Saturday, February 24, 2024, Sheraton Hotel, Madison, WI
Messy ride home from work Friday night in a wet snow storm. Thankfully the snow did not stick to the roads but there was some ice out there Saturday morning. This has been some crazy weather. It was 48 degrees and sunny around noon Friday. Then temps dropped to the teens when I was loading my car early Saturday morning.
I was on the road to Madison around 6:30 a.m. and made it to Rockford around 7:30 a.m. where I stopped off at an Amoco just off the highway on State Street. I was the only customer filling up when some guy came out of no where and hit me up for money. Now, I don’t mind helping those in need but I do mind giving my hard-earned money to scam artists.
Over the years I have developed a test to distinguish between those that actually need some help and those that are scammers. I call it the “smell test.” Under the test, the guy asking for money has to smell real bad, like he’s living in his van or a ditch by the side of the road. When they smell bad, I’ll empty my wallet. On the other hand, when they don’t smell like they pooped their pants, I tell them to move on. They don’t need my money.
This guy at the Amoco was dressed nicer than I was and was carrying a cup of coffee. He doesn’t get my hard-earned money. When I declined his request for the money that I had to bust my tail to obtain, he responded, “Thanks a lot. You have been a great help.”
My reply, “Stop begging for money and get a &$#@ing job.” I am sure the gas station was hiring if he really needed money.
I was kind of ticked off during the rest of the drive to Madison. I hate being harassed at gas stations. It happens far too often.
I was in a much better mood once I made it to the Sheraton Hotel. The staff there is so friendly and they held the door open for me as I loaded in my wares. This is my third month in a row setting up in Madison. I brought out binders today, including all of my baseball and football. I brought along the basketball but did not have enough room to place it out.
This was a monster Madison show with three different rooms and 175 tables. Some dealers do not like it when a promoter adds more tables. I hear the complaints in Oak Creek and I heard some this morning in Madison. These dealers think the additional dealers are unwanted competition. I wholly disagree. As I told one dealer, complaining in Madison, there is no such thing as competition at a card show. Dealers, no matter who they are and no matter how many of them are set up, will always sell cards and make some money as long as they have good product on their table that is priced reasonably. It is not rocket science, it is that simple.
Stop focusing on the promoter, stop focusing on the other dealers — focus on yourself because in the end, you can only control yourself.
For me, the more tables the better because more tables usually bring in more customers. I don’t know about these complainers, but my preference is always to see more customers, not less. So I was real happy when I learned that Madison promoter extraordinaire Beau Spencer was adding another room and more dealers.
The dealer complaining in the morning about the increased competition ended up having an excellent day. Actually, just about every dealer I talked to had a great day. Nuff said.
It was kind of a weird day for me. I had customers at my table while I was trying to set up in the morning. As you know, I just love that… I wasn’t even half way set up when guys started going through the few binders I had placed out. It is really tough for me to place out all the binders when guys are blocking my way.
To make matters worse, one guy asked that I help him go through my early 1950’s Bowman football binder because he could not pull out the cards due to nephropathy in his hands. I thought about asking him to come back later but he smelled like urine and clearly has a host of health issues, so I helped him pull some cards. While I was annoyed, I did feel really sorry for him.
Though, I think he could tell that I was annoyed and he purchased a few cards and said he would be back after I finished setting up. Thank you!
Man, I just could not place out the binders fast enough! Guys kept coming to my table and began digging through the few binders I placed out. It was sooo aggravating. By the time I was able to get out all the binders, I had a crowd. Guys were pulling stacks of cards and I had some really nice sales. By 10:30 a.m., I was on my way to a big day. I was no longer annoyed. Then it stopped. All those guys digging through binders with want lists in hand (my people) suddenly disappeared. The rest of the day saw just a trickle of sales. But sales were so fast and furious early on that I ended up having a good day.
Surprisingly, I did not buy a thing. Nobody offered me any cards which is so weird for this show because I have made a great many excellent buys here in the past. Oh well, I was forced to go home with cash in my pockets. Darn!
I ended up chatting with a lot of folks and did not hit the road for home almost until 4 p.m. As usual, Tom was my neighbor. I hope his cat is doing better. Tom was on the phone with his wife, who had the cat at the vet during the show.
I always enjoy seeing Bronko, who told me he had to attend a basketball game after the show. I also enjoy chatting with John Seacrist, who told me he had a monster show in Janesville last weekend.
Then it is always fun talking shop with Mike from Premier Card Shows. I also chatted with Beau, who works his tail off at the Madison show. Another excellent Madison show! Great job Beau!
Next Madison show is March 30. I will be there. I think I’ll bring display cases in March.
Next up for me is Oak Creek on Saturday, March 2, 2024. As usual, dealer tables are sold out. There will be 180 tables. I am heading up Friday to set up the show. Dealers are welcome to come out between 7 and 8 p.m. for early set up.
A big thank you to everybody who purchased cards from me in Madison. Hope to see everyone in Oak Creek on Saturday!
