Showing posts with label econ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label econ. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Photos from this year's econ

All photos are by Mizerock.

Guest Speaker Brad Van Pelt



2000 Explorer and calfan

Not sure who are in this photo:

This guy seems like a happy camper:

Loot from econ:


Sharing tatoos?:

Mark Sapir is second from left sitting down:

Monday, August 4, 2008

Photos from this year's etopps booth at the National in Chicago







All photos by mizerock.



Photos from the econ coming soon by mizerock

Monday, July 7, 2008

How To Sell To Certain Types of Card Show Customers

If all goes well you will see a lot of traffic at the card show where you will be selling. People of all ages will be there looking at each dealer table to see what's for sale. Each one could be a potential customer, putting money into your pocket.

From your end of the table, the only thing you can do is wait for them to come to you. How they present themselves will determine the approach you will take in making a sale and being able to shift gears quickly will be indispensable in closing some sales.

The following is a list of various types of customers you may encounter. While you may get other types of customers, these are the ones I have encountered and learned how to handle.

1) Baseline
This is the type of customer you will see the most at the National. They are sports card collectors who may or may not have heard of etopps. They are willing to listen and will give eye contact when you're talking to them. They are experienced at card shows and are the least overwhelmed by all that's around them including your table. They have a sense of humor, like to chat sports and have little or no problem moving on from your table if they don't find what you have interesting. Most likely they will not return back to your table after looking at what you have for sale the first time they take a look. Most likely they will be with a friend, girlfriend or family member and will be wearing something that gives away what player/team/sport they like or collect.

Selling Approach - This type of customer is great to work with. You may or may not have to explain the whole nine yards about what etopps is about but if you do, they will be all ears. This is the type of customer who will ask the most questions as you explain about etopps and is most likely to "get it" when it comes to how etopps works and will be willing to give you their email address so you can let them know which shows you will be doing in the future. Also, this is the type of customer who may tinker with the etopps website to check out the message board.

2) Etopper
Some of our best customers were those who had online accounts but never got any of their cards delivered. Some will acknowledge immediately that they have active accounts while others will tell you they had an account but lost interest years ago. Some will test you on what you know about etopps. Listen to all of their stories. To get them interested, tell them about the fantasy games, the autographs, econ, Allen & Ginter, etc.

Selling Approach - This one may be the easiest to sell because you don't have to give your sales pitch. They may offer to help you sell your cards if they have the time. We met a few etoppers this way who are active on the etopps message board.

Some may have been burned and validate them for what had happened. Let them know etopps is under new management (past two years) if they dropped out before 2006.

2)
Autograph Hound
This is the type of customer that you can assess by their appearance. Usually they are carrying something with them to be autographed: baseball bat, jersey, large flat, sports ball, etc. along with a digital camera. They are putting their money into buying the autograph they want and have already plunked down cash in advance, sometimes hundreds of dollars. They usually head straight to the autograph area and head right out after they get whatever they wanted signed or will browse the tables, looking at everything. When they're doing this, they're usually killing time until the autograph signer shows up.

Selling Approach - This is a tough sell because they're into autographs. Don't expect much from them. You have a slim chance if you are selling autographed cards and have one they intersted in. They may serve a temporary purpose of having a body in front of your table to attract other customers. To kill time, they will even hear your pitch about what is etopps.

Though if you have other people at the table who want to buy, politely tell this customer you will answer any of their questions after you have completed the sales that are about to take place.

If you don't have anyone at the table, they are good for honing your sales pitch and will be good to attract others simply by standing at your table: you ask them what they're getting signed by whom and you give them the etopps pitch in return.

3) Challenger
This type of customer may or may not have a Beckett price guide in hand. Whether they do or not, the question they always ask is, "How much does this book?" But can you blame them? They don't want to get ripped off and need something to use as a reference, assuming that if they don't they will get swindled.

Selling Approach
Since cards go for no more than half the price of what Beckett lists for its value, there may be no stopping these challenger customers from holding onto what they believe to be the Bible of sports card pricing.

I would politely explain that some but not all etopps cards are listed in the bigger Beckett price guide (such as the 2001 cards) and emphasize how scarce these cards are as in-hands compared to online circulation. You probably will not get a sale but at least you will establish credibility, especially if you are in earshot of a potential customer at your table.

4) Parent and Child
If there is a customer type among these that you will love, it will be the Parent-Child combo. My favorite scene is the boy or girl pulling his or her parent's arm in the direction of your table. You're almost guaranteed a sale in this situation.

A lot of times a parent gives their child whether it's a boy or girl a budget in what they can spend, usually 10 to 20 dollars.

