for in general.

The overproduction is getting overwhelming and doesn’t really inspire purchases, especially at these current price tags.

Its somewhat amazing to think about but 99.9% of modern cards could go straight into the dumpster and no one would notice

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by anusinha

Its somewhat amazing to think about but 99.9% of modern cards could go straight into the dumpster and no one would notice

It’s a scary thought.

Most dealers I talked to only brought a “small percentage” of what they actually have at home.

There’s a lot of inventory out there with 30 plus products in each sport coming out every year - that point of saturation has got to be coming soon.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

It’s a scary thought.

Most dealers I talked to only brought a “small percentage” of what they actually have at home.

There’s a lot of inventory out there with 30 plus products in each sport coming out every year - that point of saturation has got to be coming soon.

Even if we weren’t in a major downturn all of this inventory would have brought us there very soon anyway.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Until you physically go to a card show, you really can’t appreciate how many cards are actually out there.

It is starting to feel like the early 90’s again, where almost every dealer has practically something of every player you are looking for in general.

The overproduction is getting overwhelming and doesn’t really inspire purchases, especially at these current price tags.

same as it ever was

[hermanotarjeta]

Overheard several dealers complain that the third party graders caused them to lose lots of money. They had $500 cards stuck at psa or Beckett last year that turned into $80 cards when they finally got them back.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Overheard several dealers complain that the third party graders caused them to lose lots of money. They had $500 cards stuck at psa or Beckett last year that turned into $80 cards while they were waiting to get them back.

haha! thats great!

[notfast]

Originally Posted by tconte

At a show in Delaware today. Guy asking $3200 for US175 Trout PSA 10.
I know a person can ask what they want for a card but why waste time
with those prices. I find my time on the weekends to be precious. I would
not want to waste my time doing the work to set up at a show and list
a card on my table at $3200 when they are going for 2k or less on ebay.

That's just me.

This show has the worst prices consistently. Needs new dealers.

[nabzy28]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Until you physically go to a card show, you really can’t appreciate how many cards are actually out there.

It is starting to feel like the early 90’s again, where almost every dealer has practically something of every player you are looking for in general.

The overproduction is getting overwhelming and doesn’t really inspire purchases, especially at these current price tags.

It's reached a point that I don't know what design is what year anymore. (Mainly football, so all we get is Panini crap). I know every year of Topps for decades. Couldn't tell you what year of generally anything that Panini has put out for the last decade in football. All of it looks the same, year after year.