My column on show etiquette drew an interesting response to my point about not interfering with a dealer’s transactions. One reader wrote as follows:Thanks for reading Adam’s Card Blog!
Appreciate all your details here, Adam, and interested in your take on a situation I'd rather forget. I remember a dealer table at the far end of 2021 or 2022's National showing two cases. One case had a lot of rare prewar stuff (photos, programs, cabinets). The other had scarce (not rare) versions of lower-demand prewar stuff, including some R314s I wanted. While the whole booth sold things in technical low grades, most of his first case would go for four figures on significance alone.
A few things in the "rare" case showed prices, but nothing in the second case was, so I asked about the stack of of R314s, all P-VG, with a handful of key cards. I asked him for a lot price and he said I should make an offer. I went through them again and pitched an off-the-cuff number I estimated to be about half what'd they sell for on eBay. He ended negotiation flat without countering, a surprise given his insistence I offer first, and moved straightaway to other people at this table.
I _think_ he set an internal minimum for anything in his case and hearing lower numbers violated that somehow. Perhaps he overvalued what he had, perhaps not. If you've found yourself in situations where negotiation never starts, what did you take away from it? Does it change your approach at other times?
The dealer either was trolling for unknowledgeable buyers who would overpay, wasn't really selling unless he got a crazy price, or lacked understanding of the value of inventory turnover (a decent profit today is more valuable than eking out every dime over a year because I can roll the money over into my next deal...or be able to afford to buy my kid the GI Joe with the kung fu grip for Christmas). An offer that isn't ridiculously low is an opening, not a close, to the discussion, yet people often take it as the last word. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to pull a client back into the room at a mediation when the initial offer was low and they took offense rather than taking it as an opportunity. It happens a lot. I've had that experience at shows too, where I've had to cajole the buyer to make an offer by reassuring him that I would not be offended by it. More times than not, we can reach a price that works for both of us, provided I can get him to engage in the process. If the guy won't even engage, he isn't really interested and there isn't much to do other than walk away. Some dealers are like that and they will still have the same crap in the case at the next show.
Appreciate all your details here, Adam, and interested in your take on a situation I'd rather forget. I remember a dealer table at the far end of 2021 or 2022's National showing two cases. One case had a lot of rare prewar stuff (photos, programs, cabinets). The other had scarce (not rare) versions of lower-demand prewar stuff, including some R314s I wanted. While the whole booth sold things in technical low grades, most of his first case would go for four figures on significance alone.
A few things in the "rare" case showed prices, but nothing in the second case was, so I asked about the stack of of R314s, all P-VG, with a handful of key cards. I asked him for a lot price and he said I should make an offer. I went through them again and pitched an off-the-cuff number I estimated to be about half what'd they sell for on eBay. He ended negotiation flat without countering, a surprise given his insistence I offer first, and moved straightaway to other people at this table.
I _think_ he set an internal minimum for anything in his case and hearing lower numbers violated that somehow. Perhaps he overvalued what he had, perhaps not. If you've found yourself in situations where negotiation never starts, what did you take away from it? Does it change your approach at other times?
The dealer either was trolling for unknowledgeable buyers who would overpay, wasn't really selling unless he got a crazy price, or lacked understanding of the value of inventory turnover (a decent profit today is more valuable than eking out every dime over a year because I can roll the money over into my next deal...or be able to afford to buy my kid the GI Joe with the kung fu grip for Christmas). An offer that isn't ridiculously low is an opening, not a close, to the discussion, yet people often take it as the last word. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to pull a client back into the room at a mediation when the initial offer was low and they took offense rather than taking it as an opportunity. It happens a lot. I've had that experience at shows too, where I've had to cajole the buyer to make an offer by reassuring him that I would not be offended by it. More times than not, we can reach a price that works for both of us, provided I can get him to engage in the process. If the guy won't even engage, he isn't really interested and there isn't much to do other than walk away. Some dealers are like that and they will still have the same crap in the case at the next show.