Does this type of deal go down?

[mintacular]

I was wondering where some of the big sellers get all their vintage inventory. One possibility of course is that those well-financed simply overwhelm their poorer and/or less Knowledgeable counterparts....So, are there dealers (such as 707) that roam shows with a wad of cash and start making big offers on whole tables/collections? Does this strategy work? I would think some smaller dealers might consider a "buyout" if the # offered wasn't too low ball--assuming she has hung onto the same inventory for too long and/or want a "fresh start" etc.

My other question is for those who set up at shows: Do you even know exactly what your inventory is worth? Would it be hard to know if someone came up and said "I'll buy all these cards for 11K..." and how would you handle this blind-sided approach? Any type of stories about this wheeling & dealing would be interesting fodder, at least for me anyway...

[bsuttonosu]

I actually asked this question of a dealer at a show once...what he would want for his whole table. Not a serious offer, we were just chatting about the possibility after I had made an offer on a whole box I was looking through. He gave a serious answer though..."$100,000". I almost fell on the floor considering most of his table was $1 and $5 boxes of jersey cards and Bowman Chrome "rookies" of players that have yet to make the bigs.

But he was serious in believing that was the amount he had into it. I would guess that he had, realistically, $8K - $10K worth of cards.

(Obviously there are many reasonable sellers out there and I'm not extrapolating...just sharing this interesting exchange.)

[ChiefBenderForever]

If you had a lot of liquid cash it wouldn't take to long to amass a very huge inventory.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by ChiefBenderForever

If you had a lot of liquid cash it wouldn't take to long to amass a very huge inventory.

especially if you are willing to overpay

[bobbyw8469]

I went to visit a guy off of Craigslist. I asked him what he wanted for his entire collection. He said the LEAST he would take was $4,000. And he had NOTHING! Mostly modern stuff with around $300-$500 of vintage mixed in.....makes me wonder what all my stuff is worth in the CL word!!

[fkw]

Some of these well known older dealers are still selling off inventory they amassed 25-40+ years ago when the cards were obtained for pennies on the dollar compared to their current values.

I cant see buying cards at shows to flip later... Show prices are usually 125% of eBay kine prices if not more. I think they bought much of there cards through "buy" ads in hobby papers years ago, and still might.

At least that what Ive always thought.... good question though.

PS. Im small time dealer/collector, but my site gets good hits now, I get emails weekly with people offering cards to me for sale, or even asking for info on them.... I guess when a non collector finds stuff, they do a search on the internet and then go from there... Im sure dealers like 707 and Larry Fritsch Card Co. etc. get 50- 100X more email offers than I do, plus walk ins at major shows too. I havent been to a show this millennium

[sb1]

used to happen all the time from the local level to the National. I had a fellow dealer who was the king of wholesale buyers and flippers. He bought out so many tables and even card shops and flipped it for 5-10%. I was the luck recipient many times. Got a 52 Mantle for 12% of book that graded PSA 4, a Players League Old Judge for a common price and many more. Those were the good ole days. Probably not much activity like that now, then everything was liquid and easy to come by.