Repacks: Anyone here buy repacks?

[todeen]

Article on the NYT about repacks, veered to negative by the end of the article. This is paywalled. If you want to read it and run into a paywall (generally you get 10 free article from the NYT), PM me, and I will get you a free article.

I don't buy repacks. I hate the gambling aspect of cards. I really enjoy purchasing the exact card of Barry Larkin or Ken Griffey Jr that I want. I don't get that with packs.

Does anyone here buy the modern repacks?

Repacks: The big-money trend in sports cards prompting calls for transparency - The Athletic https://share.google/GgJYG26tu9MeJRJgw

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[Eric72]

No. I don’t even buy packs or boxes these days. I buy singles and sets.

[Lucas00]

I'm going to say very very few vintage n54 collectors have/will ever touch them. It's like throwing money into a black hole

[Brent G.]

I feel sorry for anyone whose enjoyment of the hobby comes via that method.

[Rich Klein]

Those are free to do so

Most of the stories they put into the daily newsletter are free for the day for the subscribers to read. So if this was in a newsletter, you would have been able to read this story sans cost

Rich

[Zach Wheat]

I don't buy repacks nor do I buy/sell on WhatNot, but apparently, WhatNot recently banned selling repacked cards, according to Geoff Wilson (CardsHQ in Atlanta).

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

I don't buy repacks nor do I buy/sell on WhatNot, but apparently, WhatNot recently banned selling repacked cards, according to Geoff Wilson (CardsHQ in Atlanta).

I thought that was a pretty big money-maker. That is surprising..
.

[BioCRN]

I would have criticism of repacks if buying a simple "regular" pack of cards wasn't already priced at a gambling level.

It's always all been gambling, but the buy-in the past 10-ish years...phew...and some would rightfully argue it's been well more than a decade of this.

[balltrash]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

I don't buy repacks nor do I buy/sell on WhatNot, but apparently, WhatNot recently banned selling repacked cards, according to Geoff Wilson (CardsHQ in Atlanta).

That is not quite accurate. They announced a change in policy with regard to what repacks can be sold on their platform.

That business is way to big for them to shut it down but now so big (dollar wise) that they are getting ahead of problems.

And I suspect that all of our collective heads would spin if we knew if even half of the dollars involved. From what I have been able to interpret it is 10s of millions of dollars a month all in.

[doug.goodman]

Sorry, but what's a repack?

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Sorry, but what's a repack?

I'll take that as a serious question.

A repack is when people gather up single cards they don't want. They package them in something opaque, typically a bubble mailer or something similar. They'll tell prospective buyers that they have a chance to pull [name of popular card(s)] from the repack product. Then buyers will purchase these mystery packs, hoping to pull something much more valuable than the amount of money they spent. They usually won't; however, there's a gambling aspect of this that keeps the marks customers lining up to buy more.

[doug34-36]

I'd consider buying "Re: Packs" if it's a new Bon Iver song comparing the arc of a relationship to the highs and lows of opening wax packs.

Otherwise, hard pass.
.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Eric72

I'll take that as a serious question.

A repack is when people gather up single cards they don't want. They package them in something opaque, typically a bubble mailer or something similar. They'll tell prospective buyers that they have a chance to pull [name of popular card(s)] from the repack product. Then buyers will purchase these mystery packs, hoping to pull something much more valuable than the amount of money they spent. They usually won't; however, there's a gambling aspect of this that keeps the marks customers lining up to buy more.

Thank you.

Yes, it was a serious question, although I do understand that my snarky sarcastic nature would cause people to think it wasn't.

I had a feeling what it was, but was hoping that people wouldn't be stupid enough to buy such a thing, but of course they are.

I would say it's closer to a scam than to gambling, but that would be semantics, I suppose.

PT Goodman

[Bigdaddy]

Are repacks really any different than what manufacturers are doing these days? - 'Buy this pack of cards and hope for a hit'?

Either way, chances are you get a pile of cards you don't want.

[Bigdaddy]

Delete - double post

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Are repacks really any different than what manufacturers are doing these days? - 'Buy this pack of cards and hope for a hit'?

Either way, chances are you get a pile of cards you don't want.

Similar concept, although we can debate whether there are some important differences. To my mind, at least the manufacturer is creating something, whereas the re-packer is merely packaging up much-maligned detritus, and salting it with a handful of desirable pieces to get people to buy into the scheme.

Both players are looking to charge more for the product than it cost them to produce it. There's a gambling element to both, as most buyers will get less value than they paid. I suppose there's also a question of how well distributed the winners are, and whether either the repacker or the manufacturer are somehow manipulating who gets the wins, thereby leaving the average buyer with very long odds of getting anything good.

So lots of similarities. But it still feels different to me, although maybe they shouldn't seem quite so different?