How does a new seller get into ANY major card show these days?

[bcbgcbrcb]

Good news, I received a response today from the Strongsville card show. Bad news, as expected, it was that the show is sold out every year as all dealers always return. On occasion, a spot may become available and then the extensive waiting list kicks in. I put my name down but am going to be 55 next month so not too optimistic that I’ll ever get to experience it.

What’s getting harder and harder to justify isn’t the travel expenses when you are setting up as a dealer at these big shows, it’s the travel expenses to simply attend the show when you cannot make any money selling to offset your costs. I don’t expect to attend many, if any, in the near future. Guess I’ll have to stick to the bargain box buying and selling at the small shows down here in central FL. I would have to travel a minimum of 10-12 hours to get to a regional show and I’m not doing it if I can’t make any money while I’m there.

[Exhibitman]

You really have to adjust your expectations of a show. If the focus is grinding money out of a mainstream slabbed collection, better to put the time into eBay listings. Local shows are best suited for all of the stuff you cannot sell and ship economically, and for hard to find and esoteric stuff that niche collectors will go for. That sort of material always sells well for me. Occasionally a good walk-up sells you something too. The nice part about that is that the expectation is not to make a retail sale to you, so there is some advantage baked into the deal.

[Hankphenom]

I'm just curious what's happened with those. For many years, I could expect a table at a good regional show to run somewhere in the $200-250 range, with a discount for multiples. What are they now?

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I'm just curious what's happened with those. For many years, I could expect a table at a good regional show to run somewhere in the $200-250 range, with a discount for multiples. What are they now?

For a three day big show, at least $800.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

For a three day big show, at least $800.

Yikes! I really am living in the past. That's what the National used to run, how much is THAT now?

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Yikes! I really am living in the past. That's what the National used to run, how much is THAT now?

Around $1500

[Exhibitman]

depends on where you are, I guess. The 800 table show in Anaheim over Labor Day weekend was $600 for an 8' table for 4 days. A 2-day show in Pasadena on November 18-19 is $200 for a 6' table. A dinky local HS gym show I went to last weekend was $65 for a 6' table for 1 day.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

Around $1500

No 0ne ever said it's cheap to set up at the National. Back when I was splitting a table, 7-8 yrs ago it was around a thousand, if I remember correctly.
.

[bcbgcbrcb]

I was going to say $500 for a regular aisle table. Guess I even underestimated how much these went up. Good thing mine are only $40-$50 for the little 40-60 table shows down here that we hope will draw over 100 people in a day. Pretty tough to try and make a living this way. And dealers are complaining that attendance at the Dallas card show is down significantly…..