The Old Brick and Mortar Card Store

[Leon]

as they pick up their rotary phone to answer a call......

[Bored5000]

I have not walked into a brick and mortar card store in years. To at least a certain extent, though, I get the fact that a brick and mortar store can't compete with prices on eBay. But the delusion of many eBay sellers seems even more far-fetched in some cases.

This eBay listing caught my attention earlier. The exact same card sold for $1,553 last month at Heritage. Current eBay BIN price? $5,799 or best offer. I am a Phillies fan, so I know that Sealtest stickers are pretty hard to come by, but even half price of that BIN seems pretty far-fetched, IMO. We have all seen eBay listings that have been on the site for years and will never sell.

http://sports.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleN...05&lotNo=42017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-Sealtes...item53f5c801d7

[autograf]

We only have a couple stores here in Louisville. I generally only stop in if I need boxes or plastic sheets. They have no vintage BB nor nonsports. Just new stuff. Both nice guys though. The one has had vintage occasionally and knows it's worth and prices it accordingly. Took some in on consignment and stuck it up on ebay. I would never bid on anything they do because I know they have had people shill in the past.

[bbcard1]

I went into a nice coin and card shop in Williamsburg VA....it was a little high, but consistent...there were a couple of good buys, just not on stuff I was collecting. We had a great conversation and I bought a $50 card I should have probably paid a little less for. He told me that next time he'd rather me bring some cards in to trade...and I completely believe him.

I also go into a B&M store everytime i am in Huntington...have gotten a couple of good buys over the years.

[cubsfan-budman]

there are 2 card shops by me...i have no clue how they stay in business. one at least has the good sense to sell pok-e-mon cards.

i have to assume they also list their stock on ebay...

[wolf441]

No card shops near me in Mass (as far as I know). But there's an antique/consignment shop in Buzzard's Bay, MA and I'm amazed at how optimistic people are on prices. Nothing vintage, but cards from the mid '80's listed for ridiculously high prices that have been sitting in there for literally years. I can't imagine what the monthly fee must be for a table ($5? $10?) as nothing ever sells.

[frankbmd]

Visited 2 shops on my recent road trip.

Both owners were willing to chat.

Both stayed in business with large framed modern display pieces for affluent mother's and dad's to buy for their kid's bedroom walls. The cards were not their bread and butter.

One guy had a few 50 Bowman FB cards in G/VG condition. I asked him to give me a price on 4 together. He went in the back room to look at the price guide , came back with a $900 figure (NM), but said he would let me have them for $180. The lot included Graham, Groza and two other minor stars. I passed, but he was very close to what I would pay. When I got home, I still had some money in my pocket. Maybe I should have had 4 cards as well.

The other guy says occasionally he gets old stuff in. He said he will email me when that happens. When I said prewar only, he said which war.

[steve B]

There's one fairly close to me in Tewksbury Mass.

At first glance it's not much of a card store, they have lots of stuff like pennants, posters, all kinds of souvenir stuff. And a decent selection of modern cards. They also do some vintage, mostly postwar Redsox. They sometimes have prewar. They have at least one buyer for T206s whenever I'm there they show me the ones they have for him. Priced a bit high, but not crazy.

They also sell pokemon and that sort of stuff, as well as a few kid favorite gag items. I got my nephew a pair of "crazy eye" glasses (Kid size glasses with bloodshot eyeballs mounted on slinkys if you've never sen them)

They also do a lot of internet selling, and were ahead of many places doing that. When Curtis Martin went to the Jets they packed up the whole inventory of his cards and sold them onlline to a dealer in NY in under 24 hrs. They got rid of what would become dead inventory and the NY guy had a nice selection well ahead of the other shops around him. A win for everyone.

Steve B

[t206blogcom]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

I went into a nice coin and card shop in Williamsburg VA....it was a little high, but consistent...there were a couple of good buys, just not on stuff I was collecting. We had a great conversation and I bought a $50 card I should have probably paid a little less for. He told me that next time he'd rather me bring some cards in to trade...and I completely believe him.

I go to that shop a few times a year when I'm down in Williamsburg or passing through. I too have overpaid for a card there, but the owner, Guy, is nice and has some good stories. Last time I was in, he wanted to buy my T206 set and went on to tell me a story about when he was bidding on a T206 Wagner.

[bigtrain]

I went to college in Williamsburg and have stopped in that shop when in town for Homecoming, reunion events and the like. It is a nice place to visit. I expect to pay more there as I know what it is to try to operate a small retail business with rent, insurance and other overhead.

[buymycards]

When I go into a shop and see a common beater T206 priced at one hundred bucks I figure that the rest of the inventory will be overpriced so I usually leave without asking about anything else. Sounds like a poor strategy to me.

If it was in the case at a reasonable price I would take a serious look at the rest of the inventory and I would probably spend some money.

Same thing with card shows. I take a quick look at the dealers cases and if things are overpriced I move on quickly.

Rick