Sunday Randomness/Saturday Disappointment

It had been a few weeks since I visited some of my local card shops, and finding some free time to do so, coupled with a glorious spring day made the world feel right again.  However the sting of the current market was felt when we walked into the first LCS.  Having a new proprietor, this shop didn't feel the same.  Sure its the same brick and mortar, with all the fixings.  I was bit a surprised at the higher prices and dearth of decent product (hint vintage).

I know we can't go back to pre-covid levels (however much I wish we could), but I'm always taken aback when shops won't even match an online price.  What's the point of letting it sit on your shelf?  Not that online pricing is the end all be all of things.  A quick look around the internet at prices of cards (new and old) and it's like the wild west.  For my current Topps 70th patch project I've seen pricing as low as $1/card up to several hundred.  Heck, the difference in pricing between card shops a mere mile or two apart can be far and wide.

Caveat emptor, as the saying goes.  

So for the first time in a long time, I struck out at the LCS.

Fortunately, I did have a nice arrival in the mail.  I had negotiated a price for several cards, focusing on needs only.  However the seller had a lot with some dupes and dropped the price to a point where I ended up buying the whole lot for a mere $16.  12 cards total, so my price per card was only $1.33.  

Here were two of my needs.  Betts and McGwire.  Very happy to mark these off the list as yet some places had these cards marked up way too much.

And two more needs.  Well, the Scherzer is a need.  The Berra wasn't included in the original deal but the seller threw it in.  Which is pretty sweet to have a low numbered black parallel.

It seems some folks mark these cards up way too much, perhaps its because there's only 1 to a blaster or they are simply throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks.  In this case, I'm sticking to my guns during this set build.  So far I'm averaging under $2.50 per card.  A little diligence has paid off as I've worked through this set and have been able to land a few parallels within my average.  As much as I'd like to sprint through the last 19 cards, patience is a must to keep my cost down.  

Hopefully my next foray into the wild will be more productive, until then happy hunting.