National: Any Seller's perspectives?

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Where does a 14-year old get $5400 from?

That was the part of Don's post that jumped off the screen for me as well. I don't recall making too many $5,000+ purchases at age 14 (even adjusted for inflation). But good for the kid putting the money into a classic Ruth card instead of a modern flavor of the week. If he keeps the card, I think he will be very happy with that decision a few decades from now.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

That was the part of Don's post that jumped off the screen for me as well. I don't recall making too many $5,000+ purchases at age 14 (even adjusted for inflation). But good for the kid putting the money into a classic Ruth card instead of a modern flavor of the week. If he keeps the card, I think he will be very happy with that decision a few decades from now.

Maybe dad put him up to it (with dad's money) assuming a kid would do better with a decent guy seller.

[sb1]

Lots of young collectors have their bullet proof box full of Benjamins and/or Luka cards...and other high end flashy stuff, but many also buy pre-war.

[Steve_NY]

Just got back to storage this morning, but I was busy the entire show with lots of T and E card sales and lots of Goudey and similar sales.

The most exciting thing that I saw at this National is that the kids have returned to collecting and many collectors have returned to their incomplete sets.

It's my 39th show and it will finish at somewhere around my best to fifth best National, depending on my followups in the next week or two. I consider all sales emanating from the National as sales for that National but I cut off after 2 weeks.

Looking forward to next year in Cleveland.

Steve_NY

[pclpads]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

That was the part of Don's post that jumped off the screen for me as well. I don't recall making too many $5,000+ purchases at age 14 (even adjusted for inflation). But good for the kid putting the money into a classic Ruth card instead of a modern flavor of the week.

If he keeps the card, I think he will be very happy with that decision a few decades from now.

Not likely. Five will get you ten that the kid and daddy put it on feebay or in a big AH in the next 30 days. My guess is they are both flippers and not buy it and holders.

[Jewish-collector]

What I think is happening is that the kid is a real collector (but not vintage and not at that level), so he talked the father into buying the Ruth card and then selling it a month or so later.
I recall suggesting a similar idea many years ago for my father to buy the T206 Wagner or the 1952 Mantle but he said no.

[sb1]

I would be willing to bet that the kid leveraged himself into the deal by pulling and or savvy buying/trading of modern cards and got to the point he had a bank roll from doing so..They are way more business/card savvy than we give them credit for.

[notfast]

Originally Posted by sb1

I would be willing to bet that the kid leveraged himself into the deal by pulling and or savvy buying/trading of modern cards and got to the point he had a bank roll from doing so..They are way more business/card savvy than we give them credit for.

This is probably exactly what happened.

The hotel trades nights are an absolute mad house of people under 20 and dotted with people under 30.

This is the future of the hobby so we need these kids to enjoy the hobby, even if they’re just in it to make money.

[mrreality68]

Very interesting takeaways

Especially about the youths

[rand1com]

This was my 14th National as a dealer and it was middle of the road for me.

I mostly deal in autographs and memorabilia and this show for the most part did not present nearly as many customers as it historically does for these items or either they just missed my table. I had a decent location but few vintage/tobacco cards so the table was mostly just walked past.

The last two Nationals I had purchased large collections of 1950's/60's baseball just before the National and did very well.

All of that said, I was still only about a grand short of my expected dollar volume and my number of sales although not extremely high in number averaged almost $500 per sale with the vast majority being 1 item sales.

I did notice some younger collectors looking for vintage cards, autographs, and tickets. One 18 or so year old young man toyed with buying a 1947 World Series Game 1 Robinson Debut ticket in a PSA 4 holder for $3000. He wanted to trade a 1957 WS ticket autographed by Aaron + cash for it but wanted too much trade value for the deal to work for me. Another 14 year old was working on finding autographed Y.A. Tittle items to make a framed display. Other youngsters were excited to look at items that dated to 80-100 years ago.

But I agree with others that the vast majority of teen collectors are looking at the hobby as a money making venture only.

[timber63401]

We like to kind of look down on and say that a lot of the kids are just looking at all this as a money making venture but there are several posters and long time posters on this board that look at pre-war exactly the same way. Id say if 1% of the current under 18 crowd in this hobby turn to vintage and pre-war then its a win.

