I dont believe you NEED the autograph guests to have a successful show from the dealers standpoint. If you need to buy a $300 Joe Montana autograph to get you in the door then chances are you arent spending much at the show. If you DO spend a lot at the show then chances are you would have gone without the autograph guests anyways.
As an amatuer economist here is my thinking on marginal costs, If each dealer pays $600 for a table instead of the same $100 the gun dealers get charged then each dealer is kicking in $500 to subsidize the promotors fees toward the autograph guests. If your average dealer makes a 50% profit on his vintage items then EACH dealer has to make an extra $1000 from guys who would not be at the show but for the autograph guests to break even! I find that number to be a longshot. I have yet to meet a single person in the hobby who buys vintage baseball cards and also pays $$$$ to get living players autographs. The two dont really jive together, but even if that guy does exist, he would probably be at the show anyways!
Just my thoughts, and BTW, I think David is a really classy guy and I have no idea about his costs involved in the show and things like that are ALWAYS more expensive then people think.
Rhys
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