Anyone currently involved with doing smaller and localized shows is having the same issues with attendance. My guess is that the smaller shows I set up at locally have 100-200 customer-collectors per day come through....and probably on the lower side of that. If I make 3-6 different sales I am happy. The key is to do it with as few expenses as is humanly possible while having it be well (as well) attended as is possible. That way you have limited the downside. It sounds like a lot of dealers are still with you and that is about 1/3 of the equation.
If it were me I would just give it some time for thought and see how I would want to proceed. BTW, if you do it for the love of doing it it won't matter, if you do it for a profit there are probably better ways to do it in the hobby. Heck, maybe just be a spectattor and dealer at other shows? Good luck with whatever way you go. Hopefully these posts will give you more of a perspective ......Happy collecting!!
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Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards
OK I needed a few days to unwind and reflect. Here's my thoughts. We had some AMAZING dealers. Glen Mechanick from these boards has SICK stuff. Glyn Parson is always a welcome addition, Dave Czuba had his usual big stuff including a '52 Topps Mantle, my partner Aaldert Oosting had a fantastic selection of Caramel and T206 cards (some of which are up in the BST section of this site now) and I had my usual run of vintage stuff. This is just the tip of the iceberg and mainly the guys who were located near me, I'm sure the other dealers were great as well but I didn't have much time to browse.
The attendance was poor, but as intended the $5 admission insured that those who came, came to buy. We had a number of issues with the venue which either need to be solved, or we need to relocate, some of these issues may well have impacted turnout to some degree.
The autographs were an unmitigated disaster. The guests themselves couldn't have been nicer, and the little bit of time I got to spend with them was probably the highlight of my day. They could see how things were going so they accommodated any and all requests and were more than happy to tell stories and just meet with people and shake hands etc... Unfortunately we lost thousands of dollars not just in fees, but in all the materials needed to do autographs. If we do move forward it will probably be years before we bring in autograph guests again.
In all with the low attendance I was excited by how positive the dealers were in general and their attitude was what made me consider how we might proceed. If you had asked me right after the show I would've (and did) say NEVER AGAIN!
Thanks again to all those who showed me support and encouragement!
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