Fun with 100 Minor League Sets

[Mike D.]

The first set I came across with a grading candidate is the 1994 Albany-Colonie Yankees set, which features Andy Pettitte. The PSA pop for that card is 14, oddly enough all are 10's.

For any grading candidates, I won't sub anything until PSA returns to to some reasonable level of value submission (assuming that happens at some point).

The other 30 cards in the set will be scanned and listed on eBay...we'll see if anyone wants them!

[Mike D.]

Thanks guys...I hope you find this little project entertaining!

[hockeyhockey]

i just bought a box. sounded like a hell of a good time. thanks for the heads up. and keep posting about your experience, totally interesting.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by hockeyhockey

i just bought a box. sounded like a hell of a good time. thanks for the heads up. and keep posting about your experience, totally interesting.

Oh fun! I hope you enjoy the cards - and feel free to share any experiences here!

[hockeyhockey]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

Oh fun! I hope you enjoy the cards - and feel free to share any experiences here!

will do. i'll probably wait until school starts so the house is quiet in the early mornings.

[Mike D.]

1993 ProCards New Orleans Zephyrs
1993 ProCards Appleton Foxes
1993 ProCards Columbus Clippers
1993 ProCards Daytona Cubs
1993 ProCards Waterloo Diamonds

It's fun looking at some of the major leaguers and former top prospects in these sets...and just as interesting to see the teams that really seemed to have "nobody who became anybody" on the roster.

The Zephyrs for example, sport a number of familiar names on this checklist.

The Foxes sport Raul Ibanez and Shawn Estes.

The Clippers sport a lot of familiar names, although only Gerald Williams on the list really lasted long.

The Daytona Cubs really only have one name, Doug Glanville, who had a nice career and followed it up with some great writing for ESPN.

The Diamonds, however, don't have much for name recognition. Manager Ed Romero may be the biggest.

[Mike D.]

Listed 5 more sets tonight:

1993 ProCards Spokane Indians
1993 ProCards Jacksonville Suns
1993 ProCards Springfield Cardinals
1993 ProCards Memphis Chicks
1993 ProCards Princeton Reds

Not much for big names here, but we'll see if anyone wants them!

[Mike D.]

I've listed the first handful of sets, all from 1993, on eBay.

Starting them as auctions @ $3.99 plus $3.99 shipping.

Selling a set at this rate nets about a $2 profit. It won't take many sales at that rate to repay my initial investment.

Any sets that don't sell at this rate, we'll try again at a lower price...sets that don't sell at the lower price? I don't know yet. We'll see!

The first few sets:

1993 ProCards New Orleans Zephyrs
1993 ProCards Appleton Foxes
1993 ProCards Columbus Clippers
1993 ProCards Daytona Cubs
1993 ProCards Waterloo Diamonds

eBay Store Links sorted by 1993 Procards.

100 sets
1 opened / singles to be listed
5 complete sets listed on eBay
94 to be reviewed

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

The first set I came across with a grading candidate is the 1994 Albany-Colonie Yankees set, which features Andy Pettitte. The PSA pop for that card is 14, oddly enough all are 10's.

For any grading candidates, I won't sub anything until PSA returns to to some reasonable level of value submission (assuming that happens at some point).

The other 30 cards in the set will be scanned and listed on eBay...we'll see if anyone wants them!

I happened to have one of the Pettite already at PSA (arrived Feb 8th, "received" April 3, currently in "research and ID"), so this one will go into the backlog for a possible future sub.

Since I have TWO of this partial set, I listed on eBay as two card lots...we'll see if anyone is a fan of the other guys in this set!

https://www.ebay.com/str/mdprod?_bkw...Albany-Colonie

[swarmee]

I much prefer COMC because they do all the work, and you can buy and sell cards on site without taking delivery of them. I think they're much better for buyers than sportlots because their user interface is so much better, every submitted cards gets its own front and back scan (UD ePack cards could be stock photos however). Their cards are also mostly cross-posted to eBay so you get the advantage of eBay buyers without having to do any shipping.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by swarmee

I much prefer COMC because they do all the work, and you can buy and sell cards on site without taking delivery of them. I think they're much better for buyers than sportlots because their user interface is so much better, every submitted cards gets its own front and back scan (UD ePack cards could be stock photos however). Their cards are also mostly cross-posted to eBay so you get the advantage of eBay buyers without having to do any shipping.

Looking at their site, can you make any money selling with them?

If I'm understanding, you send the cards and they change you 50 cents each to scan and list them. Then they charge 5% of the sale price, plus 1 cent per card per month for storage. Then they charge more if you want to get proceeds from your sale (instead of spending on their site)?

So, if I list one 30 card minor league set, the cost is $15 to get started? How does the math work for low-priced cards?

[swarmee]

It's playing the long game and "set it and forget it"; there is definitely money to be made, especially if your card is the only one listed on site. I sell some cards for $5-10-25 each when you could buy the same complete set for $10. Since they're crossposted to eBay, people searching ebay for their uncle or grandpa who used to play minor league ball don't care if the card is priced at $4.

I have submitted 10,000 cards on site over the 7 years I've been back in the field. I also have some strategies for buying cards where I can make $50 profit on some, which then allows me to submit 100 cards with the profit. I just sent in 600 cards from the 2020 Congress set, and will list all of them for $2.50 a card.

If you're going to go this route, you don't send every card. You check and see which cards are already for sale on site, and then only send ones that you can profit from ($2 minimum or so). I would send semi-stars, fan favorites, and then ones of guys who were born in the USA. Not a whole lot of demand for random players from the DR or Venezuela, from what I've seen.

Didn't mean to derail your thread, though. Just figured it was an alternate way to turn a larger profit. If you search Primer on these boards, I made a post about how to buy/sell on COMC that is probably worth reading.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by swarmee

It's playing the long game and "set it and forget it"; there is definitely money to be made, especially if your card is the only one listed on site. I sell some cards for $5-10-25 each when you could buy the same complete set for $10. Since they're crossposted to eBay, people searching ebay for their uncle or grandpa who used to play minor league ball don't care if the card is priced at $4.

I have submitted 10,000 cards on site over the 7 years I've been back in the field. I also have some strategies for buying cards where I can make $50 profit on some, which then allows me to submit 100 cards with the profit. I just sent in 600 cards from the 2020 Congress set, and will list all of them for $2.50 a card.

If you're going to go this route, you don't send every card. You check and see which cards are already for sale on site, and then only send ones that you can profit from ($2 minimum or so). I would send semi-stars, fan favorites, and then ones of guys who were born in the USA. Not a whole lot of demand for random players from the DR or Venezuela, from what I've seen.

Didn't mean to derail your thread, though. Just figured it was an alternate way to turn a larger profit. If you search Primer on these boards, I made a post about how to buy/sell on COMC that is probably worth reading.

No derailing...good suggestion and thank you for sharing your thoughts on my follow up questions! If I can find a few "sweet spot" sets with cards that look like they may hold some value, I'll consider it for sure.

[Mike D.]

Another sale tonight:

1993 ProCards Cedar Rapids Kernels

$3.99 plus $3.99 shipping

This one cost $3.22 to ship to Iowa, leaving $2.81 profit according to the eBay Fee Calculator site. That's over 4 1/2 sets paid for right there!

100 sets
2 opened / singles to be listed
25 complete sets listed on eBay
73 to be reviewed
2 sets sold
$58.74 original purchase
$5.78 reclaimed (9.8%)