Selling at shows

Shows are where this market happens. More material changes hands across a table than anywhere else, and the relationships formed there are the business.

The center of this trade

Buyers want to handle specimens, turn them under a light and look for damage. That cannot be done from a photograph, which is why a trade with a perfectly good online channel still runs on shows.

It is also where you learn: an afternoon looking at good material teaches more about grading than a year of reading.

What a table needs

Light. Specimen lighting is most of a good table, and a well-lit average specimen outsells a badly lit good one.

Height and levels, so specimens face the buyer rather than lying flat.

Labels visible without handling. Every pick-up is a breakage risk.

A price on everything, because buyers will not ask.

Dark background cloth, which makes almost everything look better.

And a padded surface, which is cheap insurance against a whole day of handling.

The hazards of a show

Handling by strangers, all day. Expect losses and price accordingly.

Labels separated from specimens when people put things back in the wrong place. Numbers on the specimens are the defense.

Heat and light on the table, which is a display case problem at a higher intensity.

And the vehicle, where stock sits before and after. A car park in summer is the worst environment material will meet, and a show is two days of it.

What shows are really for

Buying, as much as selling. The dealers you buy from become the ones who tell you what is coming.

Being known. This is a small world and a reputation for honest description travels fast in both directions.

And finding out what your material is actually worth, which is information you cannot get any other way.

References