My Reflections on Visiting a New (Horrible) Shop

Here is a look at my thoughts for finding a good shop - it may benefit you to read the post before continuing here.

I had an experience that I would like to share, one that I regret having. I know there are a lot of shop owners that read this site religiously, so I want to speak directly to them with the hopes that they can avoid this situation.

First a little background for everyone, because I don’t discuss it much here on the site. When I was living in Los Angeles, I made it a point to visit as many shops as I possibly could. Although I don’t really think there is a better marketplace for singles than eBay in the world (likewise with Blowout and DA for wax), convenience is key with a good local shop, and it can be a fun way to kill some time on a weekend. The first store I went to was Santa Monica Sports Cards, which was probably the biggest and most well known shop in LA when it comes to more modern stuff. I liked the size, but the prices were close to outrageous. I only went back once simply due to that Best Buy sort of experience. There were lots of boxes and wax, but the staff wasn’t too interested in me, the one person in their store.

The second place I went to was Beverly Hills Card Shop, and from the get go, I could see that they were more of a place for vintage collectors than anything. They had new stuff and new boxes, but I felt like I really didn’t fit with their target audience. Again, prices were ridiculous, more so than Santa Monica, so I only went back each time the Rookie Premiere rolled around.

The third shop I took a look at was Baseball Card Company in Chatsworth, and I can say that it was definitely the best shop in the area without a doubt. Not only did they have a great selection of wax at close to blowout prices, but the people were nice and interested in establishing me as a regular customer. The staff was chatty, something I valued, and the shop was well kept and usually filled with customers. They also had a "bid board" which allowed customers to consign their cards for auction within the store. It attracted a bunch of people, and was a great place to unload your cards as well as get some great deals. After leaving LA, this shop was my template, as I had spent enough money and time there to feel like they had the business model for others to emulate.

When I arrived and got set up here in San Antonio, I knew I wanted to find a shop here that mirrored at least some of my experience in LA. Even if it was some small shop, I just wanted everything to be good with me showing up to buy some recently released product just to see what was up. I searched on google to find places that peaked my interest, but there really wasn’t much going on. There were a few comic shops that listed sports cards, and there was one particular shop that was listed as an actual card shop. I searched on the forums and found some good reviews of the place, so I thought I would check it out. It was a terrible mistake.

First, the shop was not in the best area of town, and in a very dingy strip mall. The kind you would expect to find a payday loan place residing in. As I walked up to the door, I didn’t actually think there was anyone inside because the windows were practically blacked out. I realize now it was probably for protection against window shopping theives, but after going inside, there wasn’t much to steal anyways. When I opened the door, I was greeted with a foul stench of mildew and some godforsaken scent. It was noxious to say the least, and without even thinking "Is something burning?" shot out of my mouth. "Yeah, incense." was his response, and I immediately started breathing through my mouth. In fact I think that smell has penetrated my pores because I still get a whiff periodically despite 10 showers in the last few days due to the new baby. Strike one.

As I waded through boxes of old starting lineups and odd action figures, I found it tough to navigate to their small area of display cases because it was so dark in the shop. Obviously the guy had not understood that sunlight helps with bad smells, and was also quite important for customers not looking to kill themselves by tripping on crap. The display cases themselves were filled with all sorts of cards, but when I say display cases, I don’t mean actual installations, but card show displays on a folding table. Yeah, not good. I don’t even think the cards were his, because someone's business card was all over them taped to the plastic window. I started looking for wax, but all I saw were old boxes of action packed football, some 2003 Topps baseball, a few factory sets, and a sealed box of Chrome from 1999. There was not a recent box in the entire shop. Not one pack. Im not sure if they were sold out of whatever, or if the guy just didn’t buy new stuff, but it was terrible. I had intended to buy a box of something, but that was out of the question without anything recent to buy. Strike two.

Owners, if you have invested the money in a storefront for some reason only you and god know of, at least do your part to make it worth my while to come there. Why would I show up if you arent going to stock recent stuff for me to buy? Yes, keeping a stock of product is time consuming and expensive, but this is a business, and you have a responsibility to get your shit together. What if your local grocery store only kept food from last week? They wouldn’t have any business. What if that store was gross and smelly? Same result. I just don’t understand how anyone could spend that kind of time and then expect people to keep spending their money when the store looks to be in shambles.

The worst part of everything was the prices. Not only were the prices on the old boxes set to prices of recent stuff, but they had to look up every single in the Beckett before selling. I didn’t ask for a price on anything, but the one other person there had a barrage of them. Each time he asked, the guy there would say, "it goes for X in Beckett, so ill give it to you X minus five dollars" or whatever. Give me a break, seriously. Price out the damn cards and label them clearly. If the shop can stand to drop the price on a card or two, say that in the sale. Don’t pee on my leg with Beckett prices and tell me its raining when you chop five bucks off high book. That is highway robbery, especially when you consider the state of that shop's business store front. Strike three.

On a side note, I didn’t even venture into the back area of the store because there were so many cardboard boxes piled haphazardly on the floor to the ceiling. It looked like war torn ruins, not kidding. It made me wonder why this guy even bothered to come into work every day, maybe because there arent any good options in the city. I actually saw he responded to criticism that was posted on SCF back in 2008, mostly defending a stance that no one made. Someone said the shop was disorganized (it was) and had nothing worth buying (it didn’t), and he created an account to say that none of it was true and that he had just organized and priced thousands of jersey cards for people to buy. He said they bought lots of collections and that he didn’t always have time to get them out in a normal way, but after seeing the store first hand, there was no way any of it was true. I could have been in someone's garage who just happens to set up at shows once in a while, and I wouldn’t have known the difference.

Lastly, im not sure where the positive reviews came from. I really don’t. There is no way that place could be considered to be a good shop, and I guess will focus on finding another place to buy on whim if and when I actually need to. Speaking of that, I think I owe the guys at the Baseball Card Company an email to thank them for being awesome.