Messy ride home from work Friday night in a wet snow storm. Thankfully the snow did not stick to the roads but there was some ice out there Saturday morning. This has been some crazy weather. It was 48 degrees and sunny around noon Friday. Then temps dropped to the teens when I was loading my car early Saturday morning.
I was on the road to Madison around 6:30 a.m. and made it to Rockford around 7:30 a.m. where I stopped off at an Amoco just off the highway on State Street. I was the only customer filling up when some guy came out of no where and hit me up for money. Now, I don’t mind helping those in need but I do mind giving my hard-earned money to scam artists.
Over the years I have developed a test to distinguish between those that actually need some help and those that are scammers. I call it the “smell test.” Under the test, the guy asking for money has to smell real bad, like he’s living in his van or a ditch by the side of the road. When they smell bad, I’ll empty my wallet. On the other hand, when they don’t smell like they pooped their pants, I tell them to move on. They don’t need my money.
This guy at the Amoco was dressed nicer than I was and was carrying a cup of coffee. He doesn’t get my hard-earned money. When I declined his request for the money that I had to bust my tail to obtain, he responded, “Thanks a lot. You have been a great help.”
My reply, “Stop begging for money and get a &$#@ing job.” I am sure the gas station was hiring if he really needed money.
I was kind of ticked off during the rest of the drive to Madison. I hate being harassed at gas stations. It happens far too often.
I was in a much better mood once I made it to the Sheraton Hotel. The staff there is so friendly and they held the door open for me as I loaded in my wares. This is my third month in a row setting up in Madison. I brought out binders today, including all of my baseball and football. I brought along the basketball but did not have enough room to place it out.
This was a monster Madison show with three different rooms and 175 tables. Some dealers do not like it when a promoter adds more tables. I hear the complaints in Oak Creek and I heard some this morning in Madison. These dealers think the additional dealers are unwanted competition. I wholly disagree. As I told one dealer, complaining in Madison, there is no such thing as competition at a card show. Dealers, no matter who they are and no matter how many of them are set up, will always sell cards and make some money as long as they have good product on their table that is priced reasonably. It is not rocket science, it is that simple.
Stop focusing on the promoter, stop focusing on the other dealers — focus on yourself because in the end, you can only control yourself.
For me, the more tables the better because more tables usually bring in more customers. I don’t know about these complainers, but my preference is always to see more customers, not less. So I was real happy when I learned that Madison promoter extraordinaire Beau Spencer was adding another room and more dealers.
The dealer complaining in the morning about the increased competition ended up having an excellent day. Actually, just about every dealer I talked to had a great day. Nuff said.
It was kind of a weird day for me. I had customers at my table while I was trying to set up in the morning. As you know, I just love that… I wasn’t even half way set up when guys started going through the few binders I had placed out. It is really tough for me to place out all the binders when guys are blocking my way.
To make matters worse, one guy asked that I help him go through my early 1950’s Bowman football binder because he could not pull out the cards due to nephropathy in his hands. I thought about asking him to come back later but he smelled like urine and clearly has a host of health issues, so I helped him pull some cards. While I was annoyed, I did feel really sorry for him.
Though, I think he could tell that I was annoyed and he purchased a few cards and said he would be back after I finished setting up. Thank you!
Man, I just could not place out the binders fast enough! Guys kept coming to my table and began digging through the few binders I placed out. It was sooo aggravating. By the time I was able to get out all the binders, I had a crowd. Guys were pulling stacks of cards and I had some really nice sales. By 10:30 a.m., I was on my way to a big day. I was no longer annoyed. Then it stopped. All those guys digging through binders with want lists in hand (my people) suddenly disappeared. The rest of the day saw just a trickle of sales. But sales were so fast and furious early on that I ended up having a good day.
Surprisingly, I did not buy a thing. Nobody offered me any cards which is so weird for this show because I have made a great many excellent buys here in the past. Oh well, I was forced to go home with cash in my pockets. Darn!
I ended up chatting with a lot of folks and did not hit the road for home almost until 4 p.m. As usual, Tom was my neighbor. I hope his cat is doing better. Tom was on the phone with his wife, who had the cat at the vet during the show.
I always enjoy seeing Bronko, who told me he had to attend a basketball game after the show. I also enjoy chatting with John Seacrist, who told me he had a monster show in Janesville last weekend.
Then it is always fun talking shop with Mike from Premier Card Shows. I also chatted with Beau, who works his tail off at the Madison show. Another excellent Madison show! Great job Beau!
Next Madison show is March 30. I will be there. I think I’ll bring display cases in March.
Next up for me is Oak Creek on Saturday, March 2, 2024. As usual, dealer tables are sold out. There will be 180 tables. I am heading up Friday to set up the show. Dealers are welcome to come out between 7 and 8 p.m. for early set up.
A big thank you to everybody who purchased cards from me in Madison. Hope to see everyone in Oak Creek on Saturday!
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