Hot and humid. Some brain boiling sunlight. More hot and humid. Getting kinda monotonous. SOOOOO glad we have A/C.
Got up early and did my load in duty, as well as bringing in my own stuff that I couldn’t get out of storage on Friday. We did have a couple of people show up later. It seems like the show was well attended, but I’ll reserve judgement until we get a final count.
I did a good business, in terms of gross sales anyway. Moved a bunch of stuff I’d been dragging to shows for a while. Made some people happy by selling them the thing they needed. Found some stuff I’d forgotten I had. I should be able to turn some of it back into money if I get it up on ebay.
D2 was a big help and charmed them all.
Today we have an early breakfast get together, some awards, and then back to the show floor for a few hours. I might still make some more sales. I’ve been very disciplined about not buying stuff…so far.
Politically, I heard a lot of anti Biden sentiment. A lot of disbelief and snorting about the coming new wuflu variant. LOTS of mentions of how expensive everything is, and some about how their items aren’t bringing what they used to. If the stuff you are buying is getting more expensive and the stuff you are selling is getting cheaper, that’s a pretty big problem. At the show, people were buying but they were only doing so if the prices were right (lower than in the past.) It’s a hobby, or part time business for most of the attendees, so very discretionary spending. Food and gas come first. Then spending on the hobby. A lot of them are like me, just selling off stuff that isn’t their core interest, or is ancillary to their main collection. Some are pros though, making a living on the show circuit. At least a few of the pros were happy to have made good sales at the show.
I do get the feeling that people are pulling in, so to speak. Their area of concern is contracting, moving their attention closer to home. A lot of them live in low cost rural areas around the region, and there was/is a lot of “I’m glad I’m not in a city, and you should think about getting out…” too. Buying a country place for the future and moving away from the city and the Gulf got hearty endorsement.
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Today should be fun. Breakfast is a good time, and D2 has won door prizes more than once. My tables are paid for, I did ok for the show, and I sold much of what I wanted to, so I can relax and have a good time, being a bit more ‘social for social’s sake’ today. I’ve even learned more about my local guys, and a couple of them are more like minded than I thought.
Meatspace baby!
Local local local is going to matter a lot. Having reliable and known humans outside of local is going to be valuable. Heck, even having more cash will be valuable.
Stack up some friends. Stack some things.
nick