We sold at the Football Spectacular in NJ for a few years. On the first day of each three day show we did, admission was free rather than the $10 door charge. On that free day, we saw a lot more kids than the other days. Not by coincidence, we sold the most to this type of customer.

Selling Approach - Go gentle and be kid friendly. Feed off their enthusiasm. They don't want to hear about print runs or the online platform. They like the card they're pointing at and want it right now.

In front of the kids' parents you want to make a good impression because the parent may buy from you too for the spouse in case the spouse is a collector as well. For example, if the cost of the card is $12 and they give you a twenty dollar bill, help the child figure out how much money they get in return.

5) Kids
You never know if a kid (or teenager) is with their parents when they're at a certain age walking around the card show. It's tempting to believe they have no money and are just looking.

Selling Approach
Many times I took the approach that they're a potential customer and had success whether with their parents or by themselves. Put yourself into their shoes: they could be future etopps buyers and it doesn't hurt to sell up what etopps is all about. The only thing holding them back from joining etopps is having a credit card and if these are teenagers, they are just a few years away.

If a younger kid is checking out your cards, grab one from your discount bin and put it in their hands and say, "this is for you." Watching their heads explode when you say this will be priceless.

6) Disheveled
You may have encountered this type of customer: men with fingernails that could use a trimming, slight odor, clothes that look like they were plucked from the Salvation Army, teeth that could use some dental work. Put these observations together and you have a browser who probably isn't going to buy anything.

Selling Approach
Less is more with this type of customer. Be polite and consider this person another body at your table because the worst thing at a show is to have no one at your table.

If you sense their presence is more of a hindrance that an asset to others browsing, politely and discreetly ask them if they want to buy a card. If they do not commit (which is likely), ask them what they are looking for and suggest they can find what they're looking for at another table (as long as you're specific about which one).

7) Talker
I sold an etopps card to a customer at the National the last time it was in Chicago. The etopps card was a football playoff card and the customer told me he was at that game. It was a cool story and I enjoyed listening to him.

It's fun to hear stories and talk up sports with customers. But it's another thing when a customer doesn't know when it's time to stop talking. They may or may not wait for their listener's cues that they should stop. At one show, we had an older gentleman at our table who told a great story about photographing football players of the New York Giants. It was cool to hear the first two stories but by the fifth story he told, we had had enough.

Selling Approach
There is no sale with this customer. Similar to the Disheveled customer, you need to set limits because this type of customer doesn't know how. They may start talking to other customers who will find this uncomfortable after a few minutes.

It's a good idea to nip this in the bud as soon as you can. Re-focus this customer, asking them politely if they'd like to buy a card and if they decline, suggest they find what they're looking for at another table. Again, if they're the only one at the table, determine whether their presence is a hindrance or not.

8) The Haggler
You'll encounter this customer a few times at a show, wanting to cut a deal with you, wanting to test how low you will go for a sale.

Selling Approach
When we had this type of customer we took a few approaches. We would tell them that the more they buy the more we'll go down in price.

We would also encourage them to return on the last day (if it was a multi-day show) or the end of the day (if it was only a day-long show) and we would consider making deals.

We would never negotiate to the point in which we regretted selling a card at the price a customer was asking.

As stated before, these are some of the customer types we've encountered. Sometimes you will get a combination of these in one customer: disheveled-haggler, autograph hound-talker, baseline-challenger.

By experiencing many different types of customers, you will learn to work with them more confidently and as stated in the last post, you can get indispensible experience at the upcoming National in Chicago by volunteering at the etopps booth.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Free Training To Sell Etopps In-Hands

When I was in college, I wanted to get a job in my college town as a waiter. I thought I could earn big bucks in tips so I could save up for spring break.

I remember walking down down College Avenue and saw a few wait staff positions available so I would walk in and apply. Each time I was asked the same question: do you have any experience waiting on tables?

No, I would say. But I was willing to learn.

Sorry, they would say. You have to have waiting experience to apply.

Long story short I did get a job at one of these restaurants...as a dishwasher.

I tell this story because selling etopps in-hands can be tricky without experience. I'm sure you've been served at a restaurant by a waiter or waitress who you could tell was new - nervous, worried, scattered, etc.

So as a new seller of etopps in-hands, you can either pretend you have the experience or get it for free by volunterring at next month's National in the etopps booth. You will be trained and you will learn how to sell these cards from the bottom up. And this invaluable experience will give you the confidence to do this on your own.

Being able to sell these cards under experienced etoppers' supervision is priceless. We did our first card show months after econ 2.0 (2003). I'm sure any of us would have given this a go if he we hadn't acquired the experience at the National that summer.

