So I walked into a card store today, and was puzzled by...

Luke · #1 11-23-2020, 12:38 PM

I have an idea I might know who this is. I might be wrong, it might be another card shop owner. There are always some angles that are harder to see as a customer. A local card shop owner I know used to have an incredible group of vintage cases, and then one night he was robbed and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cards. It broke his heart, and his vintage cases never had anything special in them after that.

Most card shops that have managed to stay open have put a lot of effort and store space into gaming cards and catering to that customer. If you're mostly a baseball card shop, it would certainly make sense to have some old cards, but if baseball is like your 5th most popular offering, keeping older, hard to source cards around might not be a big priority.

Exhibitman · #2 11-23-2020, 01:09 PM

I don't blame the LCS owners. It is impossible to be expert in everything.

Successful LCS's basically thrive on sales of new unopened product, box breaks of unopened products, and sales of single cards from newer product that they break down in-house and retail. They will price the 2020 Topps Doohickymajig refractor properly but they guess at everything else and often are so busy dealing with the volume of sales and material needed to make a go of modern that they will sell a rare card without researching it, which can be dangerous with a BIN on eBay. Case in point: shortly before COVID, my LCS came across some 1961 Bell Brand Lakers on a walk-in, including a West and a Baylor. For those who don't know the issue, these are painfully rare, very early cards of West and Baylor, and are coveted and extremely valuable to California regional and basketball collectors; in 2014 a West w/o the coupon sold for $5,000 in an H & S auction. In today's basketball market I have little doubt it would be a $10,000 card. He listed them for sale on eBay with BINs at about 10%-15% of actual value, they sold instantly, and he was none the wiser until I asked him WTF he was thinking. Left at least $10,000-$15,000 on the table.

Throttlesteer · #3 11-23-2020, 01:21 PM

I'm in the same general area as the OP. Im unfamiliar with the shop, but I would question whether the Mantle and Teddy are legit given the owner's feedback. Those are two iconic cards in a pool of low $ modern. I guess its possible theyre conversation pieces.

ClementeFanOh · #4 11-23-2020, 01:24 PM

Lucio- I collect comics as well, and am lucky to be 30 minutes away from a phenomenal brick and mortar "mom and pop" comic store. The owner is a subject matter expert who knows his livelihood depends on knowledge of his chosen field of sale. This store has gotten my business for THIRTY years. I actually look for and "root" for the small business owner, but that mindset assumes the owner knows what he is talking about (and shows a little passion for the field, right?) I wouldn't have been mean to him, but I would have had zero qualms about walking away- and making a mental note not to do business with him in the future. Trent King

yanks87 · #5 11-23-2020, 01:27 PM

Must be in Washington, if it isn't gold stamped, shiny and sparkly there are very few shops in Oregon that carry "the dying/dead stuff." That being said, the gruff comments sound very much like a couple guys here in Oregon, especially coupled with the over inflated "I've had offers" comment. One of my favorites.

Throttlesteer · #6 11-23-2020, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanks87

the over inflated "I've had offers" comment. One of my favorites.

Yep, reminds me of Mr. Shotwell Ruth. Red flag!

MCyganik · #7 11-23-2020, 02:20 PM

I think if you have a brick and mortar card shop these days and you're not using it as a front for eBay or card breaks or have a verrrrrry loyal customer base, you may definitely be out of the loop on how people value vintage vs. modern.

Vintage collectors know what they want. There's no randomness to vintage. No pack-pulling hoping for a '52 Mantle and no hoping for some kind of '52 Mantle 1/1 Superfractor Auto. Most vintage collectors set a goal toward a player, a set, or a specific card and either save money to buy it via eBay or major auction house, or buy singles via eBay. Most of the time they want it graded. Occasionally if they are looking for commons to build a set, they'll go to a large card show (pre-Covid) but they know their specific needs are almost always never going to show up in some random picked over card store. Wandering into a brick and mortar store, they are more likely to find overpriced, ungraded singles that are "easier" to find on eBay.

Vintage collectors tend to be older yes, but I've seen many collectors my age (35) who have been around the hobby long enough get bored with the newer cards and start investing/chasing vintage. Who knows if vintage will increase forever, but it has shown to be a fairly safe investment vs. always chasing the next Trout on a SSSP card.

Card stores that don't stay up on the latest trends and cater to the modern clientele with breaks, high end new releases etc are the ones that tend to turn to comics, games, toys etc to make ends meet because their highest yielding clients at that point are parents who bring their kids in because they don't know what to buy online and the kids are too young/random to verbalize specific wants in the hobby for moms to find online. And kids certainly aren't looking for an overpriced, sun-faded 1960 Topps Wally Moon for their collection.

cardsagain74 · #8 11-23-2020, 02:36 PM

Is there this lack of "in person" interest in vintage at card shows nowadays too?

All of this sounds the same as when I was setting up at shows while in high school during the junk wax era. If you had cards like a '59 Al Kaline in the case, they would sit forever (unless you marked it way down. People were only chasing after '87 Fleer Will Clark and all the '90 Kevin Maas cards.

With how strong and liquid the market is online for vintage, I assumed that this had changed some. Doesn't sound like it though

conor912 · #9 11-23-2020, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCyganik

So Occasionally if they are looking for commons to build a set, they'll go to a large card show (pre-Covid) but they know their specific needs are almost always never going to show up in some random picked over card store.

TBH, it’s gotten to the point where even walking into a vintage heavy show, I know finding the card I want in the grade I want for the price I want is highly unlikely.

bobbyw8469 · #10 11-23-2020, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conor912

TBH, it�s gotten to the point where even walking into a vintage heavy show, I know finding the card I want in the grade I want for the price I want is highly unlikely.

^^^^ This ^^^^

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