Cats, guitars, baseball cards -
I began collecting in 1998. At that time and for a number of years afterwards I collected baseball cards exclusively. I was primarily a set collector, and so I bought a lot of boxes in an effort to finish off those sets.
As a result I accumulated literally thousands of cards that I really didn't want or need. These included autos and memorabilia, other inserts, parallels and base set extras. After ten years I still had basically everything I'd ever bought.
I was also attending the local card shows at the malls and the civic center where I bought most of these boxes. (I also shopped a lot on Ebay.)
Finally, I got the brilliant idea to combine the two: set up as a dealer at the local monthly show to get rid of some of this unwanted collection. This turned out to be a very happy decision for me.
There are three main tips I'll give you. One, the card show is just a whole lotta fun. Two, be as organized as you can be. Three, you're there to sell - your personality will go a long way towards your success.
Of course, the object of dealing is to make money. You want to cover your expenses and then make some profit. How much profit you make will vary depending on many things: obviously what you have to sell, the time of year, how big the show is (how much traffic), how much competition you have. But regardless of how much money you make, I think you'll find that setting up as a dealer is loads of fun. You'll get to know the other dealers, who will probably cut you a deal on stuff you buy from them (as they will, of course, expect you to do for them). You'll get to meet and know your regular customers. You'll get to spend time talking about your hobby and probably learning about it from people who know more than you do. I love participating in our show, so much so that I've become a partial sponsor.
My second tip: be as organized as you can be. This involves several things. The more logically you can arrange your display, the easier it will be for your potential customers to find what they're looking for. It will make it easier for you to know what you have and where it is. Be as knowledgeable about what you have as you can be. If you're going to have large boxes of mixed cards - a "10 for a dollar" kind of thing, for example - I think it's desirable to separate by sport. When I was looking for baseball cards I found it tedious to have to wade through football and basketball cards to get to the BB cards, especially if time is limited and there's a lot to see.
Being organized for me also means having your prices pretty much set. Maybe not every card is individually priced, but at least you are ready to state a price when asked. To me it's very irritating to have to wait while the dealer looks up a card (or two dozen cards) in the Beckett guide.
Price your cards reasonably. Just because that Topps 2011 Brian Orakpo has a BV of fifty cents, don't expect that you'll get anybody to pay that much (unless you luck into a Redskins or Orakpo fan), especially since he or she can probably get the same card from somebody else for a dime. You will gain experience on pricing as you attend more shows.
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