The National - Dealer Wives

[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.

[Volod]

Originally Posted by Leon

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

I have thought so, myself. But, at the time, i had just entered the show and planned to shop for an hour or so, so i recall thinking: "if i buy this card for a buck and the dealer finds out, he may come looking for me, and even though it was a nominally fair and square sale, i would feel bad enough for taking advantage that i would likely agree to reverse it, and so why go through with it? Of course, i could have just grabbed the card and headed for an exit, but would have felt like a sneak thief doing so, or just taken the odds that the dealer would not have even noticed the card missing, since he had misplaced in the first place. Geez, the mental gymnastics you go through just trying to buy some old cards!