Sunday Morning Soapbox: Card Show Pet Peeves

[sanjosefuji]

I'm sure have voiced my opinion in one way or another on a high percentage of my posts. Most of the time I do it without even realizing it, so it's not really the focal point of the post. Today's post is the exception. In fact, that's what my Sunday Morning Soapboxposts are all about. Me standing up on my soapbox and offering up my two cents worth of what some might say is nonsense.


Today's topic is "card show pet peeves". Now I should preface this post by stating that this post is not intended to hurt anyone's feelings or preach that I'm perfect. Names have withheld to avoid any lawsuits and anyone who has taken a few minutes out of their lives to read my blog already knows that I'm far from perfect.

I'm just letting off some steam that can sometime build up over time at card shows. So let the ranting begin.

It really bugs me when...


#1: Customers touch items with dirty fingers.

I've seen this happen several times in the past year or so. Last year, my friend had a bunch of Beanie Babies ruined by a little girl with ice cream all over her hands. Recently he had to throw out several photos that had Hot Cheetosfingerprints on them.




#2: Vendors are never at their table.

My buddy just happens to be one of these guys and it wasn't until last week that I discovered how annoying this could be. I stumbled across a guy who had a bunch of Denny'sbaseball card packs from the 90's for a quarter each. Unfortunately he wasn't around, so I couldn't buy them. I stopped by his table three or four more times, but he was never there. I'd love to be able to say... "it was his loss"... but the truth is... I really wanted those packs.





#3: People "card block"... in other words... interfere with a sale.

This can be another customer or another vendor. Either way, it's super annoying.


I've been at people's tables on numerous occasions when a customer comes up with a box of cards looking to dump them, "cheap". Half of the time I see cards I'm interested in, but I believe the dealer should have first dibs. They paid for the table space and they're the one the customer originally approached. "Card blockers" don't agree with me and have no problem jumping in and sniping the deal.




#4: Vendors are super unorganized and still live in the 90's.

I have one specific vendor in mind as I write this post. He has some really cool cards, but it bothers me that there's no order within his boxes. Rookie baseball cards are mixed in with vintage hockey, football inserts, and autographed basketball cards.


It would be worth digging through his stuff if he had reasonable prices, but he's probably the only vendor around whose values resemble a mid 90'sBeckett.




#5: People hijack your dime boxes.

Last, but not least... this is the pet peeve that inspired this post. I'm one of those guys who believes it's important for people to wait their turn. This applies to life in general. But today's post I'm targeting dime boxes.


It really bugs me when a person walks up and starts pulling cards out of a box that you're currently going through without even acknowledging your existence. Technically they're not breaking any laws, but I think it's rude and annoying. A simple, "are you done with these?" and the problem is solved.

I have a few more I'd like to share, but this post is already way too long. So why don't you feel free to share your own "card show pet peeves" or leave me some feedback on the ones I just shared.

By the way, if you enjoyed reading this kind of post I encourage you to check out The Shlabotnik's Report'spost on Unspoken Rules of Card Shows.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!


More...

[key2win]

Love this read. Thanks Fuji!

[sanjosefuji]

Thank you for taking the time to read it :-)

Love this read. Thanks Fuji!

[tzofosho]

great post Fuji, I haven't been to a card show since I was a tween, but your rules seem on point, particularly about sniping deals. If I was the dealer, I'd be pissed.

[sanjosefuji]

Wow. Didn't realize it's been 4 months since I've actually checked CCW... I apologize for the delayed response. Yeah this is one of the unspoken rules that I learned from working in a card shop. It would have been different had the customer walked up to the table and asked everyone if they were interested in his cards, but he went straight to the dealer. Unfortunately that didn't stop the customer from snagging the deal.

great post Fuji, I haven't been to a card show since I was a tween, but your rules seem on point, particularly about sniping deals. If I was the dealer, I'd be pissed.

[BGH]

Great read! I don't go to many shows any more. This is partially due to the fact that I am really only interested in hockey...and really specific in my wants. Card shows near me are baseball, football, & basketball heavy...little to no hockey. Most folks tend to have roughly the same spread here. I have seen many of the activities mentioned in the original post. I never sold a card, but can imagine the frustration sellers have when confronted by self-absorbed "customers" engaging in inconsiderate behavior.