Cheap-o box card show etiquette?

I found myself digging through $2 boxes where I plugged along going through most of the baseball portion concentrated in one monster box - alongside another guy busy going through a single row of $2 cards in a separate monster box.

I'd pulled out some probable keepers to build on from what I assumed was the main $2 boxes - after the other guy basically finished up, plucking about six cards and making his purchase, I figure I'd pounce on what he was looking through. 

I thought I had the box to myself, however an older guy started going to the row and I thought he was just some casual - I wanted to stay out of his way, where I'd let him have first look through the cards where he started digging through, and then maybe I'd take my turn to go through the stacks of cards he was finished with.

Maybe he gets bored soon enough and moves on, but he was already asking the seller how much would it take to buy the entire row - he started to pore over the cards, maybe seeing what he really wanted and/or counting them out.

He asked if I was done and I kind of gestured 'yes' even though I would have liked the opportunity to go through the rest of the cards without being out scooped - knowing he wanted the row of cards for himself and just about to buy just all of it, was I the one who starts lacking manners if I insist on going through the rest of the cards? 

Whatever I had in-hand before this other guy tried to make an offer was fair game - but I wouldn't want someone else trying to cherry pick cards off a row I'm trying to buy as one lot.  

I still had loose cards I'd flagged from this last row but put back a couple that I wasn't really considering - with the cards I'd set aside in my original rummage, I think I ended up with 16 cards and was basically charged half off, which was good enough.  

Dual bat card of a couple of HOF pitchers

I picked up this 2001 Upper Deck Pros and Prospects Greg Maddux / Randy Johnson #PPMJ for my pitchers hitting mini-collection - when looking at various card pictures online, sometimes I'll find memorabilia / autograph cards that fit my esoteric interests.

Perhaps it's more of a challenge finding memorabilia / autograph cards with unique images because a card company is just looking to make up a card - that will contain a swatch of memorabilia and/or be autographed.

Just 5-10 years ago, I thought memorabilia / autograph cards were still worth something - so I felt I couldn't really pick up the ones that featured a star player or two.

As is, there isn't as much interest in common memorabilia cards and to have some fun - I can add a few of the ones that pique my interest into the back end of random online purchases.

Jersey cards

This game-used [or was it event worn] swatch from some player's jersey card isn't guaranteed to be from anything - I just grabbed it online to have a picture up.

I still like jersey cards but liking them isn't the same as valuing them considering what the swatches on the cards may or may not actually represent - from I read on the Blowout Cards forums, Panini's high-end football cards product [one that costs $1,349.95 for a pack of 10 cards] was exposed when suspicious looking swatches were inserted into memorabilia cards.

Panini deemed the apparent mistake a mislabeling issue but it's a joke when a company can't even get things right in their top of the line football card product - cards featuring game used swatches have fallen out of favor because collectors just don't know if they are holding something that is all made up, but there is still an allure to getting a sweet patch card, along with an autograph.

When there is big money involved, the fraud trickles down from the big time collector of actual memorabilia being duped to a card collector - animated with the cool things you can do with a trading card.

As is, a card company maybe oblivious when cards collectors want something that is too good to be true - a card company wants to sell product, maybe do a little 'razzle-dazzle' in the process, but maybe the logistics in trying to secure the real deal, means settling for something less than true, like reality TV.

I used to laugh when bloggers would occasionally rant about the COA / fine print on memorabilia inserts cards - but with the Authentic Sports Investments / Bradley Wells game-used scam was exposed in 2012, the New York Giants memorabilia lawsuit and now this, it showed just hard it is to secure a game worn jersey / uniform from any number of professional athletes, chop them up and get assorted swatches on cards.

If game used memorabilia cards have to be created, make it where it's easy to get things right - get items direct from teams [with good provenance, not just a blanket 'it's good' seal of approval] from specific events / games / workouts.

Even being right most of the time doesn't mean it isn't flawed or the process is clean - so more care should be taken to label things clearly so there is no confusion.

In the end, maybe the focus should be on manufactured memorabilia cards - so no one has to worry about where a particular swatch came from.