Setting Up at a Major Cardshow

So I was living in Houston in July 2018 when the semi-annual Tristar show rolled around.  I'd heard about how legendary the Spring Tristar show was, so I thought that I should try and set up here.  I went through all the rigamarole of getting a Texas Tax ID number and all that jazz.  It was a lot of paperwork.  I also paid through the nose for a table, but it was a little undersubscribed so I got a bonus corner.  I guess I should have seen the writing on the wall at that point, but I was still so enthusiastic about setting up.

I brought a mix of everything that I thought would appeal to everyone.  I brought high end raw cards.  I brought high end slabs.  I brought medium and low end graded and raw.  I brought stuff ready to submit for grading.  I brought high end wax.  I brought middle of the road wax. I brought low end wax.  I brought retail wax.  I priced everything conservatively with a little meat on the bone and room to negotiate but not exorbitant.  I packed a cooler with drinks and food.  I even rented some display cases for the higher end stuff.  I thought I was ready to go.

I guess I was ready to go, but unfortunately, the show was a complete stinker.  This picture above is in the middle of the "busy time" of a weekend day of the show.  I felt so bad about paying so much money that I went and setup every day.  But I basically sold nothing.  I made a few trades with some of the other dealers, and ending up spending a bit on some wax with other dealers, but I came away with zero in sales.  Zero.  Nada.  Not even enough to break even on the setup costs (not nearly, actually, considering it was like more than $500 to setup).  I guess it was a lesson learned.  It was the first show that I ever set up for, and I was trying to make a splash with my first.  Let's just say it was a splash, but more like how when you make a big turd and it splashes toilet water on your rear end.