What A Day (First Coin Show, New Albums, Etc)

Sounds like you had fun! It's definitely OK to haggle. However, I like to just ask the dealer for his best price, and either take it or leave it. If you continually haggle after the dealer offers you a price, then it's just poor form, IMO.

Your changing from Whitman to Dansco. Not real smart. They are basically the same except a few things. Dansco is higher, deeper and brownish. Whitman's are more versatile as to adding more pages to almost every one they make. Whitman's can have numerous types of pages ordered for numerous types including blanks and even sheets of press on numers/letters. New slides also available. Both will protect our coins equally. However, that depends on where and how you store them.
As to coin shows. I've been going to them for about 30 or 40 or ? years. At my age It's difficult to remember never going to a coin show on a weekend. Of course around me there is the constant problem of conflicting shows. Coin, gun, knife, computer, camera, etc shows going on all the time. Then of course there are dog, cat and other pet shows. Yuk. Just to much to do. I still manage about 2 to 4 coin shows a month.
At a coin show I ALWAYS haggle about prices. I look at a coin, if not marked I guess what I would pay, ask the price, if not what I wanted to pay, I begin to attempt to chew them down. If not, I just walk away. At some shows with about 100 tables there is just to much compitition to not try to chew down prices. When prices are noted on the coin I still ask what is really your best price. And again if not what I like, I'll ether say your kidding or just walk away. If they make any snide remarks, I purposely sit down at a table right next to that guy and make statements like I really am in the market for a Lincoln 09S VDB in MS grade, 16D Merc in MS, etc. Usually not available but it will irk the idiot that made the snide remarks. I go to coin shows to have fun, buy some coins if I find what I like, attempt to meet people, learn as much as I can.
I love coin shows. Only close is a gun show. Camera, stamp, sports card shows are fading away.

Congratulations and welcome to the hobby. A little bit of advice from a fellow hobbyist, collect what is fun for you and don't get caught up to quickly in buying coins for investment. Make it fun !!

When prices are noted on the coin I still ask what is really your best price. And again if not what I like, I'll ether say your kidding or just walk away. If they make any snide remarks, I purposely sit down at a table right next to that guy and make statements like I really am in the market for a Lincoln 09S VDB in MS grade, 16D Merc in MS, etc. Usually not available but it will irk the idiot that made the snide remarks.
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Just a quick comment...you ask for the best price, they tell you what it is and then you make a comment like "you're kidding". Walking away is one thing, but you called the guy an idiot for making a snide remark when you basically did the same thing. The dealers are there to make money. You do realize some of them travel from out of town to set up a table, plus the expense of the table itself adds to their overhead. I am not sure what tables at shows run these days but that's an expense that has to be covered right off the top, along with the travel expenses. Why not just say "ok, thanks" and walk away? Perhaps you egged the dealer on to make a snide remark with the way you said "you're kidding"? I have been to plenty of coin shows and know that there are plenty of arrogant dealers, but nonetheless I still treat them with respect unless they do something completely out of line. If I dont like the price on a particular item, I dont buy it simple as that. Just as much as you may not like the price on a coin, they probably dont like getting chizzled by prospective buyers. It gets old for everyone. Like you said, you go there to have fun at shows, so have fun with it and leave the comments out of the negotiations and I bet you will have more fun.

I like when the price is listed on the 2x2 to begin with so that I have an idea whether I could afford it.

justcarl--I think he was talking about changing from Whitman folders (push the coin in the circle, only see one side) to true albums with slides. Dansco makes a fine album, in my experience.

AAHHH, that may well be. If so then of course get rid of those folders. Never could figure out why anyone would use those. Dansco does for sure make a fine album. Actually theirs is a bit better constructed than Whitman and much, much better than Littleton's.
And if displaying a coin album on a shelf, bookcase, etc. the Dansco Albums really look expensive. I only prefer Whitman due to the excessive availability of additional pages, press on letters/numbers, more types of albums. And since I've been using them for so many years it is really to late to change.
As to my attitude at a coin show. The greatest amount of coin shows I go to have dealers from the area. Most do not travel excessive distances. Most are repeat dealers at the same shows over and over. Not all, but many have a if you don't buy my coin for my price go away attitude. I sometimes think that many of the dealers at these repetitive shows just go there to socialize and could care less about the coin sales. At many flea markets around here there are many sellers with similar attitudes. Usually a retired person with nothing else to do. I've actually seen the same coin dealers at a flea market then at a coin show a few days later.
My favorite coin dealer at all these shows is a guy that if you ask to see a coin in his closed case he remarks "WHY, are you going to buy it?"

As to my attitude at a coin show. The greatest amount of coin shows I go to have dealers from the area. Most do not travel excessive distances. Most are repeat dealers at the same shows over and over. Not all, but many have a if you don't buy my coin for my price go away attitude. I sometimes think that many of the dealers at these repetitive shows just go there to socialize and could care less about the coin sales. At many flea markets around here there are many sellers with similar attitudes. Usually a retired person with nothing else to do. I've actually seen the same coin dealers at a flea market then at a coin show a few days later.
My favorite coin dealer at all these shows is a guy that if you ask to see a coin in his closed case he remarks "WHY, are you going to buy it?"
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Yeah I have seen dealers similar to what you describe. I have seen some that dont even say thanks for the purchase which absolutely floors me. I wont buy from those guys. I've seen some ignore people that stop at their table, so they also wont get my business. I am not asking alot but a simple thank you or hello goes a long way.

I almost had my first coin show experience today, turned out they were buying and not selling