You will be reading future blog posts from me about selling these cards but they will not be as helpful as the crash course you will get in Chicago.

So if you do not have a reason why you should go to this year's econ, I hope this has inspired you. Here are other reasons why you should go:
  • You get to put a face to a name from the message board. Most everyone calls each other by their message board name. You'd be surprised how many come to each year's econ who post very little on the message board.
  • You get to meet people who are cool.
  • If you collect any kind of sports memorabilia, bring a drool bag to the National.
  • You can see how in-hand cards are presented, pitched and sold from start to finish.
  • You get free stuff as a thank you for volunteering at the etopps booth as well as more free stuff for registering and attending the econ.
  • You can win more free stuff (in-hands, Topps sealed hobby boxes, uncut sheets of etopps in-hands) in the raffle at the econ.
  • You can meet the captain of the SS Etopps: Commander Mark Sapir and his crew.
  • You can meet the guest speaker who has not been determined yet. Last year, the guest speaker was freakin' Bob Feller, the oldest living Hall of Famer.
If cost of the trip is an issue, you can sell a good chunk of the free stuff you will get to offset the cost. I have easily broken even from the econ trips I've taken to National at Cleveland, Chicago and Anaheim.

The hotel will probably cost more that the airfare depending on how many days you are there. Consider sharing your room with another etopper (or two).

In summary, what you will gain will far outweigh the costs for this trip to Chicago.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Friday & February Marketwatch - February 29

As of today, February 29 the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 402
Sell-Through: 57.21%
Average starting price: $5.43
Average final price: $10.42

Highest Single Card Sale: 2007 Bill Clinton Allen and Ginter $44.99
Highest Mult-Card Sale: Mickey Mantle Collection (set of 18): $449.95
Highest Graded Sale: 2003 LeBron James RC (PSA 10) at $46.99
Highest Autograph Sale: 2007 Adrian Peterson $310.00

Other best sellers:
2006 Allen & Ginter Presidents Set
2007 Ryan Braun Autographed Card
2007 WWE Torrie Wilson Autographed Card
2007 Brandon Roy
1958 Mickey Mantle reprint

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well:
Alex Rodriguez 6-card Lot: 20

The following are stats covering the last 30 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 1,205
Sell-Through: 52.78%
Average starting price: $3.37
Average final price: $10.88

Highest Sale: (tie) 2007 Tim Lincecum, Allen & Ginter Ronald Reagan: $49.99
Highest Graded Sale: 2001 Albert Pujols RC (BGS 9.5) at $130.00
Highest Autograph Sale: 2007 Adrian Peterson $310.00

Other best sellers:
Mickey Mantle Set
2006 Allen & Ginter President Set
2007 Adrian Peterson
2003 Tom Brady

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well:
Alex Rodriguez 6-card Lot: 20

This was the month of Allen & Ginter for etopps. Usually February is an off-month, being between football and baseball. We had the A&G Super Bowl Champions set, Super Tuesday, voting for the 2008 Baseball design, Adrian Peterson's autograph (the best offering in football since LaDainian Tomlinson), discounted in-hand shipping and reward points allocation. Kudos to etopps for making this anything but an off-month.

I will be surprised if etopps can out-do themselves in March. The 2007 Football Playoff teams are supposed to become available for shipping and we may see the first 2008 Baseball IPOs at the end of the month since the season officially starts prior to April.

One word of caution for etopps: slow down with Allen & Ginter. We now have four sets, three of the last four have been issued since last Fall. I think it should be left alone and let the secondary market absorb it. We're seeing very good sales for the first A&G set sold as singles and hopefully the same will happen for the SB Champs and the Presidential candidates (that is, the ones who are left in the race).

The Moments & Milestones Set is steadily selling around $100 this past month. It's not outperforming the Presidents set but may do better as the baseball season nears.

Thanks for voting on this blog for where to have the econ this summer. It was almost a tie between Las Vegas and another city. These two choices combined (59% of the vote) would have trumped Chicago (37%).

Have a good weekend and Happy Leap Year Day (my wife's birthday).

Monday, February 25, 2008

Poll: where do you want this year's econ?

In response to posts on the etopps message board about this summer's econ 6.0, I thought it would be interesting to see what are our preferences: to continue linking the econ with each year's National or have it elsewhere, whether Vegas or another city. Poll closes Thursday evening.

Econ is etopps' e-convention which has been tied with the National since 2004. The first one occurred the year before in Las Vegas and was not tied in with the annual National Sports Collectibles Convention which is held usually in either Chicago or Cleveland in late July.