Today I made the trek over the hill to stop buy my ‘local’ hobby shops. I wasn’t expecting much other than to show my face and tackle their bid boards and let the owners know I am still a customer. What I got was so much more.
My first stop was the card shop by my school. Doing this site has made me appreciate the bid board they have because it works with my budget. I only went in to tackle that, and consequently pay for the items when I am at school next week. The bid board had some amazing stuff: vintage, autographs, game used, and even regular old everyday inserts. Maybe was because the bid prices were so low, like 25 to 50 cents low, but I was in heaven. I had to restrain myself. I know that there is a chance that I won’t get anything, and I actually hope the bids go higher so the people selling the cards make some money, but it was fun none the less. As I was about to leave, and the point of this, I found myself in a conversation with the store owner. The beauty of it: none of it was about cards. He knew that I have experience coaching and picked my brain on that. We talked for a good 20 minutes. We could’ve talked for longer but I told Alex at the other card shop that I was on my way to stop in, and I didn’t want to hold him up if he was waiting for me.
The beauty with my relationship with Alex, the owner of the other card shop that I went to, is that I can talk with him non stop. We have a great rapport. I wanted to stop in, just as one of those stops so he knows that I didn’t disappear and let him know he is still in my mind. You know one of those stops where you check the bid board and what packs they have. I don’t know how long we talked but it was long enough that I felt like I was holding him up from doing other things. It was one of those of those great conversations about life that you can only have with a handful of people. The cool part to me: I wanted to ask him something about cards, and it felt totally forced. If that wasn’t on my brain and one of my reasons for my visit, I would’ve let it go.
In a perfect world, I would’ve spent lots of money at these places. I wish that I could, not only for my collection but so I could contribute to two great businesses, but that is not the point. The point is, it wasn’t about money. If you told me that I would walked out of these two great businesses without spending a dime today, I would tell you that I would feel like a total jerk. You know what? I don’t. These two owners are everything that is right with the hobby.
Angry Card Collector . com 