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#1
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What are some tips on making money in this hobby?
Looking for some ideas on how to flip and make a few extra dollars fueling my passion for vintage cards. I see avid “hobby” collectors at shows and wonder how they do it. Not looking for trade secrets but just some tips to make some discrentary spending money through hard work. I do the hobby for fun but realize i need up my game if I’m ever to own the big boy cards. Thanks Ted
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#2
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I`ve got one word for you son, P L A S T I C S !
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H Murphy Collection https://www.flickr.com/photos/154296763@N05/ |
#3
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Overpay today for cards that are in great demand. Ruth Goudeys. Gehrig Goudeys. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackie Robinson rookies. Mickey Mantle. Your overpayment today will look like a steal in 2 years. But buy the card everyone seemingly wants. Buying the third or fourth most desired card won’t work out as well. And like houses buy a better one than you were planning on.
Stick to iconic names. If your coworkers have never heard of the player probably not a great investment. Are exceptions. Yes, Eddie Plank, I’m talking about you. All my opinion. I am sure others will tell you I am an idiot. |
#4
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Hobby Investments
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#5
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Then again you could always mortgage your house, flip a 52 mantle, and be living on a private island in the West Indies in a few short years. Last edited by ronniehatesjazz; 06-06-2018 at 12:19 AM. |
#6
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Buy Low - Sell High
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Lonnie Nagel T206 : 174/520 : 33.5% |
#7
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I stick with other ways of making money, however if you have some discreationary money/patience, you may wanna give this a try. I know it's not sexy, in fact it's rather boring as hell, you maybe saving for a long time until the right time to buy comes. If the right time does not come hell you will still have a nice chunk of cash to do whatever the heck you want!! Most probaby think this idea is way out in left field.
Save your money up until the next resecisson. Wait for people to panic like Buffet. Buy the highest eye appeal graded Ruth/Mantle/Jackie/Clemente. Do not buy overgraded ugly cards with early grades, a lot of these were gift grades. I also like to buy virgin cards without vcp history. If you land a few killer cards hoard them away for 10 years plus if not more. This stratagey may only land you a handfull of cards in a 5-10 year strech, in the long run I've been very happy. Last edited by Johnny630; 06-06-2018 at 04:17 AM. |
#8
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Best advice I can give is buy when people are desperate. Tough times in the economy etc. Look for people on here who say they need to sell to pay rent/car/college. Best deals I’ve found are throwing them a low offer with a little sales pitch.
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#9
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This is an interesting thread, and I have enjoyed reading some of your posts.
Here is my advice: invest in key vintage rookie cards from ALL sports. The higher the grade, the better. Baseball cards have become so expensive, and now we are starting to see cards from other sports catch up. For example, a PSA 8 1951 Parkhurst Gordie Howe rookie went for $50,000 USD (goldinauctions) and a PSA 8 1958 Topps Bobby Hull rookie $84,000 USD (REA). Ten years ago, if you had told me that these cards were going to sell this high in the future, I would have laughed in your face and called you an idiot (actually I wouldn't have done the last part because I wouldn't have wanted to get my a** kicked). |
#10
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Well said
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Agree 100 percent. Buy the players that are recession proof - Ruth Cy Young .... |
#11
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Like real estate and most other things, the money is made on the buy. Cash is collected at the sale.
Also (as stated above) cash is made on the cut. Money is made on cucumbers when they are sliced into pickles. That is why you see advertisements for sets, near sets, bulk lots, etc. When you have the cash to outlay that someone else doesn’t have and can parse that lot or set out card by card you can make money on it but the money is made on the time and effort and is often time offset by postage, fees, and effort. It quickly turns into a minimum wage job. I heard it said about auto racing and while not a perfect analogy because some do very well, it is said that the best way to make a small fortune in racing is start with a large fortune and then start a race team. I don’t have the haggling gene to make a low offer that allows me the 50 points of margin to cover 20 points in fees 5-10 points in portage and supplies, 5 points in damages and fraud so I can squeeze out 15 points of margin that is only worthwhile if I am doing enough volume to justify that it becomes a second full-time job. I got into this hobby because I love the cards and the memories that it brings. If I had to go that route, it would quickly become unenjoyable One member buys multiple sets of a year upgrades that way into the best possible set he can put together and then sells the duplicate sets that are lower grade for close to his initial investment and adds value. Even lower grade 50’s sets can be pricey so it takes capital but, to me, it seems a great way to build value in the collectiom. Good luck
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2024 Collecting Goals: 53-55 Red Mans Complete Set |
#12
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I am reminded of that old joke about how to make a small fortune on Wall Street - start with a big one.
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On the lookout for Billy Sullivan Jr. and Sr. memorabilia |
#13
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Find a guy getting a divorce and desperate for cash.
Or a guy about to go to jail. I've had luck with both.
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R0b G0u13t |
#14
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#15
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Paying up for iconic cards of inner circle Hall of Famers like Ruth, Cobb, Wagner is solid long-term advice. But are not any cheap Ruth, Cobb, Wagner cards.
