Nat'l Dealers: Best Walk-in Purchase

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Would love to hear from dealers at the National what their best purchase was. I know from prior years there were some amazing things that walked through the door.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

Would love to hear from dealers at the National what their best purchase was. I know from prior years there were some amazing things that walked through the door.

..I don't know the pricing structure of a normal Joe walks-in-off-the-street , but what would the cost be for that little old widow with the old cigar box full of her late husband's grandfather's "old baseball little pictures " if she just took the crosstown bus and went inside and went up to the first sign she saw proclaiming " WE BUY CARDS !" ? I've heard stories over the years that this actually happens at baseball card shows , but jeeziss at The National ??

..

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by MikeGarcia

..I don't know the pricing structure of a normal Joe walks-in-off-the-street , but what would the cost be for that little old widow with the old cigar box full of her late husband's grandfather's "old baseball little pictures " if she just took the crosstown bus and went inside and went up to the first sign she saw proclaiming " WE BUY CARDS !" ? I've heard stories over the years that this actually happens at baseball card shows , but jeeziss at The National ??

..

Good question. What's the usual practice among buyers who aren't trying to take advantage of such a seller? 50 cents on the dollar? Is it pretty much the same as it would be at a pawn shop?

[pete zouras]

Dealer named Meelypops has a video on youtube covering a walk-in of a person with a bunch of pricey Mantles. Meelypops accompanies him to SGC for grading and he endsthe video saying he will shoot him an offer on the lot in a follow up video.

[Exhibitman]

It really depends on the item and the dealer. When I set up, if it is something great but I don't want it or cannot decide whether the seller is asking too much for it, I steer it to an AH. Otherwise, I buy it at whatever I think is right. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. That said, I am not in a non-profit. I paid a bundle to be at a show, so if someone is selling and I am buying I will drive the hardest bargain I can regardless of who it is doing the selling. I won't lie but I won't give out information gratuitously or overpay because the seller isn't a collector. In this day and age, with the degree of information on the web at one's fingertips, there is simply no reason to go into things blind. My experience, frankly, is the opposite: people show me beater 1970s cards and expect PSA 8 prices for them.

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by pete zouras

Dealer named Meelypops has a video on youtube covering a walk-in of a person with a bunch of pricey Mantles. Meelypops accompanies him to SGC for grading and he endsthe video saying he will shoot him an offer on the lot in a follow up video.

In this video they show the collection still in a photo album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiFyi3bbSEw

Their next video shows the collection after SGC has graded the HOF cards.

[HexsHeroes]

.
Not specific to this thread but I am sure everyone has a memorable story or two about observing such a deal. Mine was set at one of the Fall shows (1980’s) held at Plymouth Michigan Holiday Inn. My brother and I usually arrived two-three hours early to be first in line. This one occasion we were second and third. After chatting for a while with the guys fourth thru sixth in line, the person first in line could not resist showing us the contents inside a crumpled brown grocery bag. A Lou Gehrig road jersey. The jersey never left the bag but word of its presence traveled down the line. Word must have traveled inside the ballroom where dealers were setting up. Before long Mr. Mint himself came abruptly out to chat with that individual. He ushered him into the ballroom. A deal was obviously struck as doors opened and Mr. Mint was beaming with his newly purchased “grocery bag & contents”.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

In this video they show the collection still in a photo album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiFyi3bbSEw

Their next video shows the collection after SGC has graded the HOF cards.

Here's the follow-up video (for anyone like me who couldn't find it after watching the first video ). The Mantle portion starts around the 5 minute mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K24SFAK6m0g

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Good question. What's the usual practice among buyers who aren't trying to take advantage of such a seller? 50 cents on the dollar? Is it pretty much the same as it would be at a pawn shop?

Worst case I have ever seen was this year at a mid sized show (200 tables)in NC. Old couple comes in and shops their grouping of hundreds of 1933 Goudeys at the first table through the door. I'm talking many Ruths and Gehrigs in the collection. Dealer one offers $2K for the lot. They go to the second dealer in the line and he offers $8K and they sell.

Word quickly spreads throughout the show to dealers and a friend of mine goes to look through the collection. He offers $100K to the dealer who just bought it for $8K and he declines the offer. My friend figured the deal was worth at least $250K.

I absolutely hate to see crooked dealers take advantage of unsuspecting owners of cards.

But, I guess it is seller beware. They were probably celebrating all the way home thinking they had hoodwinked the dealer with their pieces of cardboard.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Originally Posted by rand1com

Worst case I have ever seen was this year at a mid sized show (200 tables)in NC. Old couple comes in and shops their grouping of hundreds of 1933 Goudeys at the first table through the door. I'm talking many Ruths and Gehrigs in the collection. Dealer one offers $2K for the lot. They go to the second dealer in the line and he offers $8K and they sell.

Word quickly spreads throughout the show to dealers and a friend of mine goes to look through the collection. He offers $100K to the dealer who just bought it for $8K and he declines the offer. My friend figured the deal was worth at least $250K.

I absolutely hate to see crooked dealers take advantage of unsuspecting owners of cards.

But, I guess it is seller beware. They were probably celebrating all the way home thinking they had hoodwinked the dealer with their pieces of cardboard.

Holy Crap! Wow what a story. Because the 1st dealer's offer was so ridiculously low, the 2nd dealer's offer looked like a windfall to the seller. Interesting moral dilemma...what's the correct amount to offer? Like Adam said it's not his job to offer top dollar and educate them to help get them the best price. But $8k for a collection that's worth over $100k?? Are you ripping them off when $8k probably looked like a great deal to them?

Couple years ago I was set up at the National and a kid and his Dad brought in a scrap book that was his Grandfather's filled with old tobacco cards. I tried to get them to consign it with Al and Love of the Game to maximize their windfall but they wanted to sell that day. Never found out what happened or how much they got.

[ahmanfan]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

Holy Crap! Wow what a story. Because the 1st dealer's offer was so ridiculously low, the 2nd dealer's offer looked like a windfall to the seller. Interesting moral dilemma...what's the correct amount to offer? Like Adam said it's not his job to offer top dollar and educate them to help get them the best price. But $8k for a collection that's worth over $100k?? Are you ripping them off when $8k probably looked like a great deal to them?

Couple years ago I was set up at the National and a kid and his Dad brought in a scrap book that was his Grandfather's filled with old tobacco cards. I tried to get them to consign it with Al and Love of the Game to maximize their windfall but they wanted to sell that day. Never found out what happened or how much they got.

Hard to say. If you try and be VERY fair and offer then 75k or whatever, a lightbulb probably goes off and they think ‘heck I’m sitting on a million bucks here!’ And they don’t sell to you at your fair price. So very double edged sword.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk