Times are tough, money is tight, prices are going up, but not our income. We all want a deal. I'm both a buyer and seller at the annual Tucson Fossil Alley show. I buy raw art materials, so gems, minerals, findings, and books are just a few of the items that get visited at nearly every show. I've been doing this for 25 years and always do well.
The buyer wants the best deal, but the vendor has to stay in business. As a buyer, be honest and let the vendor know what you need, including your budget and the quality you seek. Keep in mind that the two biggest factors in a good deal are the quality and the volume you buy. The best product will sell high and be harder to get deals on because most vendors supplying one-of-a-kind items make 75% of their profit off the top 10% of the inventory. As a seller, I commonly sell out of the best before the show ever opens! I have no reason to offer hefty discounts on this. However, I offer deals on grade two materials, and the hard-to-move can be half price or as much as 90% off. I need to get rid of it. I've already made my money on 'the good stuff.'
As a buyer, why would you ask for a grade two or low grade? Maybe it's all you can afford. I buy grade two all the time. As an artist, and one who can restore, I can fill cracks and cover a blemish with wire wrap or artful creativity. I may display an artifact with the crack in the back, not showing if the item is half price. I can create a cheap display stand from the artifact. You may be like me, and if you resell, you have a tourist kind of market with an 'under $50' price range. You may need gifts for all the relatives and you have that budget to meet. If you want the lowest price, you have to decide what you are willing to sacrifice so the vendor can help. Sacrificing quality is a good solution. As a buyer, I saved the vendor a lot of time by coming out and asking, "I need a deal, I have $200, looking for seconds." Often, the vendor has a tray under the table that you didn't know he had. I can get a better deal by not wasting the vendor's time. As the vendor, I must make $300 a day just to break even. That is not going to happen when discussing discounts on $10 deals.
Catch the vendor when he first sets up or is sorting a new shipment he just received. Spot that vendor and suggest buying ungraded by the pound. As the seller, I go for this because it takes time to sort and grade, and I have other things I can be doing. The guy next door has a killer deal on say 'meteorites,' but I need to jump on it! I do not have the cash yet, a very common situation.
I'm unpacking my fossil mammoth ivory that needs to get sorted into four grades. You, the customer, catch me at this moment and know your product, offer me one price, say to me, "$50 a pound for the whole box, cash." In this box is some $300 a pound material. But also some $25 a pound. I also know my price was $15 a pound, but I had to spend 40 grand to get my price. I'd sure like to get some of that 40 grand back as soon as I can! Here you are. Ready to spend maybe two grand at one price, no high grading.
When I am the buyer, this is the very best deal of all, where I make a killing. I spent $1,000 on raw opals, unsorted. By the time I graded it, there was $10,000 worth of retail opal. Those who buy that tote of unsorted fossil from me for $50 a pound do the same, expect 10 times their investment back. Many sellers want to move it in and move it out as fast as possible. Get it in by the ton, move it out by the 100-pound. Some sellers, like me, do not have room for what's coming in. I must sell it or pile it up in the parking lot. That is the true killer deal.
Deals are best done on off-color, not hot this year, but you may not care if the opal is the hot red everyone wants now or the killer blue that was in last year and off this year. We all want amber with bugs, but hey, there is cool amber with moss in it for a third of that price. Or that authentic T. Rex fang is $5,000? But one from the lower jaw, which is a tiny bit smaller, is $1,000. What will you do? If you know your product, you can say, "I can't afford the $5,000 but got a lower jaw for $1,000?”
Forget that moldavite you wanted and got ten years ago for 50 cents a gram. It's off the chart, no deals, move on. Spot a new product, cheap now because it is a new source, but have an instinct it will be hot in a year or so, and buy it up. I recall when larimar and charoite first hit the market. I bought both by the pound for what it now sells for by the ounce. You can do the same if you have a good eye and business sense.
Consider trades! No money? I bring that larimar I paid $5 for, now worth $50, and trade it for amber. Many vendors seek material. They buy and sell, and if you have 'cool stuff', you may not need your hard-to-come-by cash. Last year, a homeless guy wanted a $300 custom knife I made. I asked what he might have to trade. I put out the word that I needed Arizona local ironwood. He knows a landscaper. He happened to have a van load full; 500 pounds. Far more than I need. No room for it, so for a flurry of activity for 2 hours, I put the word out and sold ironwood for 10 cents on the dollar. Where were you?
Meaning, understand what goes on, how it works, so you can be in the right place at the right time. If you do see a killer deal, jump on it. Do not make a note and come back later after thinking about it if you want a deal. I've seen even seconds matter! “He who gets their cash into my hand first owns it.” Like that meteorite I spoke of that I spotted. I sold some $300 fossils for $50 a pound. I got $1,000 to buy meteorite at the killer unheard-of price of $3 a gram. I can bring it over to my booth and retail it for $6 a gram, and it's still a very good price. You didn't have the $1,000 or were not there? Now you can pay double and get a few grams at a time. Keep in mind, almost everything at the shows is less than if you ordered it or went to a retail shop. You get to hand-select, and there is more volume to choose from than any other source. Some prices are so good that I tell customers it can sometimes pay to fly to the show, get your years' worth of goods, and write the trip off your business. This often costs less than ordering it a little at a time.
When money is tight, watch the goods move around, understand what is going on, and step into the dance. Is there anything more fun?
Visit the Miles of Alaska profile page on Xpo Press for detailed information, including show dates, locations and maps, booth locations, contact information, photos, and website address.