Antique Dealer Reneges, Blames His Wife...

[slidekellyslide]

Went to the antique show on this snowy Sunday afternoon and just as the show was winding down I came across a dealer who had a bunch of nonsport cards in a glass case...I was looking them over and he asked me if I wanted to see them..I said no, I collect baseball...he then takes out a box from under the table and says I can go through them...it was filled with 1950-60s baseball, football and non-sports....he had no prices on them. I came across a 1954 Nelson Fox Wilson Wieners card and it was in beautiful condition...I asked him if it was a reprint and he said no...I asked if I could take it out of the holder and he said sure, so I took it out and it was definitely real...I asked how much and he says "I'd have to have $20 for that one"...I said I'll take it and I set it aside.

As I was going through the rest of the cards the dealer (a guy in his late twenties to early thirties) picked up the Fox card and then started typing into his cell phone (damn cell phones!)..I hear him mutter "Oh shoot"..."oh man.." I knew right then that he'd done an internet search. So he then tells me that he can't sell me the Fox card because it was on the list his wife left him of cards not to sell. I laughed and looked at him and said "Really?"...he just said "I'm sorry"...I just looked at him and said "Yeah, I wouldn't sell it for $20 either." and then I walked away.

Would have been a great show...instead I walked out only buying an S72 actress silk from the Turkey Red series from a different dealer.

[MooseWithFleas]

Wow that is up there with the grandpa's attic. I got a good laugh out of that one, sorry you didn't make out with a great deal though.

[mintacular]

I was at a show once and a couple of younger guys busted out a laptop and started quoting VCP avg to a dealer or two and they seemed to get pissed off with this activity...

[wolfdogg]

Originally Posted by mintacular

I was at a show once and a couple of younger guys busted out a laptop and started quoting VCP avg to a dealer or two and they seemed to get pissed off with this activity...

I go to a small show where most of the "youngsters" walk in (or set up) with a laptop......I have set up several times and all day I hear "Well, I can get it on eBay for this" or "The last 3 sold for under $xxx"......I have told a few "This isn't eBay....eBay is where you go to give stuff away 98% of the time."

[barrysloate]

A good rule of thumb is to pay for the card quickly before he has a chance to find out more about it. I would have given him the $20 and then walked away. However, his actions were still wrong.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by wolfdogg

"This isn't eBay....eBay is where you go to give stuff away 98% of the time."

I like it! I am often faced with the same sort of nonsense and my response 99.999% of the time is "then go buy it on Ebay."

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

A good rule of thumb is to pay for the card quickly before he has a chance to find out more about it. I would have given him the $20 and then walked away. However, his actions were still wrong.

Looking back on it, it's easy to say that, but that's one of the first cards I ran across in the box...who would ever expect a dealer to renege on a quoted price while you were still looking through his stuff? Plus the show was closing down...most dealers were packing up their stuff.