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

[Mahomie]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

I play golf

Dude...after watching the most recent Masters tournament, I got the urge to golf again. I paid for an annual membership at a local course and started hitting some range balls. I'm super rusty, but it feels good so far.

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

The Great Lakes Collector's Convention in Cleveland was a huge success for me this weekend. Did $1,800 in sales in .25/1.00/2.00 cards.

A good reminder that the hobby is far larger than what you see on YouTube. Nothing wrong with high-end buyers/flippers/dealers, but there is certainly a healthy customer base spending $10 at a time and sticking to value boxes as opposed to showcases.

I also thought it was a big success. Solid crowd all 3 days and I had success with my buys as well. I did notice a lot of guys getting wiped out by the Whatnot buyers.

[byronscott4ever]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

You should check out The National some time. Great show if you can handle the PA announcements.

Announcements there make sense with the size and times for so many events during the show

[solt0131]

One of the biggest shows in the country is this week, the Pittsburgh 700. 750 tables that takes place in the Washington Crown Center. It really is an incredible show that is busy all 3 days. If you haven’t been, you need to go.

[ironfireman]

Originally Posted by NYBBFAN

Very cool! Quite a surprise to me. Glad you did well with them.

Quarter boxes pay the rent. I sell 100 for $20. Plus it is super easy. I can't imagine shipping .20 cards on Sportlots - bless the guys who do it - but no f-ing way!

[NYBBFAN]

Originally Posted by ironfireman

Quarter boxes pay the rent. I sell 100 for $20. Plus it is super easy. I can't imagine shipping .20 cards on Sportlots - bless the guys who do it - but no f-ing way!

Happy to hear this!

[Big35Hurt]

Value boxes always seem to do well at shows I attend. Mostly it's people going through the cards quickly looking for cards to flip or for their PC. Sometimes you will get the PC guys who will have 10-15 sheets of paper with their handwritten set needs. They tend to occupy enough space for two people for a long time. If I was a dealer, and a guy did that only to buy 7 or 8 cards, I would be livid.

[dunquixote1]

I've only set up at three shows (all have been in the last 12 months). I find the best sellers in general are cards in the $5-20 range and 5/$1 boxes of value cards (which I have an insane amount of unfortunately) - older dudes def like buying RC parallels of anyone modern which is where value boxes hit. Some dudes will literally sit and look at every single card and spend an hour+ doing so. I always get younger people buying stacks of $5-20 for repacks and stuff. Setting up at shows actually made me realize how huge streaming and selling repacks actually is to kids in the 18-24 year old demographic. They'll clear you out of that price range of any moderate to big name players. The cards that don't do well are basically cards in the $50-500 range that aren't big name guys like Trout, Soto, and Ohtani. It's actually really hard to move players that aren't those three names above a certain price point. Exceptions to that include Nolan Ryan, Griffey Jr, Ichiro, and Jeter. Those dudes have moved exceedingly well at shows for me.

[scotts]

Originally Posted by solt0131

One of the biggest shows in the country is this week, the Pittsburgh 700. 750 tables that takes place in the Washington Crown Center. It really is an incredible show that is busy all 3 days. If you haven’t been, you need to go.

I started setting up at this show in Nov 2024 and did so the last time and again this coming weekend. The show gets a ton of traffic and am looking forward to it! I will be the one that mainly has 2021-22 Bowman U basketball and football cards for sale ha ha

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by Big35Hurt

Value boxes always seem to do well at shows I attend.

People are constantly digging through that stuff at most shows I attend. I love going through those boxes for potential grading, some flipping, and just to see some cards I've never seen before. Interestingly, my local show with about 40 tables this past weekend had far better bargain boxes than the 400+ table show in St. Paul a few weeks ago. Perhaps coincidence of limited sample size, but I seem to have better bargain box luck at the 40 table type shows than I do at the behemoths. It's possible the bigger shows simply attract national dealers who are more effective moving lesser stuff online and therefore don't have bargain boxes or it's pure junk when they do. The local show was also a packed house with plenty of trades and money moving around and trades happening.

[Big35Hurt]

Originally Posted by f2tornado

People are constantly digging through that stuff at most shows I attend. I love going through those boxes for potential grading, some flipping, and just to see some cards I've never seen before. Interestingly, my local show with about 40 tables this past weekend had far better bargain boxes than the 400+ table show in St. Paul a few weeks ago. Perhaps coincidence of limited sample size, but I seem to have better bargain box luck at the 40 table type shows than I do at the behemoths. It's possible the bigger shows simply attract national dealers who are more effective moving lesser stuff online and therefore don't have bargain boxes or it's pure junk when they do. The local show was also a packed house with plenty of trades and money moving around and trades happening.

They can be a lot of fun to dig through. Never know what's in there and if you will find cards for your PC guy that would otherwise involve being charged for taxes and shipping. I only collect one guy and it's more miss than hit for cards of his in showcases. The ones in there are almost always overpriced so the value boxes help to increase my odds of coming home with something I don't already have. If there are a few boxes and others around you, it helps to ask them what they're looking for and both sides try to help each other.