[CJinPA]

Originally Posted by timber63401

We like to kind of look down on and say that a lot of the kids are just looking at all this as a money making venture but there are several posters and long time posters on this board that look at pre-war exactly the same way. Id say if 1% of the current under 18 crowd in this hobby turn to vintage and pre-war then its a win.

+100 to this! The 18 and under crowd these days is far more advanced than my generation of collectors in the 80's and '90's.... yes, I'm a product of the junk wax era but had an uncle who only bought 50'-70's era so had me always thinking about the relative rarity of the mid-century cards.

I'd suggest that more than 1% eventually take the leap - but that's just a feeling...

[Michael Peich]

Guy at the table selection area told me "we would rather you not sign up for two; there are hundreds of people who still need tables". I told him to save that story for the next corporate booth that wants to buy in.

I concur with Chris. We both told the selection guy that corporate is squeezing out the little guys like us.

Our booth (Chris, Tim Newcomb, and I) was totally hidden by a huge 20 foot high wall of some corporate entity. No one looking at that monstrosity would have known there were small dealers behind it.

If Joe D., Jimmy Ryan and their partner are reading these posts they need to consider a few changes.
1. Move corporate to an area all its own, one that will not hide the small guys like us.
2. Put booth numbers at each booth.
3. Insure that air conditioning works. It was brutally hot the first three days.

I did sell a fair amount despite being hidden, but felt we all might have sold more if people had known we were there.

The corporate part of Chicago is out of control, but I suspect the Broggi cabal didn't give a damn since it appears that they wanted to go out with a financial windfall.

Cheers,
Mike

[Mrc32]

My 16 year old is one of those that has a bullet proof case and loves to haggle with older dealers. Yes he sells, and he buys. He loves to trade.

I collected as a kid in the late 80s and I don't remember a month going by where I didn't get the new Beckett magazine to see which of my cards had the little arrow pointing up next to it. I also remember selling 11 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey RCs for like $15 each to a dealer at a show - as a 14 year old I WAS RICH! It is a story I have recounted to my son many times.

These kids deal in much higher values than we did at the time. But for me I think its great. My son has learned so much about cost basis, profit margin, negotiation, buying low and selling high. I love it when i see him go toe to toe with some adult.

So while everyone loves to smack around kids who who walk around with those cases - look at the bigger picture. It really is a great thing for the hobby.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by rand1com

This was my 14th National as a dealer and it was middle of the road for me.

I mostly deal in autographs and memorabilia and this show for the most part did not present nearly as many customers as it historically does for these items or either they just missed my table. I had a decent location but few vintage/tobacco cards so the table was mostly just walked past.

The last two Nationals I had purchased large collections of 1950's/60's baseball just before the National and did very well.

All of that said, I was still only about a grand short of my expected dollar volume and my number of sales although not extremely high in number averaged almost $500 per sale with the vast majority being 1 item sales.

I did notice some younger collectors looking for vintage cards, autographs, and tickets. One 18 or so year old young man toyed with buying a 1947 World Series Game 1 Robinson Debut ticket in a PSA 4 holder for $3000. He wanted to trade a 1957 WS ticket autographed by Aaron + cash for it but wanted too much trade value for the deal to work for me. Another 14 year old was working on finding autographed Y.A. Tittle items to make a framed display. Other youngsters were excited to look at items that dated to 80-100 years ago.

But I agree with others that the vast majority of teen collectors are looking at the hobby as a money making venture only.

What's wrong with that? Doesn't the hobby need future dealers as well as future collectors?

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Just remember it wasn't so long ago that most of us worried about the future of the hobby. It seems to me that it will be just fine. Ebb and flow as always. The future seems brighter to me now. Several of those kids will find their way to vintage and all will be well.

I started as a kid by collecting contemporary cards. Didn't we all? In spite of the fact that resident Net54 sage Ted Z. started out by opening packs containing Ruths and Wagners, I'm still guessing he may have been hoping for a Larry Jansen or Snuffy Stirnweiss!

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by jayshum

What's wrong with that? Doesn't the hobby need future dealers as well as future collectors?

Nothing wrong with it. Just stating what I believe to be the case.