As I've mentioned in past Shop Talk installments, we really continue to make a concerted effort to buy higher-end, iconic slabbed rookie cards to have in store. We are currently focused on vintage pieces with a sprinkling of some modern rookie cards in baseball, basketball and football. We have also (slowly) skated into the hockey rink and picked up a few 1979 Topps and … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Flashy Helmets, Vintage Slabs and Robbery Hits Close to Home
Hobby Shop Talk
Shop Talk: Hottest Card Products Year to Date
Although we are headed into the fourth quarter of our calendar year and revving up for the craziness of the holiday season that is to come, I wanted to put the brakes on for a brief moment and reflect back to some of the sports card products that have sold best for us so far this year.We have a saying in our store that football is king, so that's as good a place as any to start … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Hottest Card Products Year to Date
Shop Talk: Rain Problems, New Product, Breaks, UPS Changes
I say often that I'm actually a really big fan of rain. Most people's first reaction to that is some level of bewilderment. This week even put a rain lover like me to the test and had me asking Mother Nature what the heck was going on.Between Wednesday and Thursday, we saw over seven inches of rain fall in our fair city thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ida. That's a large … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Rain Problems, New Product, Breaks, UPS Changes
Shop Talk: More Vacations, Large Deliveries, Friday Night Lights
The owner of the shop spent this past week at his beach house in the Outer Banks which left me running the show. Zach helped out a few mornings early in the week and my guy Kyle was back Wednesday through Saturday to help out. It was bittersweet seeing Kyle leave Saturday as it was his last day with us he's returning to Lancaster Bible College to finish out his senior … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: More Vacations, Large Deliveries, Friday Night Lights
Shop Talk: Cards, Crosscutters and Customers
I'll start this installment by saying we continued our trend of buying mid to high end rookie slabs over the course of the week. We were able to add some nice eye candy to the showcase, including more high grade 2000 Tom Brady rookie cards, some PSA 10 2010 Topps Rob Gronkowski rookies and even some high-grade versions of Steph Curry's 2009-10 rookie cards. Every … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Cards, Crosscutters and Customers
Shop Talk: Card Shops, Card Shows, Card (Spread) Sheets
Last week was a busy one in the shop--and in the area. We received a nice quantity of 2020-21 Select Basketball hobby boxes mid week. We had a few cases and loose boxes and we pieced it out completely and listed individual boxes online. They were sold out within 48 hours of us receiving them. We also saw the anticipated 2021 Gold Standard Football bricks arrive in store … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Card Shops, Card Shows, Card (Spread) Sheets
Shop Talk: Becoming a Shop with Teeth, Basketball Bricks, National FOMO
I must say sitting in Central Pennsylvania last week, I had a pretty legitimate case of FOMO as the collective collectibles world converged on Chicago for the National. The only thing that kept me going was that I could live vicariously through social media and the daily coverage of the show on this website. We've already made the decision as a store to make the trip … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Becoming a Shop with Teeth, Basketball Bricks, National FOMO
Shop Talk: Good Help is Great to Find
On this week's Shop Talk, I'd like to discuss a topic familiar to a lot of business owners these days: staffing.When I first approached Jason, the owner of Sports Zone, the Pennsylvania hobby shop where I work a little over three years ago, he wasn't certain he could add a full-time employee, but he took a chance.The pay wasn't life changing, but it was good enough to get by … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Good Help is Great to Find
Shop Talk: Connecting and Reconnecting Through Cards
I had a really great conversation with an old friend this week.Yes this is Shop Talk and yes this does concern the business of running a card shop...to a degree.Fresh out of college, JM and I worked at a big box retailer in State College PA. I won't say the name of the retailer but it's the big blue one that starts with wal and ends with mart.We came in to the company at nearly … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Connecting and Reconnecting Through Cards
Shop Talk: Comp Questions and Answers
In this week's installment of Shop Talk, I'm going to talk about a ongoing and ever increasing back and forth with many of the customers that come through our door who are looking to sell their cards to us.The most recent example is one from late this week. An older gentleman who is a repeat customer in our store came in with a stack of cards. Now this particular customer … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Comp Questions and Answers