[PuddleMonkey]

I think the only question left is did PuddleMonkey call the card market crash or did PuddleMonkey cause the card market crash? It'll be debated for years.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

I think the only question left is did PuddleMonkey call the card market crash or did PuddleMonkey cause the card market crash? It'll be debated for years.

That is literally not a question for anyone here. You called it 6+ months ago and we have done nothing but get hotter ever since. It was impressive just how wrong you were.

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

I think the only question left is did PuddleMonkey call the card market crash or did PuddleMonkey cause the card market crash? It'll be debated for years.

The only question is what are you going to be wrong about next?

[ddearing]

Originally Posted by f2tornado

I seem to have better bargain box luck at the 40 table type shows than I do at the behemoths. It's possible the bigger shows simply attract national dealers who are more effective moving lesser stuff online and therefore don't have bargain boxes or it's pure junk when they do. .

I spend a lot of effort on my $1 and $4 boxes, and I set up at 15-20 shows/year, including the National. For me, it is just a lot of work to bring and set those up for a 1 or 2 day show, so I don't. I only bring them out for the National. Sometimes, if I'm doing a larger show, I might bring my $1 and $4 boxes just for that local team, but typically I don't.

I do love the busy-ness they bring to my booths at larger shows and I historically cover all my show expenses with profits from the value boxes.

Also, for what some of the larger shows charge per table, it's hard to justify bringing $1 boxes versus putting out a few extra showcases of nicer cards. If I ever get back into show promoting and have a large enough venue, I will borrow an idea from the Stamp and Postcard shows. A lot of them will have deeply discounted tables available with the requirement that you cannot sell anything on those tables for more than $1.

[NYBBFAN]

What Dan humbly did not mention is that his value boxes actually have value! Many dealers miss that crucial aspect.

[PuddleMonkey]

Got some stuff ending the next few days with a consignor, you can prove me wrong by bidding early and bidding often.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

Got some stuff ending the next few days with a consignor, you can prove me wrong by bidding early and bidding often.

No one has to prove you wrong. You proved yourself wrong, by being wrong.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by NYBBFAN

What Dan humbly did not mention is that his value boxes actually have value! Many dealers miss that crucial aspect.

This is a great point. There can be such a difference in $1 boxes. You can run across one with great cards worth well over a buck. And you can run into a box that has nothing worth more than a quarter. I think these types of boxes can can tell you a lot about a dealer.

[livfreely]

Originally Posted by premium1981

This is a great point. There can be such a difference in $1 boxes. You can run across one with great cards worth well over a buck. And you can run into a box that has nothing worth more than a quarter. I think these types of boxes can can tell you a lot about a dealer.

You never know! That’s the beauty of them. Those “quarter” cards can turn into profit. A few years ago I ran into one with a whole bunch of Jordan Love rookies. At that time he was backup to Aaron with what looked like no path to starter.

[whitmm]

Originally Posted by premium1981

This is a great point. There can be such a difference in $1 boxes. You can run across one with great cards worth well over a buck. And you can run into a box that has nothing worth more than a quarter. I think these types of boxes can can tell you a lot about a dealer.

Absolutely.

I'm not sure they are told enough, but we really do appreciate the dealers that put effort into their quarter/dollar/value boxes. Value boxes are my favorite things to check out at shows. And I've walked away from some tables with multiple boxes after a couple handfuls of cards based on what I see.

[bub838]

Good advice I've heard is to slip some $3-$5 cards in your $1 card box. Buyers love finding them and keeps them hunting/buying more.

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by premium1981

This is a great point. There can be such a difference in $1 boxes. You can run across one with great cards worth well over a buck. And you can run into a box that has nothing worth more than a quarter. I think these types of boxes can can tell you a lot about a dealer.

I did about 4 shows one year a few years back and right before the first one I bought several collections to list online and get $1 BIN cards. After the year was over I actually went through the cards in my value box and was amazed on how many $10-$20 cards were in there along with a few $50+ and most in my $1 being $2-$5. Only reason I didn't know about those higher value cards was that it was NBA/NFL cards that I am not as familiar with that had that value.

You can have value in those, but it also takes someone who can find the value in those boxes when it does exist.

[hammerva]

Well the Westminster show in Maryland is unfortunately another show in the DMV area where unless you know that certain dealers are going to be there then it is not worth driving too. Unfortunately, the one I was hoping for didn't show up and unless you are a TCG guy it was the same stuff every show Wish I could have financially gone to the Pittsburgh 700 not because I think there will be plenty of wrestling cards but at least it will be something different

[ddearing]

Jacksonville today was great. Solid foot traffic and lots of good inventory walking up to me at the booth. Great chance to build up inventory in preparation for the National. I was able to buy almost as much today at a 1 day show in Jax as I am able to spend in a weekend at Chantilly or Philly.

I only took high end with me today to dangle out as trade bait, but I also took a variety or wax and sales were good on wax.