The National - Dealer Wives

[mybestbretts]

I find this so funny!!! Being a woman collector, maybe you would like to follow me around at a show. My husband has a lot of fun. Nobody will ask me what I am looking for or what I collect, they ask my husband. I have absolutely no problem being bothered while I look! Wish I had some of those women at a booth at the shows I have been to, at least they talk to you !

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by mybestbretts

I find this so funny!!! Being a woman collector, maybe you would like to follow me around at a show. My husband has a lot of fun. Nobody will ask me what I am looking for or what I collect, they ask my husband. I have absolutely no problem being bothered while I look! Wish I had some of those women at a booth at the shows I have been to, at least they talk to you !

Haha thats funny. The more women in the hobby the better

[Snapolit1]

Not agreeing with the tone of some of preceding posts, but I was a little surprised how many times at the National there was someone manning the booth who had no clue what was going on. I get the fact that a guy might bring his wife along to sit at the booth during the necessary bathroom breaks and a run for a soda or coffee, but it happened to me at least 4 or 5 time and that was a little surprising.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Haha thats funny. The more women in the hobby the better

Agreed. Nice to see a diverse group of collectors.

[smallpaul2002]

My wife and I attend card shows all the time. I let her negotiate the price...I watch dealers give in after her constant nagging for a "good deal". She's definitely an asset in more way than one, especially if she knows I want a very specific card. We both enjoy the hobby as she loves to shop and get a bargain. She is my wing man...Thank god they don't sell shoes at the card show.

[ALR-bishop]

On another board we once had a bet on whose wife had the most shoes. Everyone had to do a count and report back.

[Volod]

The ugly take-away from this thread is of course the gratuitous misogyny, but the underlying gripe has some validity, that is, dealers at large shows who leave friends or relatives in charge of high-value goods they know little or nothing about.
I haven't visited a large show in over twenty years, but when i was putting together sets back in the '80's, i can recall stopping at a table at a natcon where the proprietor had just left his spouse at the helm, and as i sorted through a stack of near mint '52 Bowman commons, i found a Musial card that had obviously slipped in by mistake. When i asked the lady for a price, she replied confidently that the commons were all a buck each - even as i held the Musial up in her field of view. On a tight card budget at that time, i was sorely tempted, but my conscience won the battle, and i told her that the card was misplaced. As no good deed goes unpunished, she seemed to disbelieve me and shrugged off the advice. So, i still wonder if other shoppers found some great deals at that table.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Once you bring it to someone's attention, regardless of gender, the gloves are off. I can't beg someone to not sell me a card. As a dealer who's made mistakes, often I honor my mistake anyway out of appreciation for someone's honesty.

The only other forum I belong to is a poker forum and through the years the guys have gradually learned that their misogyny costs them in the long run as slowly but surely female poker players have put them in their place. Would love to see this evolution in the sports collectibles world.

[Leon]

When she shrugged off your advice you should have bought the Musial.

Originally Posted by Volod

The ugly take-away from this thread is of course the gratuitous misogyny, but the underlying gripe has some validity, that is, dealers at large shows who leave friends or relatives in charge of high-value goods they know little or nothing about.
I haven't visited a large show in over twenty years, but when i was putting together sets back in the '80's, i can recall stopping at a table at a natcon where the proprietor had just left his spouse at the helm, and as i sorted through a stack of near mint '52 Bowman commons, i found a Musial card that had obviously slipped in by mistake. When i asked the lady for a price, she replied confidently that the commons were all a buck each - even as i held the Musial up in her field of view. On a tight card budget at that time, i was sorely tempted, but my conscience won the battle, and i told her that the card was misplaced. As no good deed goes unpunished, she seemed to disbelieve me and shrugged off the advice. So, i still wonder if other shoppers found some great deals at that table.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by smallpaul2002

My wife and I attend card shows all the time. I let her negotiate the price...I watch dealers give in after her constant nagging for a "good deal". She's definitely an asset in more way than one, especially if she knows I want a very specific card. We both enjoy the hobby as she loves to shop and get a bargain. She is my wing man...Thank god they don't sell shoes at the card show.

Be happy if your wife is content with shoes. Mine collects jewelry. And, I pretty much have to make sure her collection out values mine

[steve B]

It all depends on the person and their approach.

Used to do a flea market once in a while. Did one near my parents, and had lots of cards. Not much action, lots of lookers but few buyers. Left to have a look around and left mom in charge. Showed her the two cards I wouldn't budge on price, and said any offer that wasn't silly was fine for all the others.

Came back in about 20 minutes. Mom hands me about $75 and says "go look at more stuff" when I asked why she pointed out the guys standing at the decorative towel display a couple booths away. Which was odd since few guys did much looking at decorative towels there. She said they were the next flock of vulture looking to take advantage of the old lady while her kid was away from the table. She got darn near full price on everything! And they seemed happy to pay it.

Best sale was the kid with a handful of change asking how many cards he could get from the commons box. Checked with his mom, and told him he could get as many as he could fit in both hands.(Didn't want to do that if she didn't want him getting a lot of cards to leave laying around) He did so well I threw in a couple nicer cards too. He managed maybe 200 cards, not at all bad for a kid around 6-8. Best 37 cent sale ever.

Steve B

[horzverti]

Originally Posted by mybestbretts

I find this so funny!!! Being a woman collector, maybe you would like to follow me around at a show. My husband has a lot of fun. Nobody will ask me what I am looking for or what I collect, they ask my husband. I have absolutely no problem being bothered while I look! Wish I had some of those women at a booth at the shows I have been to, at least they talk to you !

Do you ever have fun schooling fools who don't think you know anything about cards? It is good that you find some entries in this thread funny and not offensive. ...and now, back to cards!

[steve B]

Originally Posted by mybestbretts

I find this so funny!!! Being a woman collector, maybe you would like to follow me around at a show. My husband has a lot of fun. Nobody will ask me what I am looking for or what I collect, they ask my husband. I have absolutely no problem being bothered while I look! Wish I had some of those women at a booth at the shows I have been to, at least they talk to you !

I get almost the same thing when I go to the quilt show with my wife. The vendors are more friendly, but there's always that bit of surprise when they realize I actually know something.

Pro tip, some of the tools for quilting are actually pretty handy for woodworking and other crafts.

Did industrial stuff for 11 years, and given the choice I'd take the female salesperson every time. They were simply that much better at communicating Like- they actually did communicate. Price and availability? Get back to you in a bit. Female salesperson that meant a few minutes. Male in new England? Two weeks and they didn't remember what you wanted even though you'd faxed over the part numbers on day two. (Outside new England was better overall)

Steve B