I've been selling baseball cards for over 25 years at shows all over the country. The only time I pull out a Beckett is when I am buying and am not sure of the value of certain cards. I also use it to mark back stock to fill gaps in inventory. I never knew there were any serious dealers who actually sold VG-EX cards at half near mint prices. They surely don't know what they are doing. Their buyers must not know either.
Without going all the way back to another dealer, one poster said he keeps in mind what he pays for his cards and then adds 10-20 to the price. That is a very slim margin for expenses, and might work for strictly local shows, but that won't pay for tables, travel, lodging, and food at big shows.
I take a similar approach to what he does, but I have to be very selective in what I buy and be careful not to exceed a certain margin in order to make a small profit. I'd say up his numbers to 20-35% and it describes my margin.
A lot of the knack to being able to have repeat customers is to keep the prices low enough and the condition high enough to satisfy the average customer. It isn't easy. That requires passing on collections that are overvalued by the seller.
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