Blowout Cards Forums - View Single Post - The best way to make money off cards: Singles, Lots, Boxes & Cases

ddearing · 10-22-2009, 08:09 PM

Been doing this off and on for 20 years. The way to do this with the most margin also requires the most "hustle". You need to do shows frequently with lots of traffic. The reason for this is well attended shows give you a chance to sell low end price cards in quantity. Your biggest margin is always going to be in the cheap stuff - but there is no way to sell that stuff at that margin online. And if you can't do it in large quantity, it doesn't matter.

You can find guys to sell you there low end stuff in quantity for $0.10 - 0.50 / card. I'm talking stuff that books for $2-10. Sell it at a show for 60% off and everyone is happy.

I don't get to do more than about 10 shows a year, so this doesn't work for me. I deal mostly in mid/high end with some super-high-end stuff. The best way to make money off this kind of stuff is to have people trade you out of your high end. If someone busted a box of something and got a big hit of a player he doesn't collect, but you have a high end of someone they do, they will trade you 3:2 and maybe even 2:1 for the card they really want. This works best on brand new product that may not book yet, but it doesn't have to be. In the case of brand new product, you want to get it listed ASAP b/c 95% of the time, the price will be lower in a month.

Also, don't be afraid to trade down. A lot of guys on these boards won't "trade down" meaning they won't trade an expensive card for a handful of mid-range cards. I have no problem with trading down and normally I can use that stigma to my advantage. If I have a card that ebays for $100 and you want to give me 10 cards that ebay for $20, I'll do that all day long. Sure, it would be more work for me to list them, but I am most likely going to sell them at shows anyway.

One last piece of advice that many dealers either don't understand or refuse to accept. If you have a showcase of nice cards, and you take them to the same show in the same city to the same collectors more than three times, you are wasting time and capital. After three shows in the same location, no matter how nice it is, turn over your inventory, unless you really just don't want to sell it. If it's something you don't mind keeping, that's a separate issue; but if it's stock, you need to turn it over. Personally, I like to sell out completely about once ever 2-3 years just to really purge my inventory.

Just some thoughts. Hope to see you at the show this weekend.

10-22-2009, 08:09 PM	#13
ddearing Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 3,809 vintage-dan ddearing	Been doing this off and on for 20 years. The way to do this with the most margin also requires the most "hustle". You need to do shows frequently with lots of traffic. The reason for this is well attended shows give you a chance to sell low end price cards in quantity. Your biggest margin is always going to be in the cheap stuff - but there is no way to sell that stuff at that margin online. And if you can't do it in large quantity, it doesn't matter. You can find guys to sell you there low end stuff in quantity for $0.10 - 0.50 / card. I'm talking stuff that books for $2-10. Sell it at a show for 60% off and everyone is happy. I don't get to do more than about 10 shows a year, so this doesn't work for me. I deal mostly in mid/high end with some super-high-end stuff. The best way to make money off this kind of stuff is to have people trade you out of your high end. If someone busted a box of something and got a big hit of a player he doesn't collect, but you have a high end of someone they do, they will trade you 3:2 and maybe even 2:1 for the card they really want. This works best on brand new product that may not book yet, but it doesn't have to be. In the case of brand new product, you want to get it listed ASAP b/c 95% of the time, the price will be lower in a month. Also, don't be afraid to trade down. A lot of guys on these boards won't "trade down" meaning they won't trade an expensive card for a handful of mid-range cards. I have no problem with trading down and normally I can use that stigma to my advantage. If I have a card that ebays for $100 and you want to give me 10 cards that ebay for $20, I'll do that all day long. Sure, it would be more work for me to list them, but I am most likely going to sell them at shows anyway. One last piece of advice that many dealers either don't understand or refuse to accept. If you have a showcase of nice cards, and you take them to the same show in the same city to the same collectors more than three times, you are wasting time and capital. After three shows in the same location, no matter how nice it is, turn over your inventory, unless you really just don't want to sell it. If it's something you don't mind keeping, that's a separate issue; but if it's stock, you need to turn it over. Personally, I like to sell out completely about once ever 2-3 years just to really purge my inventory. Just some thoughts. Hope to see you at the show this weekend. __________________ If you have to explain why it's a 1/1, then it's NOT a 1/1. Looking for Andre Dawson Serial numbered cards that are his jersey number - either #8 or #10. So looking for cards like 8/8 or 08/99 or 10/250. Last edited by ddearing; 10-22-2009 at 08:16 PM.