Interesting, Adam. The one card I did purchase...I made an offer of 20% below the dealers asking price...and he didn't even respond. I commented that this is a negotiation...and asked him what his counter was. He said that with my offer I'd lost him and he was insulted. I then offered him a price which reflected 10% off his asking which he accepted.
He acted insulted and pissed off when I attempted to negotiate????
Quote:
Originally Posted by Exhibitman
One thing that surprises me year in and year out are the people who complain about the high prices at the show. Not directed at you specifically, Peter. Perhaps it is a side effect of eBay and all the auctions but it seems that collectors have forgotten how to negotiate. I mean, does anyone whining about prices stop to consider that these are asking prices and that offers are expected? I price my stuff well over 'market' for the show but I expect that people will haggle, bundle and seek a discount.
As far as the OP question, the place is a cornucopia of stuff but as is the case anywhere, if you are looking for a specific prewar card from an obscure set with a few examples, you probably won't find one. Nor, realistically, should you expect to find one except perhaps in an auctioneer's inventory.
The other thing is, you have to dig. Even if you don't enjoy sifting through bargain boxes, you still have to attack stacks of stuff, or you do not get a fair read on the inventory at the show. To give an example, I am always looking out for rare Exhibit cards. One of the cards on my list is the Salutations Johnny Rizzo, which is one of the toughest cards to find but since Rizzo is a nobody is occasionally overlooked. Now, on my table it would be a showcase item because I know the demand is so high for the card. I saw one example in the entire show and it was buried in one of several stacks of Exhibits at one booth. It was priced properly at $600 but it was buried in there. If I'd still needed a Rizzo to finish my set and I'd not have gone through every stack of Exhibits in the room, I'd have whined about the lack of supply of rare vintage cards.
Other impressions re baseball:
--Ruth cards have been strong at auction over the last year or two and the prices I saw appeared to reflect anticipated further gains. I think I noticed more Ruth cards than usual.
--Certain hot issues had very few cards overall at the show. Mendelsohns, I think I saw only a few. Not unexpected: why would you sell into a rising market.
--Very few Western regionals. I think having the show over and over again in the East is hurting the breadth of the show. It is simply too time consuming for West dealers to drive in and too expensive and difficult for West dealers to ship in a lot of inventory. I was pretty much limited to what I could carry on the plane from LA.
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