Tony Reid offers his weekly dose of happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania shop where he works.
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Anyone owning or working in a brick-and-mortar card shop has seen this scenario many times. It may happen much less now than it did during the pandemic but we still see it from time to time.
A customer walks in that we’ve never seen before, sometimes not even acknowledging us or us having the time to acknowledge them before they are feverishly typing on their phone looking at the shelf, then back at the phone, then looking at the shelf, then back to the phone. As much as they think they are being inconspicuous it’s blatantly obvious. This person is checking prices online and comping our box, pack and singles prices. Hey, no harm no foul there. Everyone should be informed and have a solid understanding of the prices in the market and try to get the best deal they can for themselves.
But that’s not what’s happening and it doesn’t end there.
I don’t know why this relatively new thought prevails in the hobby that a certain small percentage of customers (read: resellers and or flippers) have an expectation they should walk into a brick and mortar card shop and be able to purchase products and immediately flip them for a crazy profit. Where else is that the expectation? At a restaurant? A furniture store? A car dealership? Where?
Here’s the thing. We pride ourselves on almost always offering the lowest price on eBay (and other online platforms) on almost every new sports card product released, yet we will receive calls from Hawaii, walk-ins in Pennsylvania and other people wanting “a better deal.” Again, we literally have lowest price they will find. People searching these products, by and large, know that. You can’t physically walk in another card shop and get a better price on a box. You can’t call another dealer or shop anywhere and find it cheaper. Why, then, in that moment, would one ask us for an even better deal? I mean, I admire their chutzpah, but we’re not here to be their personal wholesaler.
We seem to get calls from the same out of state folks every time we list a high end sealed case online. Can we do any better? What’s my price. Well, your price is the one we are offering it for to everyone and that price is the lowest… anywhere. To be completely honest, the owner of the shop will indeed try to with buyers (almost to a fault sometimes) when it’s possible but at some point we just have to call it a day.
There have also been times when I’ve told the owner to put a few cases of certain products in storage and forget about them, as they would probably pay for his next beach house in a few years. It’s a real game of cat and mouse. We have to beg to get the product, offer it at a reasonable price where we will make a decent profit or choose to sit on it and sell it later. We never do the latter. It’s turn and burn. Our sports cards are like perishable goods. We want to get them out before their expiration date. If they go up in value over the next six months or a year because of player performances, so be it.
Card shops were never to be an immediate cash source for the customer or consumer. The customer was buying a service or product because they wanted that service or product for themselves to, dare I say, keep and enjoy. Most shops are glad to wheel and deal on some things and there are scores to be made and deals to be had. But the idea was never that someone could walk in and pull the cash register till and make a pile of money off the shop in a matter of a few minutes.
So the flipper, scalper or investor who has zero overhead comes in looking for an even more bare-bones price that is already bare bones should probably take into account all that goes into having an actual card shop and be somewhat understanding of that shop’s sticker prices. If you’ve been frantically typing on your phone for half an hour you can clearly see our prices in relation to the rest of the world.
I begrudge no one for trying to make a dollar. We sure as heck have to do it to keep the lights on but it’s sad that there are people in the hobby right now who have no real interest in the actual cards. Sometimes it’s all about making a buck and, as a lifelong collector and lover of sports, that doesn’t sit well with me. There’s no love of sport, of the great athletes involved, or of the beautiful cards produced. It’s just merely a transaction, a money grab and a means to an end. Some of what is happening today in and around the hobby just feels a little slimy.
Some see online videos of amazing flips, once in a lifetime finds and become intoxicated with the idea that path to instant riches is the norm. The hobby is so much more than that.
I can tell you from decades of personal experience that when I’m in another card shop or at another show I find it much more fulfilling, rewarding and fruitful when I’m looking to add to my own collection or see something I’ve never seen before. To each his own, of course.
I can’t tell you how many calls we received from people, who stood in line at Target, Wal-Mart or elsewhere for three hours mid pandemic and immediately called us from the parking lot breathing heavy, trying to sell for a goofy profit and make some fast cash. It still happens today but less often. If it makes sense and we can make a deal, we will buy from them but post pandemic it doesn’t make much sense because these folks can’t go in and mindlessly clear the shelf and make a profit. The prices and quantities went up and now your market knowledge has to be pretty good to make a buck.
We have a man who comes in fairly regularly with endless retail product, looking to sell to us. He made a hefty profit a few short months ago but now it’s a much tougher sale. In the current market, we pass on his stuff 90% of the time. Flipping retail isn’t as easy these days.
For decades brick and mortar card shops have been the lifeblood of the hobby and have kept many card companies, distributors, vendors and wholesalers in business and profitable. The same distributors and wholesalers have all but turned their backs on brick and mortar offering up the goods to the quick flip artists and people in it to make a buck, which only exacerbates the whole situation. In an online world, hobby shops offer actual face to face interactions. Lasting customer relationships are formed, often crossing generations. Those fun barber shop style sports conversations are here for anyone who wants to have one. There’s a shared love of sports and cards that’s pretty hard to duplicate. Our regular customers get that–and we try to have fun with all of them.
Shops are often the first point of contact newcomers have with the hobby they left years ago or are just getting into.
“But Tony, you old head, get with the program, the game has changed!” Look, I’m fully aware that there are many dusty old card shops that haven’t made an effort to keep up with the times, prices, trends or anything remotely resembling forward progress and those places will see the consequences of that mindset. These are ‘dinosaurs’, as a vendor told me recently. But the card shops that are continually evolving with the market, growing, adapting and moving forward who are also trying to keep the lights on, pay a staff of knowledgeable people and are an integral part of little communities all around the country still deserve a little respect and to have a seat at the ever changing table, no matter how many place settings there are.
The vast majority of my interactions on a daily basis with customers are awesome. This is just a small percentage of our daily or weekly scenarios. Like I’ve said a hundred times before, I live for those interactions, conversations and opportunities to give and receive knowledge about the sports and hobby I love dearly. Look no further than most of the collecting world’s response to The National. The most common comments were about how great it was to talk and share a beverage or meal with people they only see once a year or had never met in person before. The National only comes once a year. We’re here year round and I want to ask you what you thought about last night’s game and I want you to be able to ask me, too…in person.
See you at the shop.
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