The owner was away for the last week and a half back down at the beach getting some new properties in order. It was just Felix, Tracy and me running the show. That’s becoming more and more commonplace at this point, so we just keep it moving and keep the store running in the owner’s absence.
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the Connor Bedard effect on the hockey market (and in our store). I’m not the biggest hockey fan but I do appreciate the greats that I grew up watching. So I have a soft spot for the Gretzkys and Lemieuxs of the world. We felt the Bedard effect this week full force, as he’s already been included in the newest series of McFarlane Sports Picks figures and by the time the cases hit the floor, over half of them were sold. All of the white jersey chase figures were gone in minutes. We also saw 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 2 in all forms, with Bedard himself on the top of the boxes (and tins).
As everybody’s chasing his Young Guns rookie, the few hobby boxes, blaster boxes and tins we took in were gobbled up.
Sports Zone also managed to snag some of the new 2023 Spectra Football. There’s a nice margin on this product, so we were happy to get it in and sell it, as always, matching the lowest price on eBay.
We’ve continued to have customers stop by to offer items for us to purchase. If it makes sense, I continue to buy after the store is taken care of. Last week, I had a man come in, ironically, as I was dealing with another customer who was trying to sell his cards to me. After a bit of a wait, and some patience on his part, we had a long conversation about how his brother had recently passed away and had been an avid collector of various sports and in various categories. Although as I mentioned earlier even in this piece, I’m not a big hockey guy, but when he threw about 15 beautiful Philadelphia Flyers jerseys on my counter I couldn’t help but make a deal.
We had a customer come in this week, buy a few packs of cards and quickly make his way out of the shop. That’s pretty commonplace, but as I was talking to a few other customers he came racing back in the store to show me the Joe Burrow Kaboom that he had just pulled while ripping the packs in his car.
Everyone was so excited that one of our other customers paid for his one touch. He quickly put the Joey B in the case and ran back out to his car just as happy as when he came in. We love seeing big hits by our customers because we know frustrating ripping boxes and packs can be more often than not. When someone beats the house, it’s cause for celebration for all of us.
One seemingly growing aspect of our business that is not cause for celebration is the abuse of the return policy. Whether it’s eBay, Amazon or Walmart, we get laughable returns back on a regular basis. Luckily, they are usually low ticket items, but you still have to shake your head every time. We shouldn’t be surprised that a certain segment of the population behaves like this but we still are every time. As soon as I see our mailman drop off a pile of boxes and I see the return labels, I begin to cringe. Well, it didn’t take long to get really cringeworthy earlier this week as I opened a return from Walmart to find an absolutely demolished mega box of Donruss basketball. It literally looks like a grizzly bear tried to open the product.
My daughter Isabella continues to further her very young athletic career. She wrapped up basketball at the YMCA and she moved directly into tee ball. I was excited to see her play for the first time (in actual competition) this week. We practice all the time in the house and I will also be coaching her team this summer. I’m really looking forward to that. The good news was that her very first at bat she ripped a ball the opposite way and ran around the bases for a Little League home run. It was definitely a celebratory ride home and night at the Reid house.
That about wraps up my time in the hobby over the past two-plus weeks. I’ll be sure to check back in again soon.
Related Stories:
Bedard Leads Off Series 2 Young Guns Checklist; Game-Used Net from Debut Coming to SP Game Used
Bedard’s Young Guns RC Drives Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey To Unprecedented Demand
Notes: Bedard Day; Fanatics Strategy; Sesame Street and 1972 Topps Football; Simms, Florio Talk Memorabilia
Shop Talk: Hot Hands, Buying Slabs, Ohtani Allegations
Arturs Silovs Rookie Cards Drawing Interest During Unexpected Playoff Run
Shop Talk: Hottest Card Products Year to Date
Shop Talk: Adding Icons to the Inventory, Hotlanta Braves Items, Wrasslin’ Sells
Shop Talk: Taking Ownership, Communication is Key, Piles of Product
