[Rockhounds] So ya wanna be a mineral dealer, eh? - Part 3 - "What could possibly go wrong?"

[Tom Corson]

As promised, in this installment, I'll share some of my show and other
"experiences".

I have done about 8 shows in my brief mineral dealer "career":

Club shows: Bisbee (once - my very first show); Sierra Vista (twice); Flagg
(twice)
Large shows: Denver (once); TGMS (twice)

My First Show
-------------
My first show was the 2007 "resurrected" Bisbee show at its new venue at the
Queen Mine Tour building (from an attendee standpoint, it's a great venue!).
I shared a space with a friend of mine, a PhD Mineralogist and mineral
dealer, and we were right next to my friend Dave (of "rubbeth not mine
okenite" fame). None of us covered our expenses. Remember, just to cover
your hotel cost, easily $300 for a 3 day show, you have to sell about $600
in specimens, and even if you do, that means you have basically "given" away
your minerals at cost and your time ends up being worth zero! But, I outsold
them both! So, I'm thinking "not bad for my first show, this just might
work". Little did I know, but it was merely the "mineral dealer gods" (and a
perverse lot they are) "setting the hook" (in fisherman-speak)....

Delusions of Grandeur
---------------------
Flush with my "success" (really beginners luck in disguise) at Bisbee, I
said "time to do a major show!", so I did Denver in 2007. Prepped, packed,
and transported about 70 flats to Denver (900+ miles each way) in my beloved
Bronco, which I fondly (not!) refer to as "The Antichrist". Set up at the
main venue at the Merchandise Mart, in one of those little glass enclosed
mini storefronts on either side of the main show floor. First day - pretty
good; each day thereafter - steadily downhill. On Sunday, the last day, I
sold $60. :-( 

This was my singe worst show. With hotels, meals, gas, show fees, etc. I
lost well into 4 figures, actual cash out of pocket. Chastened, I started
off toward Tucson, tail firmly between legs. The mineral dealer gods,
wanting to make sure I got the hint, conspired with the aforementioned
Antichrist to blow the right rear tire completely off the rim at 70 MPH just
west of Deming, New Mexico. At 70, with about 800+ pounds of rocks in the
back, this was great fun.

I arrived home (a miracle in and of itself) and vowed "I'll never do that
again! I'm right here in Tucson. I'm just going to do the main show here
each February until I get this show thing figured out".

A month later I did the Sierra Vista show. So much for my "vows".....

Just When I Think I'm Out, They Pull Me Back In!
------------------------------------------------
Vows notwithstanding, my first Sierra Vista show (2007) was pretty good. It
is a club show, I did about $1000 in sales, hence I turned a few hundred
dollars profit. It remains the only profitable show I have done. So, I
promptly went back the next year (2008) and sold a whole $60 for the entire
show! Same type of inventory, same venue, basically same everything - go
figure.

My First TGMS Show
------------------
Ok, now it's time for my big debut at the "mother of all shows", the TGMS
main event! First problem, no suitable inventory. At that point, I had lots
of club show inventory, but few higher end pieces. So I invest some serious
money and buy part of the Charlie Key collection. ~800 specimens worth...
Erongo, Tsumeb, Wessels, N'Chwaning... ettringites, aquas, rhodos, dioptase,
demantoids... this is really nice stuff! Make really killer labels, get em
all priced, packed and ready to go. Mondo work.

A few weeks before the show, it occurs to me that I have no one to help me
with my booth. (Duh?) So I do some asking around, and one of my mineral
dealer friends suggests this local collector/digger, a very knowledgeable
guy, he knows his minerals. Then a good friend, who knows not a single thing
about minerals, offers to help as well. But he's a nice guy, and anyone who
would volunteer to help with a project like this (remember how much work it
is) should be nominated for sainthood.

So, thinking I've got it all "dialed in", off we go. Suffice it to say,
there were a few unexpected developments. The local, really knowledgeable,
collector/digger, it turns out, is only into rare species, radioactive
species, or Arizona minerals. If it is not one of those, in his mind, it
sucks, and he turns out not to be one of those personalities who can muster
fake enthusiasm. One of my conversations with him went something like "Look
at these specular hematites from Wessels! Aren't they awesome?" (they really
are! - my personal favorites from the whole buy). Response: "Yeah, I guess,
... if you like rust...". My non-mineral-literate friend, with all good
intentions and great enthusiasm (too great perhaps) told the customers that
the Erongo Mountains were in "Nam-bib-ia" and then stalked them like Ted
Bundy, sending most of them fleeing down the aisles.....

