I'm very late to the party, but thought I'd chime in since there's a show tomorrow and I've been thinking about this exact situation.
I assume most of this has been covered, so pardon me if I’m repeating anyone else’s thoughts.
The few times I was able to secure decent trades at shows was the result of a few things, namely:
1. Work the room and get chatting.
Find personable dealers who enjoy interacting with collectors. These are the guys who are usually most open to talking about trades.
2. You have to know
(and more importantly, accept) that
there is no way in high heck you can expect to get an even swap. Dealers are trying to make money, so you have to know the negotiations won't be like dealing with a fellow collector where you both get the 'same' value back. They want to sell and make a profit at the show
(and the shows that follow). They need to get the
(way) better end of any deal.
3. Taking
#2 into account, you have to offer them
(great) cards that are pretty liquid, ones they know they could 'easily' sell at this show or the next.
You have to avoid offering anything that would basically become 'dead inventory' on their table. They have no use for that stuff.
4. Find great
(and easily sellable) cards of yours that are worth a heckuva lot more than what you paid for them originally. For instance, say you have a
Mantle you picked up a long while back for a fraction of what it is worth now. If you're looking to land
(without spending money on) a sweet card you really want that is currently worth less than your
Mick, then you would be more apt to swap it at a 'loss,' since you wouldn't actually be losing value considering what you paid for it.
That sort of purchase timing is really the heart of the matter. Because, pretend instead that you recently bought that very
Mantle and paid a pretty penny for it. If that were the case, there’s no way in heck you’d want to trade it at a significant loss. Same exact card, but completely different ways to look at its specific monetary value to you personally.
And yes, tomorrow I'll probably be doing all of this, but will come home without any trades made.
It's the nature of the beast, but you gotta give it a go.