How To Win At Card Shows And Online!
Welcome to the Sports Card Strategy Show, part of the NoOffseason.com Sports Card Network.
On Today’s Show we’ll TALK ABOUT…
- Paul and Lefty’s Top Pick-Ups, Moves and Strategic Takeaways from The National
- How To Win At Card Shows And Online!
- Top 5 Cards To Buy Graded And Flip! Last Chance To Buy QBs before the season starts?
There’s an interesting dichotomy between what we do at NoOffseason.com vs. What happens at card shows.
Buying online is scalable and realistic for people with careers, families, other obligations outside of The Hobby. We all want to profit and make money, and many of our audience members want to parlay their current careers into a career moving in and out of sports cards for profit. That’s why we’re all here.
And we can help you with that.
Here are my top takeaways from The National…
Don’t be discouraged if you try to sell your cards at a card show and everyone there will only offer you 80% of the lowest most recent comp.
The reality is that 99% of people moving stuff at card shows are simply playing a numbers game. They only want cards that have several recent comps. This allows them to make offers at 80% or even 90% of comps, then set them out at their table or take them to a repacker who will pay anywhere from 7-15% more than what they paid for them. In this cash game, there are no fees taken out, and the moves are immediate, so people can walk away with large profits in a 1-3 day period of time.
This is the card show culture now. Don’t let the fact that you bought a card online but tried to move it at a card show discourage you. It shouldn’t.
You can’t change the market, so if you’re going to card shows, just adapt your strategy to fit it. We can still win at card shows. Here’s how…
Just simply Don’t bring cards that you bought line with selling markers in mind to card shows and try to sell or trade them, you will be comp’d to death. And they all use ALT. So get familiar with your value there
When you attend card shows, attend as a vendor, and stock up on your inventory / move stuff at the show. Only bring cards to card shows that you’re up 30% or more on from what you bought it for.
Become the dealer.
Find trade nights…
This might literally mean sitting in the hotel lobby and getting your cards out on a table. Seriously.
The VIP Room at The National is a free card show that you can set up as a dealer. The VIP Room at The National was it’s own card show. Seriously. I sat down, put my cards on a table, and made deals. There’s a massive difference between being the person who approaches someone in this situation, and the one being approached. When you sit, you’re the pawn shop. Period.
The Good news is if you’ve followed Sports Card Strategy, you’ve bought THE RIGHT CARDS. Your worst case at shows is that you attract a lot of interest, don’t move them, but wait until the selling marker. Then move them at the selling marker.
Am I concerned about the Card Show Culture? What can we do about it? As I mentioned before, we can’t change it, so my #1 strategy is to embrace it. Have fun with it. Marry together our insights with it. So I’m going to set up (buy tables) at card shows more consistently and frequently moving forward. I’m going to use those weekends to move in and out. Buy at the beginning of the show and try to move out of everything by the end of the show.
This is NOT NEW, by the way. People have been doing this exact thing for 50 years. BUT, this is different than what we do online with our strategies - which I’m also going to lean into harder by the way, but with card shows in mind. Here’s how…
Buying on Whatnot before going to card shows doesn’t leave a footprint. Looking for deals on whatnot auctions, which is why I’ve talked about it more, and have been curating and linking to top whatnot auctions on NoOffseason.com, as well as encouraging people to get $15 free by signing up at whatnot.sportscardstrategy.com.
Leaning into the Raw To Grade Formula Based rankings more and more
The Already graded rankings are great, but they are 100% selling marker dependent. The numbers may work in the formula, but the player has to outperform his or her current status for comps to move in the right direction.
When comps move in the right direction, you win online or at card shows. This is why the Target Cost and Selling Marker are SO IMPORTANT to make money in general
Don’t get frustrated.
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Paul Hickey is the founder of NoOffseason.com, home of the Sports Card Investment Report and The Sports Card Strategy Show.
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