Despite this mineralogical Laurel and Hardy act, I managed to break even.
Not as good as I had hoped for, but acceptable - given it was my first TGMS
show and I had managed to staff my booth with lunatics....

The Show From Hell
------------------
There is something about me and the Flagg show... 

You're probably thinking "NO! There's something about you and ANY show!"  Ya
think???  :-)

It's a nice, popular, well established show held each January in the parking
lot at Mesa Community College in Phoenix. I just don't seem to do well
there. I did it for the first time in 2008. Didn't make my costs, not a
disaster, just not good, and I said I wouldn't go back (sound familiar?)
:-).

So.... I went back in 2009. Packed and loaded up about 50 flats, tables, and
other assorted stuff into the Antichrist, made a thoroughly uneventful trip
to Phoenix and the setup went very smoothly. Back to the hotel, smoked
cigars and traded insults with "Okenite Dave", life is good.

Next morning, woke up, fired up the Antichrist, it's running smoothly, and
off I go to the show. I stop for my obligatory latte, get back in the
Antichrist, turn the key and it's dead - as in, one minute it's running
fine, next minute it's dead. Cranks to beat the band, but not even a hint of
firing. The show starts in 10 minutes. Make frantic call to dealer friend
who picks me up and takes me over to the show, leaving the beast where it
lies. I should have just burned it in place....

At the end of the first day of the show, we hook a tow strap to the beast
and drag it over to the college parking lot so I can try and figure out what
is wrong with it. By way of background, I am a pretty proficient mechanic
(actually earned my living as such in my 20's), have and always carry a
complete set of Antichrist shop manuals (probably written by the same guy
who wrote The Exorcist), all my tools, and almost a complete Antichrist
worth of parts (water pump, starter, belts, hoses, brakes, u-joints, you
name it) any time I go anywhere in it. I know it's "proclivities" all too
well, you see. I can pretty much fix anything on the thing. I also carry a 5
foot steel wrecking bar which I refer to as The Antichrist Attitude
Adjustment Tool. Think of it along the lines of the battle between good and
evil. If you are getting the impression that there is a definite "love-hate"
relationship between me and this diabolical thing, you would be correct.

So, during part of the 2nd day, I got a friend to take care of my booth
while I went to deal with my "leetle friend". Eliminate all the obvious -
plenty of gas, it's got spark, it's not the fuel pump (my original
suspicion), about the only thing left - my worst fear because I don't carry
one, it is a special order, long lead time item that actually rarely fails -
is it's fried it's engine control computer (which, of course, turned out to
be exactly the case).

Now, the Antichrist is large and to work on it I have to just about
literally climb up on the front bumper and get myself almost completely
inside the engine compartment - the belly of the beast itself. So, I'm in
there, cursing a blue streak on and off, when this long haired young man
walks up to me:

YM: Problems huh?

ME: Yeah, I think this &#@$ thing has fried it's computer and I live south
of Tucson.

YM: Bummer...

ME: Yeah, that's why I call it the &#@$ Antichrist!

YM: Looks up at me and says "Maybe you shouldn't call it names like that..."
smiles and walks away...

Ah, the wisdom of youth...

So, how was my Flagg show, you ask?

Spent over $300 on a hotel, plus meals and gas.
Over a 3 day period, sold a grand total of $90.
Had a $100 aquamarine stolen.
A $200 towing bill to haul the accursed beast back to Tucson (that's after
AAA paid the first 100 miles!), plus another $200+ for parts to eventually
repair it.
Promptly got sick with one of the worst colds in recent memory.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, the show was really fun.... :-)

This Years TGMS Show
--------------------
This years main event was a surprise. After Flagg, I was prepared for a
total disaster, given the economic state of affairs. Broke even, which was
better than I thought I would do. Attendance was down (haven't seen the
numbers, but it sure looked like it), but the serious buyers were still
there. I think what the economy did was cause the folks who wouldn't have
bought much anyway to stay home. A lot of the bigger name dealers were
crying that their business was way down, so I consider myself fortunate,
under the circumstances. Or, another way of looking at it is the %$&@
mineral gods have managed to "set the hook" in me again!

:-)

There you have it... I'm going to post 2 more installments - one on specimen
miners/diggers and the last one on some of my theories about the business,
especially why the pricing craziness exists. Then you'll be rid of me for a
while again...

Cheers,
TC

________________________________

Thomas W. Corson	 	 OBG Gems & Minerals	 
corson at infodyn.com	 Green Valley, AZ 85614	 

http://www.obgrocks.com	 
World-Class Minerals For World-Class Collectors	
________________________________