[Exhibitman]

Understand the psychology of a card show, though. People expect to bargain at a show. They expect to bundle items and get a volume discount. If you put your cards up at your rock bottom prices, even if they are objectively fair, customers will still expect to haggle and get a discount, and if you refuse, there is a significant subclass who will actually get mad at you even if the prices are fair or even discounted to what is available at auction or on eBay.

As for eBay, buyers at shows also conveniently forget that dealers have to pay table fees, business license fees and miscellaneous travel expenses, and collect and remit sales tax. If I have an item on eBay in my store at $400, buyers expect I will shave off the entire eBay fee and take $360 for it. They forget my costs. I sell something at $400 in my eBay store sells, eBay collects and remits the sales tax on top of the sale price. if I sell it at a show I have to remit sales tax from that $400. I am going to set up at a show in Burbank August 26-28. Burbank sales tax is 10.25%. That $400 sale nets me about $360 because of the sales tax. it is roughly equivalent to my eBay fees. Then there are the costs. It cost me $500 to get the table and will cost me another $50 or so for parking over the weekend, and I am a local who can just go home after the show each day and brown-bag lunch and snacks. I have to sell a bunch of stuff just to break even.

All of these are reasons why you more or less have to ticket items above what you want to get for them at any show. Now, that said, there is also the abyss. When I see a $200 card ticketed at $500 at a dealer table, I just walk away because it is pretty clear that there is no reasonable deal to be made.