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

[solt0131]

I am still waiting to hear one of my favorite responses. Just because the show is busy, doesn’t mean that people are spending money.

[KhalDrogo]

Card prices are not going down until equities go down. For those permabears on the sideline, good luck!

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

There are a lot of participants in the hobby for sure looking to make side $. I'd say there has never been more money in the industry than now but whether the market is actually healthy is a different debate.

Many millennials and Gen Z simply can’t find stable jobs right now, and there are no houses available for sale at an affordable price, so they go where they can spend and make a few extra bucks - pokemon and one piece. TCG has also brought more females into card collecting than ever.

[kipgen]

The Houston Tristar show is in a few weeks, has anybody been and can speak to how many Bowman 1st cards (specifically) there are at this show? There was a different, pretty large show I went to last year (H-Town Card Show) and there was really not much

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by kipgen

The Houston Tristar show is in a few weeks, has anybody been and can speak to how many Bowman 1st cards (specifically) there are at this show? There was a different, pretty large show I went to last year (H-Town Card Show) and there was really not much

Hundreds are available

That was my experience

[Rbradleigh]

Just got back from Tacoma Front Row, pretty crowded so I’d say good turnout. ~ about a 70/30 TCG : Sports.
Woza cards to me in the showcases included a 2018 Bowman Blue Ohtani auto and a 2011 Bowman Chrome 1/1 Trout rookie auto.

I made one pickup for myself from Hoody’s cards, coincidentally had what I was looking for after bumping into their Bend, OR shop while on vacation a couple of weeks ago.

Off topic if you like scenery, on a clear day their shop view of the Oregon Cascade volcanos is dang near majestic.

[mollertheballer]

Yea Dallas Card Show was bananas. I went early yesterday morning with a VIP pass and easily sold a lot of the inventory I brought with me (several $K), and bought some cheap wax to bring home to rip with the kids. When I left, the garage was full on a Friday before school was out.

The videos from today looked insane like too crowded. We may go back tomorrow, have found Sunday’s are a little more quiet.


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[Giuls21]

Originally Posted by mollertheballer

Yea Dallas Card Show was bananas. I went early yesterday morning with a VIP pass and easily sold a lot of the inventory I brought with me (several $K), and bought some cheap wax to bring home to rip with the kids. When I left, the garage was full on a Friday before school was out.

The videos from today looked insane like too crowded. We may go back tomorrow, have found Sunday’s are a little more quiet.


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It was out of control crowded, and it looked like the airport with people wheeling around luggage. Also a major pet peeve for me is people putting slab boxes on display cases while trying to get an uninterested table seller to buy their cards. This happened numerous times today.It blocks other people from viewing the cards. Overall this was probably the worst Dallas show I have attended.

[boxbuster7]

repack companies are probably part of the reason for the crowds

[ThoseBackPages]

how great is that?

[MavsRChamps]

Originally Posted by solt0131

I am still waiting to hear one of my favorite responses. Just because the show is busy, doesn’t mean that people are spending money.

But that's kind of true lol. There are a lot of people that just look at cards, and don't spend much. I talk with dealers - many are just breaking even, or lose on cards they hold. Don't be fooled by what people just put out there on social media.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by MavsRChamps

But that's kind of true lol. There are a lot of people that just look at cards, and don't spend much. I talk with dealers - many are just breaking even, or lose on cards they hold. Don't be fooled by what people just put out there on social media.

the average collector rarely spends $100 a month on cards

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by MavsRChamps

But that's kind of true lol. There are a lot of people that just look at cards, and don't spend much. I talk with dealers - many are just breaking even, or lose on cards they hold. Don't be fooled by what people just put out there on social media.

No reason to spend money when there’s nothing good out there.

Pokemon dealers aren’t complaining.

[mollertheballer]

Originally Posted by Giuls21

It was out of control crowded, and it looked like the airport with people wheeling around luggage. Also a major pet peeve for me is people putting slab boxes on display cases while trying to get an uninterested table seller to buy their cards. This happened numerous times today.It blocks other people from viewing the cards. Overall this was probably the worst Dallas show I have attended.

Yea Friday morning was perfect…I would have been claustrophobic today. Saturday has all the signings plus trade night though too


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[PuddleMonkey]

Originally Posted by MavsRChamps

But that's kind of true lol. There are a lot of people that just look at cards, and don't spend much. I talk with dealers - many are just breaking even, or lose on cards they hold. Don't be fooled by what people just put out there on social media.

