It's not that I don't feel for you guys. . . and it isn't like one
dealer can change everything, but it's a big picture thing at this point
-- in my opinion.

Since many dealers do sell their best stuff on eBay (I like buying in
person -- you know that, Dave :-) ) it has become the place to go to
buy the high end stuff. . . and when someone is looking for high end
stuff on eBay they often come across the other stuff they are looking
for. The only way to change what is happening online is to change it on
a dealer by dealer level. . . you aren't going to beat eBay -- it's just
not going to happen, so dealers need to focus on customers, and give
people a reason to stop at their tables -- ie. Dave -- he knows some of
the things that I like and I know that he has interesting stuff so his
table has become one that I plan on spending money at. At the last show
I attended Dave was the only person at the entire show to sell me loose
cards -- it's not because I ran out of money, or was being picky about
what I bought -- it's because he was the only one that had what I was
looking for.

Unfortunately I am forced to do shopping on eBay 9 months out of the
year as there are no dealers around here. Luckily there are a handful
of decent shows during the summer . . . actually it's probably good a
dealer like Dave isn't set up around here as I'm sure I'd end up
spending many times what I currently spend on cards.

In that same vein. . . it surprises me how few dealers direct market to
people. . . if someone were to send me lists of things I was interested
in I'm sure I'd be buying a lot more than I have been -- plus they
wouldn't be paying eBay fees, or table fees, and they'd be building a
relationship with a customer. . . the only thing I ever get from dealers
are press releases on new products.

Jon