Biggest Prospecting Challenge?

Pretty much all of us here have experience buying and selling prospect singles. So I'd like to get some opinions as to where you struggle and would like to get better in prospecting.

My biggest challenge is buying cards of lower tiered players for an upcoming draft [USAs]. I recently bought a 3 box break of Panini USAs for the price the seller paid for the unopened boxes. The only good card was a kris bryant jersey auto /99. I bought the lot for a patch auto but ended up misinterpreting the break and the card turned out to be a patch, no auto. So I'm stuck with 3 sets and several $2-$10 cards that really weren't worth my time to scan or list. I still anticipate breaking even or coming out slightly ahead, but the time it cost wasn't worthwhile.

Patience is my biggest challenge.

That and bearing in mind that if i don't see the card doubling, I shouldn't touch it.

That's another big one for me. I dumped my zack wheelers two days before he was traded. Looking back, I'm still unsure if that was a good or bad decision.

I also sold a gradable jose fernandez chrome auto for $20 last year.

Whenever I buy for prospecting purposes, I put a sticky note on the back of the toploader with how much I paid, my target price and my 'don't think about it, just sell' price, which I normally think of as a 'best-case scenario' price. I'll also make a note of some things that might affect price (ie, if I buy an AFLAC card of a guy, but he might later get USA cards, I note that, since USA cards kill AFLAC values).

Example: Just bought a Bregman Ref auto /417 for $12. On the back, it says "12/45/85--2015".

I also don't prospect in more than 5 non-PC guys at a time, so it is easy for me to keep track of what is going on. I also mostly prospect guys for the draft, which is just so much easier in terms of deciding when to sell. Namely. the week after the draft, or whatever the interim is between being drafted and signing for Leaf.

VandyDan said:

Whenever I buy for prospecting purposes, I put a sticky note on the back of the toploader with how much I paid, my target price and my 'don't think about it, just sell' price, which I normally think of as a 'best-case scenario' price. I'll also make a note of some things that might affect price (ie, if I buy an AFLAC card of a guy, but he might later get USA cards, I note that, since USA cards kill AFLAC values).

Example: Just bought a Bregman Ref auto /417 for $12. On the back, it says "12/45/85--2015".

I also don't prospect in more than 5 non-PC guys at a time, so it is easy for me to keep track of what is going on. I also mostly prospect guys for the draft, which is just so much easier in terms of deciding when to sell. Namely. the week after the draft, or whatever the interim is between being drafted and signing for Leaf.

Click to expand...

I also prospect in a similar way. I have a 5-man list of which certain universal rules apply to the people "inducted" to that list. I don't prospect more than two players from any single team and I don't overload on pitchers vs. hitters. System strength is always a consideration for me as well.

I keep a candidate list of players that are being watched for addition to my list and I hold it in high regard to be added to it (i.e. I really have to like a guy and see a lot of positives for me to add him). This way I am always focused on which cards I'm buying and it keeps me disciplined to pick up multiple copies of a player (rather than buying a single of this guy here, a single of that guy here - There IS such a thing as being TOO diversified with your money).

As far as target return price, I use a mathematical formula based on purchase costs that applies across the board - and I try to stick to it! If I can get my target I usually sell.

This part to me is functional; not the hard part of prospecting. This is the business end. The hard part to me is in the scouting, and measuring the intangibles. That's why I study like hell at this game.

Wow, it seems like some really have made this a science.


I find guys i like and i buy the hell out of them if the price is right. When i think there prices are trending way up, I sell them. I consider myself a "waiting for the paint to dry" prospector since my stashes tend to take a couple of years to pay off...2012/13 i cashed in on stanton, myers, d'arnaud, arenado and a few others.

i dont really subscribe to the scientific aspect of prospecting.

Being disciplined and sticking to Chrome has been another of my challenges. I love a variety and enjoy looking at my prospect stashes for fun. Seeing poor photo choices (Bundy and Bradley), ugly photoshop jobs (Zunino Mariner logos), and consistently buying the same product over and over again is uninspiring and gets repetitive. But after selling parts and complete stashes before the fee increase, and not having the time I did in the past, I've really began to appreciate the power of chrome.

In regards to research, I've typically found this to be the easiest part of prospecting. All I need to know is which cards will make me money. I am very passionate about this step (vs scanning, grading, listing, etc) that I become excited about too many players. I have a folder for almost every player's scans and just seeing close to 100 active folders is overwhelming yet awesome.

bear0555 said:

Being disciplined and sticking to Chrome has been another of my challenges. I love a variety and enjoy looking at my prospect stashes for fun. Seeing poor photo choices (Bundy and Bradley), ugly photoshop jobs (Zunino Mariner logos), and consistently buying the same product over and over again is uninspiring and gets repetitive. But after selling parts and complete stashes before the fee increase, and not having the time I did in the past, I've really began to appreciate the power of chrome.

In regards to research, I've typically found this to be the easiest part of prospecting. All I need to know is which cards will make me money. I am very passionate about this step (vs scanning, grading, listing, etc) that I become excited about too many players. I have a folder for almost every player's scans and just seeing close to 100 active folders is overwhelming yet awesome.

Click to expand...

You're not alone.

bear0555 said:

Being disciplined and sticking to Chrome has been another of my challenges. I love a variety and enjoy looking at my prospect stashes for fun. Seeing poor photo choices (Bundy and Bradley), ugly photoshop jobs (Zunino Mariner logos), and consistently buying the same product over and over again is uninspiring and gets repetitive. But after selling parts and complete stashes before the fee increase, and not having the time I did in the past, I've really began to appreciate the power of chrome.

In regards to research, I've typically found this to be the easiest part of prospecting. All I need to know is which cards will make me money. I am very passionate about this step (vs scanning, grading, listing, etc) that I become excited about too many players. I have a folder for almost every player's scans and just seeing close to 100 active folders is overwhelming yet awesome.

Click to expand...

its too hard for me since non-chrome products take off just as well as the chrome when a player catches fire. the multipliers are higher in most cases.

phillyfan0417 said:

its too hard for me since non-chrome products take off just as well as the chrome when a player catches fire. the multipliers are higher in most cases.

Click to expand...

More power to you. I did very well in April but also lost BIG on a good chunk of the non Chromes.