Did any sports cards come in?
This is typically the first question out of my mouth after exchanging pleasantries with the guy who runs one of the local thrift shops I frequent.
The store is part of my weekly routine and over the last year I’ve found loads of items to resell there. Clothes, books, movies, music, and some electronics usually fill my tub, but until last week, cards have eluded me.
I’ve been a regular enough customer, that asked about cards so much, the owner said if any come in he’d hold them in the back for me.
Well, last week I asked the question, and a smile came over his face. “I’ve got some for you this time!”. We walked around back and up on a shelf sat a small shopping bag full of ziplocks and a single 3 inch binder.
I took a look and could immediately see the cards in the baggies were rough. I mean there were some good players on top, but the condition was not going to be good. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Derek Jeter were a few names I could see, but the dinged corners showed how “loved” these cards had been. I flipped through the binder and while those cards were in much better condition, they were also all junk wax era leftovers.
This left me with a challenging question. Do I want to buy these or not?
Well no, I didn’t. From a pure collecting and resale perspective, this was not likely something I’d buy at this point. But I felt there were other aspects I needed to consider. 1) He did me the favor of holding back this small collection that came in. This was the first time one had come in, and if I didn’t take it, it might be the last time he holds one for me. 2) This shop is run as a charity where the proceeds go to serve the less fortunate in our community.
I asked how much he was looking to get for it and he said make an offer. I threw out $10 and he said that sounds good.
Yes, $10 isn’t that much, but it was probably $10 more than a thousand beat up junk wax era cards should cost. But I felt “overspending” a bit on this small collection would both help a local charity and be an act of goodwill which might help me land a better collection down the road.
Back when I was running the card shop, there were times I made similar purchases. Sometimes, a collection came in that I didn’t really want to buy, but I did so because it had the potential to lead to bigger and better purchases in the future. Those customers came back later to sell me their “better stuff” because I took care of them before. They told their friends about me and the shop because I was willing to buy just about anything at the right price.
I overpaid a bit as a goodwill gesture to help create future opportunities.
So what about you?
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you paid more for something that you otherwise would have as a favor to someone? Or maybe, you also did something similar to help solidify a business relationship?
In this most recent case, $10 was a pretty low investment for the potential it could bring down the road.
Would you have done the deal?
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