Austin Record Convention

@trytone - my experience, for the big ticket items, is that most dealers put them online to reach the broadest audience. (Similar I guess to vintage wine market, though I really don't dabble in that). The rare stuff in prog/early rock/post-pysch fusion is, based on my experience in the last couple years, far more evident at the WFMU show than the Austin show, but I think part of that is the market. (Neither show in my experience offers realistic pricing for these-i.e., no bargains, but at least you get to examine the record). I suppose most of these are "negotiating prices" and have seen serious buyers walk away with a rolling bag full or stuff or nothing, depending on their pocket book and their particular level of "need" for certain records.
I know some people "score" at shows and find valuable or desirable pressings cheaply, but most of the stuff that is regarded as "collectible" is a known quantity, both to dealer and buyer. I don't "collect" for the sake of it, more interested in listening to the stuff, but once we get into 4 figure records (or even high 3 figure at this point), I'm out. 
The other attraction to online is that you can target what you want immediately. Of course, there are those who can spend days at a show and search through every bin. I don't have the energy for that, and eventually lose interest. I'm not buying to resell, and figure the inter-dealer trading before the show also accounts for some of the traffic in the high value stuff. 

Just a reminder the show starts this Friday. Hope some Audiogon fans will stop by my tables to chat(table numbers 67-69).

While reading this I was thinking what would I buy for $750-$1000 ?
There is absolutely nothing  I am aware of ! I could, theoretically speaking, afford one or two records.
However, I could buy one or two guaranteed first generation master tape dubs in perfect condition.
Vinyl just doesn't sound that good, it's not worth it.

Inna- I agree. I do have quite a few records that are worth a lot of money. I bought them when they were cheaper and sometimes, just got lucky. Once a record gets that valuable, you also have trepidation playing it, and that defeats the whole point-i'm not a collector, as such, I buy the stuff to listen to it. 
This is the main reason I'm actually going to enter digital after they many decades of being a hair shirt vinyl guy. That Leaf Hound record I mentioned in the other thread is a prime example- the price is somewhere between 4-6k dollars. Perhaps you could get it for less, but it is still crazy money, at least in a high state of playing condition.  It will be an interesting journey on the digital side. I'm not abandoning LPs by any means. 
I do most of my shopping online for used records. The value of a show is to bring a lot of vendors together in one place with different wares. The trick is knowing what to buy-- I only know what I know.The best way to go to a show is to go with someone who is really knowledgeable in areas outside of your sweet spot. They can identify and suggest things they've found that I would have otherwise overlooked. I've gotten some very interesting jazz records at shows for almost nothing. And, if they are cheap, I'm willing to to take a chance on something. I usually don't walk away completely empty-handed, but I wind up buying stuff different than I the things on my mental 'list'--

I will maintain the tradition too. Digital is getting better and better, and after all more than half of what I listen to is digital, there is nothing I can do about it. Sometimes I find great performances on youtube recorded with a phone, and there are no official releases of those concerts. One example is Paco de Lucia concert in Istanbul in 2006, I think. He was at his absolute performance height. How do I get the recording of that concert? I have no idea, but that would be worth paying for. There are other examples, including some outstanding Middle Eastern music performed in that region. There are also of course performances by Miles Davis and John McLaughlin that were never released either. But somebody’s got the master tapes.