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A rare week where I did just north of $1000 in net sales on eBay, and from just 22 sold items. If only they could all go like this!
These are oddball numbers for me because of two high-dollar individual card sales which, for different reasons, aren’t likely to be replicated. This LeBron James high school football card graded gem mint 9.5 was bought on December 19th for about $80 and sold for $275. I had this priced quite a bit higher than other solds and didn’t expect it to move this quickly, but in terms of the card market, I do understand why cards like this hit new highs. There is going to be a robust market for modern rookie and pre-rookie cards of legends like LeBron for many years, both graded and raw. With that in mind, I will be aggressive if I come across any more LeBron high school cards, but this is the type of deal that I find once or twice a year.
My favorite story of the week was about this John Elway 2020 Panini Select die cut gold prizm serial numbered /10, also a PSA 10. The gold prizm set is the big draw because it’s a highly collected parallel with origins in 1990s Topps refractors, and it’s rare for a die-cut card to grade a 9, let alone a 10. I acquired this card from a true scavenge: a message board “trash to flash” trade. Basically I traded up: a large quantity of low-dollar cards for a few high-dollar cards. These types of trades were really popular during the pandemic. Every trader who wants “trash” cards posts their flash, worth a certain number of credits, and they have their own little system. Autographs and jersey cards from the last five years are worth 2 points, from 10 years and older worth 1 point, any card with a serial number is worth 1/2 point, etc. Most of the traders who ask for trash way overprice their flash, which I get, but this particular trader is my favorite because his values are pretty normal. Elway that I sold was “worth” 90 credits and my net was $94.64. The cost of the cards I traded was probably around $50. I could have probably gotten that cost closer to $40 if I was extremely selective with what I sent, but I like this trader a lot, so I try to give him some better stuff. The sorting took me quite a while, so it’s debatable how profitable all of this really is for me. But I look at it like killing two birds with one stone: I was never going to sell these trash cards, never ever ever, it’s just not the selling I like to do and most of them would sell under $1 through consignment, so barely covering fees. So I got a few things worth selling, and I cleared out a ton of inventory space. It’s a win-win! I’ve been resolving to buy less trash cards this year, and I’ve been very disciplined about that. But those deals are worth picking up for potential trash trades. I am getting a lot better about organizing all my inventory, and hopefully by the end of spring, I’ll have a trash shelf set up which I will, in time, turn into a flash shelf. Scavenging!
I actually sold two Elway gold prizms from that trash to flash trade: this PSA 9 2022 Panini Mosaic probably went for a little premium because its serial number was #10/10, last on print. #01 serial number always does well and so does the serial number which matches the player’s jersey. This card was underpriced at only 30 credits and my net sale was $68.78. This was my first trash trade in probably a year, that’s how scarce the threads have been! I’m pretty happy with how it turned out just with the Elways, plus a few other high and medium dollar cards still to sell. I sent the trash guy a 10 pound box of cards for my flash, and it feels great to get a return on that sweat equity.
A nice little sale late in the week of 1973 NFC Championship media guide which I bought a lot of about 20 for something like $50 last year. I sold about $200 worth of these in November and December and this buyer bought 1973 NFC Championship and 1975 Pro Bowl, so add another $40 net to the overall total. I had another copy of this exact media guide in my death piles…until I got overzealous and donated most (maybe all) of them a few weeks ago during a cleaning purge on trash day. Oops! But if that’s the case, there’s no use crying over lost profits. There is always more to buy and sell…
What did you sell this week?
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I’m not selling much these days, so I don’t have much to talk about. Just to post a couple things, here’s a cool hanging piece, probably nice in an enclosed porch, that I paid a dollar or two and sold for $28.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186768695929
On commission, I sold this vintage glass from some kind of golf course series for $29.
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Oof, twas a rough week. This week is even worse so far with only a single sale!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266321247432
Nike Flex Runner 2 Barely Green DX6068-301 PS Size 13.5C Kids Slip On Shoes
The power of shoes. I picked these up for $1 at a yard sale. Sold on offer for $25. They’ve been listed since July 2023. That’s just the way the ball bounces with used shoes – you have to have alot of listings and just wait for the right buyer in order to generate regular sales. I have close to 1000 pair of shoes listed. That takes up roughly 60 bins of storage.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266589028834
Rip It Original Defense Softball Fielder’s Mask Youth Black
I picked up a couple of these masks at Walmart last summer on clearance for $15 each. They’re now all sold. I went ahead and listed them immediately but I knew I would have to wait until this spring to sell them out.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266471186182
Tang Soo Do ITF Track Suit Size Small Navy Blue Lined Warm Up Windbreaker
One of the oldest items left in my store – probably listed in 2018-19. I’m so happy it FINALLY moved on to it’s new owner. Sold for full price.
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