The Further Decline of Brick & Mortar...

[BruceinGa]

Friends of mine closed their card shop in Raleigh about a year ago. I googled their name out of curiosity and found several customers that didn't like the owners
Apparently they did very well, able to sponsor a senior softball team for many years.

[DHogan]

When I first started collecting around 1990 or so, Dolloff Sports Cards had a brick and mortar store on route 1 in Portsmouth NH. From what I recall he had mostly pre-war cards. I had just started collecting the new over produced cards. I wish I had known better. He had a sign posted in his store where he would charge for his time if you had any questions about what he had for sale. Or vintage cards in general. He charged $1.00 a minute. I only know of 3 or 4 stores around Boston now.

[t206hof]

This topic hits close to home as back in the 80's and 90's I owned and operated a small card shop in a small city in Tx. It was quite an experience to say the least. Most of the folks that came into my shop were fine people and I still remember them well today. I always tried to do my best for everyone who walked through the door. After all it doesn't cost a penny to be nice to people.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by DHogan

When I first started collecting around 1990 or so, Dolloff Sports Cards had a brick and mortar store on route 1 in Portsmouth NH. From what I recall he had mostly pre-war cards. I had just started collecting the new over produced cards. I wish I had known better. He had a sign posted in his store where he would charge for his time if you had any questions about what he had for sale. Or vintage cards in general. He charged $1.00 a minute. I only know of 3 or 4 stores around Boston now.

I cannot imagine paying a store owner to talk about cards. That sign alone might cause me not to return.

[howard38]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

I cannot imagine paying a store owner to talk about cards. That sign alone might cause me not to return.

I agree. That's like paying K-Mart to chat about windex.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by mintacular

Yes, 90% of store owners will overcharge for vintage. I find that the only way to get a good price is to cherry-pick commons and pay "book price" which in some cases is ok. I did recently pay decent coin for a '57 ungraded that would have been very hard to buy online....But most run of the mill off-centered stars/rc's are way overpriced....Also, sometimes Beckett is wrong in the other direction, i.e. underpriced. Would gladly pay for '57 Lucky Penny cards at their prices. Anyway, the card I bought for $100, would not have bought the same card online:

Patrick, that Richardson is fantastic. It's been three years since I've been to my lcs. Seeing that beauty you picked up makes me want to head back out to SMP, and fast. There's just nothing like looking through a case, and seeing a bunch of vintage beauties together. Ebay will never have that charm.

Originally Posted by queencitysportscards

This is what makes card shops fun as a parent with kids (My Son on the left and step-daughter on the right). Chris Heisey of the Reds stopped by the shop today. Chris was very nice!

Hank, that's really cool. I hope your store is really successful.