You gotta keep in mind you're dealing with someone that doesn't quite understand finances.

[MavsRChamps]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

You gotta keep in mind you're dealing with someone that doesn't quite understand finances.

I think it's very much location dependent also. Not all foot traffic at shows is the same. Also the shows that are a mix of pokemon & sports is heavily skewed imo. I've been to shows with crazy high foot traffic but 75% of the people there were just there for pokemon - it's not like all attendees are actively buying sports cards.

It's also helpful to look at dealer to customer ratio too. 600 attendees sounds good, but if there's 200 tables - that's basically a ratio of 3 attendees per table. And if the average attendee spends $50 - $100, that's $150-$300 per dealer for the whole day, not including dealer to dealer sales. Many people spend $10, and many spend more on specific stuff too sure.

But social media will have you be believing dealers make all this money - many content creators, not ALL, aren't actually very knowledgeable/skilled at selling cards, and most of their profit for their business is a combination of getting $$ from the content, being group breaker, whatnot, selling online, etc. Selling at shows is not that profitable for people in my opinion - it's the buying that helps a lot of dealers at shows, especially when they have large platforms or a card shop and can move that inventory quickly through those means. Small proof of this is so many dealers don't even care if a customer puts their showcase on their table and people can't see their cards - if they actually relied on people buying from their showcase, why would they ever let a customer do this for more than 1 minute?

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by MavsRChamps

But that's kind of true lol. There are a lot of people that just look at cards, and don't spend much. I talk with dealers - many are just breaking even, or lose on cards they hold. Don't be fooled by what people just put out there on social media.

Or there are a lot of collectors who can't find the cards they're looking for and therefore don't spend any money.

I went to three shows last year.....didn't find a single card on my wantlist.....spent zero dollars.

The reality is, collectors are much more likely to find the cards they're looking for on EBay than at a card show......

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Card prices are not going down until equities go down. For those permabears on the sideline, good luck!

How much of the overall equites market is being propped up by the AI bubble?

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by MavsRChamps

Interesting. My issue with this is kind of a space thing. I'm sure you replenish these often though, even during shows. But it's something I'll consider.

Where do you get low cost mags from too?

While most stuff on Temu is junk, you’d be surprised how good the quality is on the Lovfen mag cases there. The price fluctuates, but is usually around $150 for 400.

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by MavsRChamps

But that's kind of true lol. There are a lot of people that just look at cards, and don't spend much. I talk with dealers - many are just breaking even, or lose on cards they hold. Don't be fooled by what people just put out there on social media.

We’re not talking about social media, we’re talking about what we see at shows being behind the table and in front of the table. Feel free to believe whatever you choose, there’s just several of us on here that like to report what we observe at a show.

[KhalDrogo]

If you’re a dealer and you’re not making money hand over fist in this market, please sell your entire inventory today.

[solt0131]

And if you were thinking about selling your entire inventory, there are plenty of buyers out there for it.

[mfw13]

The real question is what percentage of buying is being done by flippers/investors as opposed to collectors buying stuff for their PC.

Not sure that there is any way to quantify it.....

My sense is that there is a lot more investing/flipping at shows, while people find more stuff for their PC on EBay and similar platforms.

[GuamWax]

Went to the Sacramento card show yesterday (smaller local show here in NorCal). Always great seeing the usual faces and regulars, but it was packed. A good amount of Pokemon and TCG but mainly sports.

A lot of dealers buying, which was great. I was able to consolidate some of my low-end stuff into a couple bigger cards - getting ready for WCCS in February.

*Side note - it's nice to see more women participating in the hobby, even if it's on the TCG/Pokemon side.

[GuamWax]

I agree, when I sold some lower end stuff yesterday at a show - the dealers mentioned they needed inventory for their showcases. But I also found a couple PC cards that I picked up.

Guess it could be a mix at card shows. I find majority of my PC stuff on eBay. But shows are fun for the hunt and the possibility of buying PC items in person.

Originally Posted by mfw13

The real question is what percentage of buying is being done by flippers/investors as opposed to collectors buying stuff for their PC.

Not sure that there is any way to quantify it.....

My sense is that there is a lot more investing/flipping at shows, while people find more stuff for their PC on EBay and similar platforms.