Sports Card Dealers
The art of making a deal at the National Sports Collectors Convention
They don’t release official attendance figures for the National Sports Collectors Convention, but the crowds at the five-day event at the I-X Center in Cleveland sure seemed like record-breaking numbers, once again surpassing the 100,000 mark.
Having attended the show for several years, I have often wondered what it must be like to be on the inside of the table, dealing with the crowds of collectors who swarm about. So, I asked Rick Giddings of Gizmo’s Sportscards if I could hang out with him on and off for a couple of days to see what it was like making a sale.
We met last year at the PSA booth in Chicago and hit it off. Rick told me he would be glad to have me, so I dropped in on him early Thursday morning and things were already humming at his tables.
“I started off having a good day while setting up on Tuesday,” he said. “I sold a lot of stuff to other dealers who came by looking for certain things while I was still getting ready to go.”
If you don’t know, a lot of selling goes on between dealers at the shows.
Giddings hails from Davis Junction, Ill., about 80 miles west of Chicago, where he operates a brick-and-mortar shop with his son.
“I spend most of my time out looking at collections people want to sell by appointment,” he said. “I left my job in sales management several years ago, wanting to work for myself and be my own boss in something that I loved. Cards were it for me.
“The first couple of years, like in any new business, times were rough, but then I turned the corner and things started to take off. So far, I have bought collections in 49 states, the only one I have not been to yet is Alaska. I really don’t like to fly so I drive most everywhere, averaging about 32,000 to 38,000 miles a year. Plus, if I make the purchase, I have to get the stuff back to Illinois.”
He laughs, then says, “I know what you are thinking, and yes, I did fly to Hawaii. Hey, I’ve been to Johnson City [Tenn., where I live] and bought a collection before!”
The National is the only show he sets up at each year, though he attends other shows from time to time to help build his business and connections.
His collection of vintage baseball cards to sell is very impressive. It is what he specializes in. He has glass cases full of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Roy Campanella, Ernie Banks, and Satchel Paige cards.
There are several examples of almost all their cards from the 1950s and ’60s in different conditions, and he has a price on every one that the customer can see. Most of them are raw, with very few having been graded.
“I sell them like this, but I will get it graded if that is what it takes to make a sale,” he tells me.
After a few customers, I quickly learn he will work with you on the price. I think he would be disappointed if he couldn’t.
MAKING DEALS
Giddings has been Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers fan most of his life, and on this day, he has on a Pirates hat and jersey. His collection of Clemente cards is as good as any you will find.
On Thursday morning a father and son who made the trip from Seattle stop by. Their goal is to obtain one of every Clemente card ever made, including the regional ones. They buy two cards, a Post Cereal box and a Post Jello box to start with. What they really like is a Milk Duds box from around 1970-71. Rick tells me the card is very scarce, especially in the condition of the one that he has. They dicker with him a little bit on the price, then tell him they will be back, that there are supposed to be two more at the show they want to look at. When they are gone, Rick tells me he knows who has them and they are not in as good a shape as the one he has.
“They may be back,” he says. “Different things factor in for different people, it is what it is.”
As we look over the cards in his cases, Giddings says, “With these older cards, it is all about how sharp the color is and if they have four sharp corners, even if they are miscut a little bit. That happened a lot back in those days, with the wire-cut machines.” That is what they come to Gizmo’s looking for.
Ryan Louisa from Kansas City finally arrived at the show after four cancelled flights.
“I love buying old cardboard,” he says. He hones in on a 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle card, and after he and Giddings go back and forth with some good-natured price haggling, they make a deal that leaves them both happy.
Collectors come and go, most with a mission and a wish list. Giddings sells two complete baseball sets on Thursday morning—a 1953 Topps and a 1961 Topps. A collector who bought one of the sets, Hunter Reigler from Owensboro, Ky., comes back, this time looking for some older football sets and cards.
“Now, I’m on a mission for football cards from the 1960s and ’70s” he tells me. He has his list of what he is looking for. Giddings has some older football cards and he sold some to several customers while I was there.
Frank Simms from St. Louis is a big collector of Johnny Bench cards. From Giddings, he buys a really nice looking 1969 Topps Bench All-Star card. He lets me look at it and it is in beautiful condition. If he hadn’t bought it, I believe I would have.
He is working on a 1959 Topps set and is down to six cards, all commons. Giddings doesn’t have them and points him in the direction of another dealer who should have what he wants. He tells him that if he doesn’t find them at the show to contact his shop and he will see if he has them, and gives him one of his business cards. He sees that everyone leaves with his card.
As he walks away, Rick tells me, “I don’t want to be the biggest dealer, I just strive to be the best. I want people to be happy with our transaction we made.”
Eduardo Maldonado lives in New Jersey, but hails from Puerto Rico. He is at the show with his daughter and son-in-law and has on a Clemente Santurce #21 Roberto Clemente jersey. He is a friend of the Clemente family, he says, and of course Gizmo’s collection of Clemente cards catches his eye. They good-naturedly negotiate on a price for some of them. Maldonado doesn’t buy any, but I believe he will be back before the show is over. If I were a serious Clemente collector, it would be hard to leave Gizmo’s without making a purchase.
One young man stops by and asks Rick if he is interested in a Leaf 1/1 autographed card of Pirates rookie sensation Paul Skenes that he says he pulled from a pack. They can’t agree on a price and the guy moves on. Rick said he was pretty sure he stopped by after seeing him decked out in his Pirates gear.
“It is a great card, but if I paid what he wanted, I would not make any money on it,” he said.
Another guy is admiring the Mantle cards and patiently waits for Rick to finish with another customer.
“I need a ’69,” he says. “I’m working on a set and can’t go any further until I get one of these.”
Giddings takes them out from under the glass and fans them out for him. Now he is thumbing through about six of them, studies each one, and then pulls one out and admires it front and back. He asks Rick what he will take for it, and without any further ado or bargaining, peels off the money, pays for it, and moves on.
GETTING A BARGAIN
Throughout the time I was there, Giddings stayed busy, and it was not unusual for him to have two and three buyers shopping at once. He was a pro at knowing how to handle them all.
A lot of collectors came to him knowing there was a good chance he would have what they were looking for. I asked him how he built his rapport with customers.
“Take care of them over the years, lots of word of mouth, and of course advertising, like I have done for a long time with SCD,” he said.
Giddings was excited to be re-elected to the NSCC Board of Directors by his fellow dealers on Thursday night.
“I had to get up front and make a presentation on why I wanted the job,” he says. He is a success at what he does, and after spending time with him, it is easy to see why.
I did one more thing before I left Gizmo’s on Friday. I bought a beautiful 1966 Bob Gibson card from Giddings that I had had my eye on since I got there. Of course, he wanted to bargain with me on the price!
— Barry Blair is an author/writer from Jonesborough, Tenn. You can reach out to him barryblair54@gmail.com or follow him on rightfieldpress.com.
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