Let's talk about Card Cook Groups/Discord Chats

[gabballplayer14]

It occured to me that in my discussion on Project 2020, that a lot of people inside the hobby are unaware of "Cook Groups" and Discord Chats.

(Fact) Cook Groups are actual buyers clubs. Yes, , , *sarcastic remark about no such thing existing* ok, got that out of the way.

(Fact) They have recently been popping up all over Twitter and IG, usually with one "tout" who gives out "investment advice". They create a private Discord group (Discord is basically a group chat with sub-forums/discussions) and charge members $30-$100/month to join the group.

(Fact) The tout will put up an "invesment of the day", "Top Pick", "Ace Pick", something along those lines, and everyone sees that card, and buys with reckless abandon.

This is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the tout will post a card, the "Target Price", and a link to ebay for everyone to buy. Everyone buys up the supply on eBay at that point, and they all cheer that the cards "increased" in value.

A week later when everyone gets their cards in hand, IN MY OPINION a few things can happen:

1) The cards have all been bought up on eBay and they re-list them at higher prices and hope that someone sees the run-up and purchases the same card at a higher price
2) They try to re-sell them back into the group, since everyone is now "investing" in that card
3) There is enough supply on eBay that they cant keep buying every copy of a specific card (remember, a lot of these are kids and credit card warriors) and they begin to come back down to pre-hype levels
4) The cards stop appreciating, they cant sell them in the groups to their peers, so they file chargebacks about false damage, cards getting "lost" in the mail, etc.
5) They dump the cards for a loss if they cant quick-flip the card (generally about 2-3 weeks)

For those who aren't familiar, this is how a bubble forms, and eventually pops.

(Fact) Below is "proof" that the doubters will inevitably ask for. These are all screenshots from one of the biggest and most popular Discord Groups that my friend is in. He had to wait on Twitter for a spot to open up and pays $70/month to be in the group.

If you'll notice, there was a recent run up on the Josh Vides Mariano Rivera Project 2020 card last night. That was no coincidence - the card was touted in at least 3 groups, and here is a screenshot from one of them:




There has been a recent run-up on Ozzie Albies that even active posters in the Albies thread couldnt explain and were confused why his stuff was suddenly on fire. Take a wild guess:



Wondering about the recent explosion on the base rookies of the Project 2020 rookies that have been basically stagnant up until recently? Get you an OG Print! Big profits to be found! Stay hungry family!




The last few were sent to me to show the lack of understanding of cards in the group. This gives you an idea of what you are dealing with.




My opinion: The majority of these people are re-selling shoes, hypebeast clothing (Supreme, Bape, etc.), or botted cards (FOTL, Bowman 1st Edition, Project 2020 Artist Proofs, etc). They are pretty easy to identify based on their ebay items, and should be avoided, if possible, when purchasing items. Any money that the people "inside the hobby" (and if you are here, most likely you are part of that group) give to these people is being immediately siphoned away and not re-invested into the hobby.

I am fortunate that I am given this information so I know which cards to avoid, and what "pumps" 100% fake and driven by these groups and wanted to share. Obviously there will be detractors, defenders, and flat out deniers, but for those who aren't in the loop on some of this stuff, and who want to make the sleazier-by-the-day-industry a little better, here you go.

[SaltyCracker]

Thank you for sharing this.

[Bowman1951]

Holy hhheeeellllll. This is one of the most fascinating uncoverings I've seen on Blowout since BODA broke everything open!!

[Middies31985]

I feel like this is next thread that will find a home at the top of page 1 for the foreseeable future. Interesting read about those coming into the hobby or "hijacking" the hobby.

Sneakers are becoming much harder to get your hands on as well as the hypebeast clothing. Cards are everywhere on the market and can be manipulated by these groups.

[cj828282]

Look at them go for the no logo Select baseball.

[Bowman1951]

I'm ready to buy into one just to fully expose them.....money well spent.

[seanbros55]

Wow. I had no idea.

Thanks for sharing.

Don’t know what’s more irritating, people dreaming up these schemes to screw people out of money or people being stupid enough to fall for this garbage.

[mfw13]

Some of us having been pointing to the proliferation of "buyers groups" as the driving force behind the recent explosion in sports cards prices for quite a while...

[biggieruth]

Thank you I had no idea about this.

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[glassofwater]

More examples remember you might buy a card from people who know nothing about the hobby. This Zion checkerboard is in a top loader without a penny sleeve the same with ja.


Wonder why you can’t get a bowman 1st

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_2kjiul...d=s2mkj6srzkbx

I know they read this forum as soon as a thread was posted about dollar tree panini cards they told their member to snatch up the cards


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[seanbros55]

Next question...what in the eff is hype beast clothing?

NVM. Googled it. Not tacky enough to know what that fecal material is.

[biggieruth]

Who ever has the names of this people selling on eBay post them where people can see so they can be avoided.

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[gabballplayer14]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Some of us having been pointing to the proliferation of "buyers groups" as the driving force behind the recent explosion in sports cards prices for quite a while...

Agreed - it has just been brushed aside by people who choose to look the other way and be blind to them. I think they needed more "concrete proof" that this existed.

Originally Posted by seanbros55

Next question...what in the eff is hype beast clothing?

Bascailly limited edition streetwear/footwear.

They have different "drops" (similar to P2020, FOTL, etc.) for clothes and its first come first served. This is where a lot of the botting community is coming from - they already have bots for Nike, Adidas, etc. - they just change it up a bit and Voila! Topps Bot, Panini Bot, Target/Walmart/Fanatics bot!

[Bowman1951]

Originally Posted by gabballplayer14

Agreed - it has just been brushed aside by people who choose to look the other way and be blind to them. I think they needed more "concrete proof" that this existed.

Right, you are a SAINT for showing us proof when our spidey senses have been up for quite awhile but couldn't exactly pinpoint what was happening.

[ThoseBackPages]

this is AWESOME!!!

[ThoseBackPages]

is this what MoreToppsPlease used to be a part of?

[thenwhatjk]

Does TBP have one of these?

[thenwhatjk]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

this is AWESOME!!!

Bro you gotta start one of these bro

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by thenwhatjk

Bro you gotta start one of these bro

word!

[tedwilliamsfan]

I always believed that there were "buyer's groups," but this is some next level stuff I had no clue about. What the hell is going on with these people, besides trying to make a quick buck? This hobby is crazy.

[gabballplayer14]

Originally Posted by Bowman1951

Right, you are a SAINT for showing us proof when our spidey senses have been up for quite awhile but couldn't exactly pinpoint what was happening.

It's not a problem at all - I know a few others have wanted to shed some light on this for a while as well, but I finally convinced my source to let me post these with the Project 2020 shenanigans going on.

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

this is AWESOME!!!

Hell must have frozen over, you actually like one of my posts?

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by gabballplayer14

Hell must have frozen over, you actually like one of my posts?

[axt]

This was an interesting watch on the whole sneaker reselling culture.

So many similarities now to the sports card market.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez2cg-xo1L4

[Lonewolf]

Where are all the folks saying this doesn't happen? So unwilling to believe it is all a bubble when there is so much evidence to the contrary?

Cue Homer Simpson fading into the bushes gif...

My buddy, who doesn't collect cards at all (but usually figures and figurines), was told in one of his collectable buyers groups to snag up and hoard Prizm basketball starting three years ago.

[ThoseBackPages]

when will the bubble burst though? we've heart about it bursting here for many years

news flash, the bubble WILL burst, i guarantee it

could be today or in 2084