How much would it cost these days to have a "Nationals Worthy" booth?

[UKCardGuy]

Interesting topic. It really depends on what you consider National Worthy.

If I assume a National Worthy booth has a few display cases with pre and post war stars, maybe a dollar box too and some complete sets and maybe a bit of cool memorabilia...inventory might include something like this:

T206 stars (couple of cobbs, mathewson, etc)
Perhaps a smattering of T205, M101-4, e91s etc)
A stack of 1952 Topps including a Mantle or a Mays
A stack of 53T including Satchel and Jackie
A selection of Goudeys, Playball, postcards, etc
A further selection of topps stars from 1954 to 1972

There also has to be enough inventory to sell across 5 days. That means having inventory under the table to replace sold items.

If I assume there's at least 100 cards in each display case and a average price of $500 per card in the case then it's pretty easy to get to $300K.

I have no doubt you could set up with much less, but is that National Worthy?

[Rich Klein]

One of my old friends sold out of his $1 box inventory at AC back in 2022. The person who bought it got a great deal and got some help getting those cards shipped back to his home area.

But you don't need to have a vintage display to do well. If you have modern cards priced right (both showcase and value cards) and are willing to move them on, you can do just fine for yourself. When I was in Chicago in 2023, my friends from the Singles Club had yet another amazing show and they did expand to showcase cards but their bread and butter is still the 50-cent and up value box cards they specialize in.

The NSCC is the ONLY show they do and they do enough each year to keep their business going. And they are really nice people to boot so if you are interested in that part of the world, I recommend visiting them and you will have fun.

Rich