Sunday, March 3, 2013, Serb Hall, Milwaukee, WI -- It was kind of a tight squeeze at the Serb Hall show today. We're usually in a large room with plenty of space. Today we were crammed into the bar. Though, I can't really complain. SportsCenter was on two flat-screen TVs across from my table and we had a really nice crowd. In fact, this was one of the largest crowds I have ever seen at a Serb Hall show. I was busy most of the day.
Everyone who stopped by my table today was terrific -- except for one guy. I don't know his name but he sort of looks like his name should be "Al." Al Bundy. So Al was the first guy at my table this morning and was interested in 1955 Bowman umpire cards, of which I have most of them. The umpire cards are somewhat difficult to obtain and carry a premium price. Al pulled two cards. All my cards are labeled with a price tag. I spend countless hours writing down the price on a small tag and placing it on the toploader which houses each card. Al asked me the price of the card. I took the card from him and read him the tag. One card was priced at $15 while the other was priced at $18. He wanted to trade. I wasn't interested in trading. My initial goal early on in a show is to earn the table fee. No trades. He asked if I could give him a better price. Well, it was early in the morning and I wasn't quite sharp and offered him both cards at $15, a price that is much too low. Al gets all huffy like I'm trying to rip him off.
"That's too high," he snarls.
I start to think about it and realize $15 is too low and is a terrific deal. I tell him $15 is the best I can do. He stomps away. Now, I'm kind of pissed off. I decide right then and there that I'm not doing any business with this guy. He comes back at the end of the show and offers $12 for the pair. I politely decline. I'm not selling ANY cards to Al. Jerk-offs can shop elsewhere. I've got plenty of good customers who are always pleasant. I don't need Al.
I had plenty of good customers today. However, for as long as I've been selling guards, I still can't seem to gauge customers. There is a guy I've seen the past year or so at the Gonzaga show. He always stops and looks at my display cases but never buys anything. So, I assume that when I see him, he's just going to look at cards and not buy anything. Today, he had me pull out a bunch of expensive pre-War cards. I wasn't busy, so I didn't mind showing him the cards. He ended up buying my T206 Miller Huggins, T206 John McGraw with the tough apple green Cycle back, and a 1933 Delong Riggs Stephenson. He told me he has two T206 Ty Cobbs, different versions than the one I have. He wanted my Cobb but we couldn't agree on a price. I wonder why he never bought anything from me in the past?
Jason is a very good regular customer. Today he picked up some 1952 and 1977 Topps baseball (two binders I recently reloaded). A regular customer picked up some 1972 Topps. Jeff picked up a large pile of 1975 Topps Minis. He about cleared out my binder. I just reloaded that sucker! I can't keep up!! Jeff also purchased some 1955 Bowman and some 1954 Topps baseball. A new customer bought a 1970-71 Topps Oscar Robertson.
A regular customer purchased some 1972 Topps football. Another regular purchased some 1970 Topps baseball. A father and son team purchased some 1971 Topps Brewers. A new autograph hound rounded out my day by purchasing a nice group of cards from the 1950s through the 1970s.
In the room adjacent to the bar, there was a charity fundraiser called "Pasta Fest." The room was decorated real nice. There was a traditional Irish folks band playing. Former Milwaukee Bucks basketball player, and current Bucks TV announcer, Jon McGlocklin was there. Quite a few people came to my table looking for McGlocklin cards to get signed. I, unfortunately, didn't have any.
I walked around the room and tried to get each table at the show on video. I'm still learning how to use the video on my phone and unfortunately the video did not come out. Though, it was nice walking around the room chatting with all the dealers. Scotty told me he got a new job as a prison guard. He's armed with a taser. He's only worked at the prison for a week and he said the prisoners seem to stay in line.
On the buying front, I was shut out again. Nobody brought me anything to purchase. So I bought a few cards from Scott Z. and Bill N. I need a constant flow of new inventory for eBay. So, I gotta pick up something each week. A big thank you to Scott and Bill for giving me a nice deal on some cards.
I had a pretty good day today. My sales beat last week's Orland show. It was great talking with Scott Z. who was set up next to me today. Scott gave me a tip to check out 27th Street for food. I've been struggling trying to find a place to get a bite to eat after the Milwaukee shows. Well, I drove down 27th Street -- I will struggle no more. That road is filled with stuff! I almost stopped off at a place called Zeb Diner but I couldn't make the turn. I ended up getting a couple of cheeseburgers at McDonalds. Though, I'm going to get to know 27th Street better in the near future.
Next week is a double bill weekend with Orland on Saturday and Gonzaga on Sunday. I'm planning on reloading '71-72 Topps hockey and some 1978 Topps baseball before the weekend. I'll also have some new stuff for my display cases. It's going to be a busy week getting everything done. Next weekend should be fun. Hope to see big turn-outs at both shows. A big thank you to everybody, except Al, today at Serb Hall. Nice show!
