Why do Card Shows SELL cards and not SHOW cards?

[sflayank]

what do you mean? based on the prices some dealers want, the only reason they bring them is to show them....i know for a fact that some dealers have had the same cards in their showcase at the national for the last 15 years
so i can only conclude theyre there for show purposes only

[ALR-bishop]

I would pay a fee to see your collection, Larry. I would include Bob but he often can't find what he is looking for at his place

[sflayank]

many times ive thought of setting up at the national...with ythe really cool stuff and put stupid prices on it...but then i think someone might still want to buy it then id be screwed

[CW]

I wonder what would happen if I rented a table at the next Card Show in my area just for the purpose of showing a part of my collection, meeting other collectors and asking them if they wanted to start a collectors club. When I brought up this idea to the owner of a local Card Shop (who also rents a table at Card Shows) he said that the dealers at the Card Show would not like this. It seems to me that anything that would bring more people to the Card Show would be good for the dealers.

I could see how the other dealers at the show would not like this as they would think this would take away from sales, since people would come in and trade, more than they would buy.

I can see the positives for this, though, and I think you have a great idea.

Sometimes a local library might have a few display cases where they will temporarily house the local residents' collections for viewing. This is the only thing I've seen where you could simply show your cards for others to see and enjoy.

[almostdone]

I think it's a great idea. It gets sort of old when I see only my collection up front. After all baseball cards were always show and tell on the playgrounds and sandlots.
Drew

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by sflayank

many times ive thought of setting up at the national...with ythe really cool stuff and put stupid prices on it...but then i think someone might still want to buy it then id be screwed

+2

When and where - I'll empty my piggy bank!

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by sflayank

what do you mean? based on the prices some dealers want, the only reason they bring them is to show them....i know for a fact that some dealers have had the same cards in their showcase at the national for the last 15 years
so i can only conclude theyre there for show purposes only

+1