Sometimes there are cards/sets outside the big four sports that are lottery tickets. David Peck has posted on this board many times above the explosion in values of the 1982-83 Wrestling All Star sets. Peck has written on here that he bough his first Hulk Hogan card (that ultimately graded PSA 9) for $50. That card is now a $2,500 card in that grade. Peck also wrote he never thought he would see high grade commons from those sets selling for $1,000. On the whole, though, when looking to make money, put your cash into a diversified mutual fund. There aren't any dividends with cards.
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Flawless BST transactions with Wondo, Marslife, arcadekrazy, Moonlight Graham, Arazi4442, wrestlingcardking and Justus. Last edited by Bored5000; 06-10-2018 at 12:34 PM. |
#16
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Never turn a long term investment piece into a sale to fund a new purchase. Almost always never works out.
Last edited by Johnny630; 06-10-2018 at 04:42 PM. |
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Fwiw
The most money I ever made in my 42 years of collecting cards is when I purchased a ty Cobb/Cobb back at a price which was almost double the record high at the time back in 2008. I later sold it for a crazy 18 month gain.
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#18
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a lot of it is speculation, trying to determine what is under-priced now and will rise in demand in the future.
I'm horrible in that aspect, so I treat it as a hobby and have fun with it. If making money off it was my goal, I'd spend my time and effort elsewhere cuz I rarely come out ahead when I sell cards. edited to add: Steve is an idiot (i keed, i keed )
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Collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/139478047@N03/albums Last edited by tiger8mush; 06-05-2018 at 07:36 PM. |
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#20
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What you propose is a very difficult thing to accomplish reliably. The number one advice I'd give is to establish a relationship with an auction house and negotiate favorable rates. If you don't or can't, auction fees will eat up all of your profits and then some.
I've had a small amount of success flipping, but it's a real grind. I would routinely put in over $100k worth of bids on cards only to come up empty or to get a card that would flip for a couple hundred bucks. I did that for a couple months, but it's not fun nor is it worth the time. I went back to simply buying cards I like. When I talk to people about it, I liken it to card counting in blackjack. When I was young, I was pretty decent at counting cards and could reliably make money. However, I was spending full days in the casino and it was boring as hell. I then decided to give it up and just get a real job since the time investment was about the same and the money wasn't much different. Same story with cards. Gave up the flipping and am focused on other ways to make money. To put it succinctly: there's no free lunch. Last edited by bensie; 06-05-2018 at 08:16 PM. |
#21
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1. Apprentice with a card doctor
2. Shill your consignments in online auctions 3. Buy online and immediately relist your winnings with a higher BIN. If it doesn't sell reneg on the original purchase |
#22
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^^This is easily #1^^ Not is the buying/selling/trading of cards already in plastic. Getting raw high grade cards into those magic plastic holders is the real money maker.
^These are by far the most common ways^ Last edited by bnorth; 06-06-2018 at 11:03 AM. |
#23
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1) Don't get into group breaks of modern product or bust cases. Good way to go broke fast. Sure, some people hit big, but they do in Vegas too. Modern card buying is like buying lottery tickets.
2) Read my primer on COMC here: https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1211826 3) Buy low, real low. Don't buy gigantic lots and pay market price. Make sure you have enough meat on the bone to not get eaten up by eBay fees, shipping costs, etc. 4) Make sure you know what your cards are worth, and where best to sell them. eBay is good, but if you don't describe your cards right, you'll just be feeding the flippers on eBay and not making the money for yourself. 5) Read the COMC flipping thread: https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=807253 Shows how some can take cards and turn them into profits by finding diamonds in the rough, see which cards sell for premiums, etc. I am a fan of Topps error/variation cards listed in PSA master sets. 6) Learn how to grade cards, learn the graded card market, and send your submissions to PSA on bulk specials. 7) Figure out how to tell real cards from reprints.
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-- PWCC: The Fish Stinks From the Head PSA: Regularly Get Cheated BGS: Can't detect trimming on modern SGC: Closed auto authentication business JSA: Approved same T206 Autos before SGC Oh, what a difference a year makes. |
#24
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Your original question is a contradiction.
Doug |
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#26
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Why can't a person make money with a hobby? Seems to me people have been doing that forever. My grandmother knit sweaters in the 30s and sold them to families in the neighborhood. My dad collected coins and traded some for profit. People rebuild cars and happily sell them.
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#27
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__________________
Collecting T206 Set 485/524 Successful transactions with: Wildfireschulte, bengineno9, Davids resale shop, dougcats, wcsportscards, Bryan Long, Moonlight Graham, sycks22, Set Builder, itjclarke, mybuddyinc x 2, Double-P-Enterprises, Michael McGuffin, sebie43, T2069bk, JollyRoger, LukeLyon x 2, drjdog5150, Beatles Guy, GehrigFan, piecesofthegame, AddieJoss, Marty, HOF Yankees, FrankWakefield, Tim Fritz, vcuono, T206blogcom, btcarfagno x 3, Bleedinblue, Tolstoi, brewing |
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