Below is a random photo taken near the end of today's show.
Everyone who stopped by my table today was terrific -- except for one guy. I don't know his name but he sort of looks like his name should be "Al." Al Bundy. So Al was the first guy at my table this morning and was interested in 1955 Bowman umpire cards, of which I have most of them. The umpire cards are somewhat difficult to obtain and carry a premium price. Al pulled two cards. All my cards are labeled with a price tag. I spend countless hours writing down the price on a small tag and placing it on the toploader which houses each card. Al asked me the price of the card. I took the card from him and read him the tag. One card was priced at $15 while the other was priced at $18. He wanted to trade. I wasn't interested in trading. My initial goal early on in a show is to earn the table fee. No trades. He asked if I could give him a better price. Well, it was early in the morning and I wasn't quite sharp and offered him both cards at $15, a price that is much too low. Al gets all huffy like I'm trying to rip him off.
"That's too high," he snarls.
I start to think about it and realize $15 is too low and is a terrific deal. I tell him $15 is the best I can do. He stomps away. Now, I'm kind of pissed off. I decide right then and there that I'm not doing any business with this guy. He comes back at the end of the show and offers $12 for the pair. I politely decline. I'm not selling ANY cards to Al. Jerk-offs can shop elsewhere. I've got plenty of good customers who are always pleasant. I don't need Al.
I had plenty of good customers today. However, for as long as I've been selling guards, I still can't seem to gauge customers. There is a guy I've seen the past year or so at the Gonzaga show. He always stops and looks at my display cases but never buys anything. So, I assume that when I see him, he's just going to look at cards and not buy anything. Today, he had me pull out a bunch of expensive pre-War cards. I wasn't busy, so I didn't mind showing him the cards. He ended up buying my T206 Miller Huggins, T206 John McGraw with the tough apple green Cycle back, and a 1933 Delong Riggs Stephenson. He told me he has two T206 Ty Cobbs, different versions than the one I have. He wanted my Cobb but we couldn't agree on a price. I wonder why he never bought anything from me in the past?
Jason is a very good regular customer. Today he picked up some 1952 and 1977 Topps baseball (two binders I recently reloaded). A regular customer picked up some 1972 Topps. Jeff picked up a large pile of 1975 Topps Minis. He about cleared out my binder. I just reloaded that sucker! I can't keep up!! Jeff also purchased some 1955 Bowman and some 1954 Topps baseball. A new customer bought a 1970-71 Topps Oscar Robertson.
A regular customer purchased some 1972 Topps football. Another regular purchased some 1970 Topps baseball. A father and son team purchased some 1971 Topps Brewers. A new autograph hound rounded out my day by purchasing a nice group of cards from the 1950s through the 1970s.
In the room adjacent to the bar, there was a charity fundraiser called "Pasta Fest." The room was decorated real nice. There was a traditional Irish folks band playing. Former Milwaukee Bucks basketball player, and current Bucks TV announcer, Jon McGlocklin was there. Quite a few people came to my table looking for McGlocklin cards to get signed. I, unfortunately, didn't have any.
I walked around the room and tried to get each table at the show on video. I'm still learning how to use the video on my phone and unfortunately the video did not come out. Though, it was nice walking around the room chatting with all the dealers. Scotty told me he got a new job as a prison guard. He's armed with a taser. He's only worked at the prison for a week and he said the prisoners seem to stay in line.
On the buying front, I was shut out again. Nobody brought me anything to purchase. So I bought a few cards from Scott Z. and Bill N. I need a constant flow of new inventory for eBay. So, I gotta pick up something each week. A big thank you to Scott and Bill for giving me a nice deal on some cards.
I had a pretty good day today. My sales beat last week's Orland show. It was great talking with Scott Z. who was set up next to me today. Scott gave me a tip to check out 27th Street for food. I've been struggling trying to find a place to get a bite to eat after the Milwaukee shows. Well, I drove down 27th Street -- I will struggle no more. That road is filled with stuff! I almost stopped off at a place called Zeb Diner but I couldn't make the turn. I ended up getting a couple of cheeseburgers at McDonalds. Though, I'm going to get to know 27th Street better in the near future.
Next week is a double bill weekend with Orland on Saturday and Gonzaga on Sunday. I'm planning on reloading '71-72 Topps hockey and some 1978 Topps baseball before the weekend. I'll also have some new stuff for my display cases. It's going to be a busy week getting everything done. Next weekend should be fun. Hope to see big turn-outs at both shows. A big thank you to everybody, except Al, today at Serb Hall. Nice show!
Below is a random photo taken near the end of today's show.
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