The thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the extra stuff that goes along with most comps from online.
Shipping
Buyers premium
Maybe time spent picking it up or waiting for it.
Add those to the comp number.
Other than that I generally agree that knowing the typical price at a few grades before going to a show is sensible. Maybe less for someone like me that only has a very rough idea of what I'm looking for. I mostly look for inexpensive stuff, so it's not a big deal. Like yeah it may be a $10 card and the dealer wants 15, but it's right there in front of me and I don't have to spend anymore time looking. And that time has value too.
A dealer I spent a lot of time hanging out with in another hobby gave me advice about how to make money from hobby stuff, one bit was "be a good guesser" whether about the prices/demand/whether something was more special than it looked.
Ah for the days when an expensive card was $100.....
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