Where do dealers get their programmes from?

[FeliceMastronzo]

As an overseas buyer (Germany), I've often wondered where some of the larger dealers you see on ebay get their programmes from.
Purely out of interest - I've no intention of setting up as a dealer!

[Wullie]

Most have been in the hobby for years and built up collections when prices were cheap. There are a few well known auctions in the uk. All main dealers would attend these using their vast experiance to spot a bargain. Many a programme can be bought off eBay cheaply and resold with a better description and photo. I have done this myself and made a handsome profit, but I'm hardly an expert.[/u]

[matt blue]

I agree with Wullie a lot would of purchased a lot of the rare programme from years gone by.

I cringe when I here some of the prices my mates paid for the rarer stuff in years gone by !!

Re dealers majority is auction bought id imagine, i hear quite a lot of dealers names being called in auction houses when listening to them on the net.

These days collectors who are selling up are very switched on so theres hardly a bargain about when it come to dealers buying collections....unless the seller is desperate for cash !!

[Footiebadgebloke]

I wouldn't say the prices were cheap back in the day, well not for my club, £50 was the norm 20 years ago for a fairly scarce issue. ALot of the older dealers in the past have spent fortunes advertising and travelling allover the U.K. collections were very rarely picked up for a few quid. AUctions have only really come into focus over the last 15yrs, things were very much different in the old days and alot of the pre-war stuff very rarely came available..........FBB

[RobertD]

What you have to take into account is that before the internet really took off, you could only communicate with people at fairs and maybe via magazine adverts. Ebay and Auction house that advertise online have made the general public aware that items found in the loft are worth a few quid to certain people. This has had two effects, one its now easier to find items so the price of run of the mill items has come down, two everyone knows that rare items such as pre war items go for a few quid.

[Wullie]

No doubt about it. The internet has made it very much harder for dealers to make a living. I see the same programmes on ebay with "buy it now " prices month after month. Collectors are far more savvy nowadays.