Running National newbie question thread

[Snapolit1]

Atlantic City has a beach. Now I wont argue it's Cancun or anything . . . but reading a book under an umbrella ain't a bad way to spend a day. Even a few beach bars now.

[TheNightmanCometh]

Does the National always take place in AC?

[polakoff]

So my circumstances have changed since my initial question, and now I am left with tons of more questions, so I figured I would turn this into a running thread in which I can pick your brains.

Turned out my friend couldn't come with me, and the same day I was approached by two other friends of mine to share a booth at the National, so now I am going to my first ever National...and selling!

I know everyone's tastes are different when it comes to how you shop. The few people on the board who have shopped with me at a Raleigh show (Tschock among them) can attest to the fact that I don't like to play games. I like to mark my items with the price I need. If you buy bulk, I will discount. I don't like to play games and mark book value, do percentage off sticker, etc.

My plan for NSCC is to bring mostly vintage. I do not deal in high end, mostly low to mid range vintage. At smaller shows I will generally have a box or two with cards priced as marked ranging from 25 cents to $40. For the National I will be bringing bulk, of course, and am trying to decide how to sort. Personally, I love nothing more than when there is a disorganized box on a table with a price per card and I can dig through hoping I find a treasure. Not everyone is like that though, and at a high traffic show I'm concerned that might cause a backup at my table (or maybe that's a good thing? I don't know).

In your opinion as buyers, would you rather see vintage cards:
A) Sorted by price only - i.e., $1 box, $2 box, $3 box, $5 box, $10 and up box
B) Sorted by sport only - i.e., baseball box all prices, football box all prices, etc
C) Sorted by price AND by sport - i.e., $1 baseball box, $1 football box, etc
D) Sorted by sport AND by year - i.e., 1955 Baseball section all prices, etc
E) Not sorted at all - boxes of cards priced individually
F) Other (please specify)

Thanks in advance as always - this forum has always been such a great resource for me!

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by polakoff

C) Sorted by price AND by sport - i.e., $1 baseball box, $1 football box, etc
D) Sorted by sport AND by year - i.e., 1955 Baseball section all prices, etc

Combination of C and D. For basic Topps sets, I would prefer to sort through in number order (if you have the time to set it up that way) so I know where to look for high numbers, etc.
For oddball cards, sorted by sport in dollar boxes makes the most sense to me. And then for your higher end stuff, in the glass display cases or in boxes sorted by star players...?

[polakoff]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Combination of C and D. For basic Topps sets, I would prefer to sort through in number order (if you have the time to set it up that way) so I know where to look for high numbers, etc.
For oddball cards, sorted by sport in dollar boxes makes the most sense to me. And then for your higher end stuff, in the glass display cases or in boxes sorted by star players...?

Was kind of playing around with an idea like this in my head...Topps/Bowman in year order and then other stuff in boxes. The only thing is - once upon a time I did number order, but by an hour into the show it was all messed up. And this wasn't even a large show!

[polakoff]

How would the general population feel about HOFer cards priced as marked in one box, sorted alphabetically by last name, and then things like 5-3-2-1 dollar boxes sorted by year?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by TheNightmanCometh

Does the National always take place in AC?

No, it is rarely there. And we are (almost) all glad of that .