re: My Son is Dragging me into the Sports Card World

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Has anyone ever sold on Collx?

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I sell on Collx - it's slow. eBay is fine but they are difficult to deal with and will eventually get to you on fees. Shipping cheap cards can be difficult because nobody wants to pay for USPS inflated costs. So you will loose cards from time to time with the ebay standard label just because the shipping companies are pretty bad overall. But I sell about 250 cards a week on ebay so it's a necessary evil. Dont buy retail - I hardly do because it's really bad. You have to typically buy hobby and above to hit. Like a lot have said buying singles usually is a lot safer. Its all a gamble though.

My strategy is mainly buying boxes because hits are bigger when you buy a lot of boxes vs singles. For instance I pulled Yamamoto's /1 Rookie Sapphire Auto that sold for a lot more than what Ive gained on singles. I have around 10 pulls like that which close the gap on losses and you eventually figure out what to buy and what sets to invest in. It all starts balancing out when you figure out how to play each corner of the market. Breaks vs Hobby Shops vs Singles.

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My strategy is mainly buying boxes because hits are bigger when you buy a lot of boxes vs singles. For instance I pulled Yamamoto's /1 Rookie Sapphire Auto that sold for a lot more than what Ive gained on singles. I have around 10 pulls like that which close the gap on losses and you eventually figure out what to buy and what sets to invest in. It all starts balancing out when you figure out how to play each corner of the market. Breaks vs Hobby Shops vs Singles.

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If a diehard is collecting a sport they follow religiously, I vehemently disagree that boxes/breaks > singles on the whole. It’s still gambling and for every person that hits a big card spending, another loses their arse. The prices on the cards do reflect the box costs, so that’s helpful, but anytime one can avoid gambling in favor of knowledge, one should. Coming from someone who wouldn’t complain about break luck recently.

There’s a few things that should be considered if breaking/ripping:

1) Draft Class - breaking weak drafts is one of fastest ways to lose. Breaking strong drafts just continuously pays off down the line as they develop.

2) Set Popularity - Topps Chrome, Bowman, Prizm etc >> all the misc stuff and new sets. Hold value best long term

3) Type of Box - retail vs hobby vs jumbo etc. Retail odds suck vs Hobby, which for a lot of people means breaking.

I could go on. The best part of ripping/breaking is entertainment value and a chance at hitting a huge card you’d never drop $$$$ on. I’ve personally been really pleased with the 225 guys and so has my friend. They hit big cards, tend to be more reasonably priced (on eBay live at least, haven’t broken elsewhere since returning), and are way less annoying about schilling BS prices and pretending nothing hits are big. If you’re local, any huge hits can be picked up instead of going through USPS system too.