Trading with Dealers at Card Shows?

[Exhibitman]

Guys, i think that is a misread of the situation. You're not trading Even Steven with a fellow collector. Of course the dealer is going to need an advantage: he has overhead and costs to cover, a profit to make, and inventory turnover to consider. From my column on what a dealer faces in costs from last September's Burbank Card Show at the Anaheim Convention Center:

"The convention room rate for three nights is a total of $597. Sounds good. Then the add-ons. You want to park your car? Another $30 a night. You want to use the internet? Add another $14.99 per. Then the tourist taxes add another 20% to the whole. My $597 stay becomes an $880 stay (rounded). Add to that at least another $50 a day to eat, and my overhead leaps to $1,030. Say I did a really good job of buying and I make 50% for each card I sell. Add that overhead to the costs. The first $1,030 of my net profit (excluding the cost of the cards I sell) goes to overhead. Do the math: if my profit averages 50%, then $2,060 in gross sales is my break-even point. But wait, I also have to pay sales taxes since I am doing retail and I remit my taxes like the good citizen I am; render unto Caesar, etc. Add about 10% to the total, pushing my break-even point to $2,266. That’s the risk I take when I set up. Every sale goes towards covering that nut before I make a dime."

That's why I have to have an advantage on every trade, whether it is based on value or based on desirability of the cards in question. Without it, I cannot afford to be there and there is no card show for you to attend.