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#1
09-26-2009, 09:33 AM
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Recent purchase at B & M
I spent $10 at my favorite hobby shop in PGH and here is what I picked up:
1) 86 Topps Warren Moon & Andre Reed RC 2) 2 screw down plaques 3) 1 '72-73 Topps Penguin Card 4) Emmitt Smith Starting Lineup Where else could I have picked these up in one place as I did? I believe an online store is a very important arm to a successful B & M but not necessarily the end all/be all. Also, in PGH when the Steelers/Pens won championships, who wants to wait a week or more to win an eBay auction, and then wait for it to be shipped to you... Last edited by mintacular; 09-26-2009 at 09:34 AM. 
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#2
09-26-2009, 09:47 AM
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Bricks and Mortar
DRC - my guess is the shop in Seattle you refer to is Gasoline Alley. If that's the case, while I agree they have a fine selection of vintage sports items, I'd be willing to bet that the majority of their sales are not from walk-ins - they come from print and internet advertising, as well as a network of buyers established over 30 years in the toy and sports memorabilia hobbies.
When talking about sports items, we're talking about different categories - available/cheap, available/expensive, rare/cheap, rare/expensive. For the expensive items, a seller always wants to maximize his/her exposure; for cheap items time and costs become bigger issues. I think the "only" way to operate a successful storefront in this hobby today is to have it tied to a strong internet business - when you're not dealing with your in person customers, you're managing eBay auctions, your web store, etc. And, as many store owners discovered, you may find yourself making more money of the web and wondering why you pay those bills every month. Jeff
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#3
09-26-2009, 12:03 PM
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I really don't miss the card shop days. It was nice to sift through things on a boring day by i much prefer the liquid marketplace of the internet and ebay in particular. I don't miss paying 100% book value on items and being able to only sell them for 40 cents on the dollar. I think the transformation to an internet marketplace has helped the hobby far more than its hurt it.
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#4
09-26-2009, 12:42 PM
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$
I hear you on the price thing, so many hobby shops are way overpriced. I went to a shop the other day to "kick the tires" and brought along a '69 set that I'm trying to fill in. Realized I might pay a couple extra bucks at a shop but figured it was worth buying a few commons as I wanted to see the place.
So the guy brings a monster box of '69s (unpriced). I ask how much they were going to be and he said it depends on condition/which ones I choose. So I start picking out a few cards I needed and for each one I pick he looks up on the computer and quotes me HBV or very close to it for each individual card, many of which were EX+/EXMT. "World Series Game 3 card, $7." Once I pulled a few cards and realized where this was going, I stopped the charade, bought a couple screwdowns and my (5) commons, and got the hell out of there having spent $13 for $3 worth of stuff... Last edited by mintacular; 09-26-2009 at 12:44 PM.
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#5
09-26-2009, 01:12 PM
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I agree with those who say card shops are endangered species. Most shops that I see around have some kind of sideshow business (scalping tix, clothing, etc.) just to stay alive.
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Hybrid Mode
