Using Trade At Card Shows

[ClementeFanOh]

Notfast- what "this" are you referring to? That dealers expect to come out ahead in
trades, or that collectors are willing to take a "loss" in the trade to get what they want?
Both are in fact true- at least, in 40 years of collecting I've consistently observed it.
People (collectors and sellers) know what they have financially in their cards, which gives them room to make deals of all sorts- trade, sale, buy. If the "majority" doesn't
understand this simple concept, then the majority have their heads in a bucket. Trading
is a massively popular way to acquire cards, so those who don't accept it out of hand
are shorting themselves in the end. You can't make someone trade, but when someone
dismisses it from the start, they limit themselves. Trent King

[notfast]

Originally Posted by ClementeFanOh

Notfast- what "this" are you referring to? That dealers expect to come out ahead in
trades, or that collectors are willing to take a "loss" in the trade to get what they want?
Both are in fact true- at least, in 40 years of collecting I've consistently observed it.
People (collectors and sellers) know what they have financially in their cards, which gives them room to make deals of all sorts- trade, sale, buy. If the "majority" doesn't
understand this simple concept, then the majority have their heads in a bucket. Trading
is a massively popular way to acquire cards, so those who don't accept it out of hand
are shorting themselves in the end. You can't make someone trade, but when someone
dismisses it from the start, they limit themselves. Trent King

The majority of people do not expect the dealer to “win” the trade. That’s why trading is very hard.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by notfast

The majority of people do not expect the dealer to “win” the trade. That’s why trading is very hard.

If by win you mean double up. I used to do a lot of trading at shows on both sides of the table. My experience has been as values have gone it has become more difficult to trade. Many people aren't happy just getting the better end of the deal, they are trying to crush the other person.

[Foo3112]

I have been attending card shows actively since 2011 and nobody was carrying pelican type cases back then. Even when I attended the 2019 National, it wasn't enough as to where anyone really noticed. Fast forward to the 2021 National, it felt like everybody had a pelican case full of cards. I would attribute this to trade nights going on all over every night. Even at the small local show I attend, people are carrying them now. The game has changed.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by Foo3112

I have been attending card shows actively since 2011 and nobody was carrying pelican type cases back then. Even when I attended the 2019 National, it wasn't enough as to where anyone really noticed. Fast forward to the 2021 National, it felt like everybody had a pelican case full of cards. I would attribute this to trade nights going on all over every night. Even at the small local show I attend, people are carrying them now. The game has changed.

Agree Foo that’s what I have been observing at shows of late as well.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by notfast

The majority of people do not expect the dealer to “win” the trade. That’s why trading is very hard.

From my experience, the majority of dealers expect to win the trade. That's why trading can be hard, unless the collector is willing to accept that.

[Johnny630]

The dealer still has to sell the card he received back in trade that’s usually why they expect to win by 20-30% I get that especially if he is working with the customer excepting trade and cash on an item back in trade that is not as easy a sale as the card going to the customer in the deal.

Also a lot of times dealers don’t even want to entertain they deal when they find out what the attendees says he values his card at. If it’s out of this world price it’s not going to work, it’s just not why waste anyone’s time.