Wondering about some of the Prospectors

Zithy · Jul 6, 2009

I do enjoy seeing many of the show pickups, the steals, the pulls, the investments, and the low numbered stuff with big names. If you like collecting cards, you like seeing them, I suppose. But what I also think about is the funds tied into this or that player--not talking about cards/players for the PC people, just prospectors. A Super of X for $700 that everyone thinks is a steal, a Red for $200, a stash of Y etc. Are you guys really ahead overall?

I know there's some very, very nice stashes and inventories for some of you guys, and I'm not sure what the best way to ask this without sounding like I'm trying to get personal. I've always been curious if the prospecting pays for new cards, or if there always seems to be a need for outside money to pay for the newest prospect. If that's not too personal to ask, I'd really like to hear your answers.

Personally, I used some sales to build up funds in PP, then spent it on a few guys that I researched or other non-card investments. After a while I was able to only use my "ebay" money to buy cards/items I wanted. However, 2 things I should point out-- 1) sales were much easier a year or two ago due to the economy and 2) my prospecting wasn't very deep; a few guys with no more than $500 invested into any one player. Usually, much less.

I always worried when my inventory grew that I might be stuck with losses, and I wanted to sell. Then when my Paypal account was healthy, I felt the funds were stagnant and doing nothing for me, so I wanted to buy. I worry about too much, I know

but is that ever your concern as well?

Anyways, post if you'd like to add anything, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

WoundedDuck · Jul 6, 2009

I'm no prospector by any means. However, when I got back into collecting cards a few years ago, the prospecting bug got me after reading forums. Not in the way that prospectors want to buy cheap and sell for a profit later, but I wanted to try to get the next superstar really cheap before I couldn't afford their stuff. I found myself in your position, worrying about taking losses if a guy went down in flames....and I really wasn't sinking a ton of money into any one guy. The few young guys that I have picked up, I've decided to try to sell when the time is right and then just focus on picking up stuff I want to collect. It's not as lucrative that way, but I'm happier with the way I collect.

I'm sure that's not the answer you're looking for and you'll probably get better responses from guys that are "prospecting," but that's my take on it I guess.

kentuckyderby · Jul 6, 2009

Some (not all) prospectors only recall the successes and black out the misses

EricInCT · Jul 6, 2009

Zithy said:
I do enjoy seeing many of the show pickups, the steals, the pulls, the investments, and the low numbered stuff with big names. If you like collecting cards, you like seeing them, I suppose. But what I also think about is the funds tied into this or that player--not talking about cards/players for the PC people, just prospectors. A Super of X for $700 that everyone thinks is a steal, a Red for $200, a stash of Y etc. Are you guys really ahead overall?

I know there's some very, very nice stashes and inventories for some of you guys, and I'm not sure what the best way to ask this without sounding like I'm trying to get personal. I've always been curious if the prospecting pays for new cards, or if there always seems to be a need for outside money to pay for the newest prospect. If that's not too personal to ask, I'd really like to hear your answers.

Personally, I used some sales to build up funds in PP, then spent it on a few guys that I researched or other non-card investments. After a while I was able to only use my "ebay" money to buy cards/items I wanted. However, 2 things I should point out-- 1) sales were much easier a year or two ago due to the economy and 2) my prospecting wasn't very deep; a few guys with no more than $500 invested into any one player. Usually, much less.

I always worried when my inventory grew that I might be stuck with losses, and I wanted to sell. Then when my Paypal account was healthy, I felt the funds were stagnant and doing nothing for me, so I wanted to buy. I worry about too much, I know but is that ever your concern as well?

Anyways, post if you'd like to add anything, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Prospecting is a double edged sword. On one hand you are buying someone you perceive as 'cheap' or getting in on the ground floor, on the other hand that ties up funds and prevents you from buying something that is REALLY a steal. For example I sold a BGS xfractor I have for $140 (I paid $35 with slabbing fees) and used that money to buy an Elite auto #/5 that I perceived was $100 less than market value of a hot prospect. Now, the ONLY reason that worked is because the BGS xfractor I sold I held on to it for 6 months and the guy is red hot.......two things you have to consider......how long are you willing to hold the investment......do you have to funds to continue to invest in new players if an opportunity comes along.......what return on investment will there be when you do sell.....and my VERY important criteria: if I have to sell N O W what can I get for it? This happened very recently with Travis Snider for me. Luckily I sold a large amount while he was hot for about 2 weeks.....he then was cold as ice and demoted to the minors. I was faced with a dillema: A stack of BGS 9.5 sterling autos (15 or so) which all told cost me about $400. Do I blow them out at $40 a pop (they sold during the hot streak as high as 85) or hold on to them since he could still make an impact from a call up later this year? It all boils down to what financial resources you have. I ended up selling some and holding the rest to diversify my investment. Prospecting is not easy and is time consuming, but it sure is fun!

rainmanesq · Jul 6, 2009

people tend to often focus on the ‘bling’ side of prospecting while forgetting that the more rare the card, the higher your buy in. people also tend to get wowed by sigs on message boards yet rarely follow the transaction from purchase to sale + if they did, they’d probably find that, like in vegas, many people talk about their ‘wins,’ yet may people actually lose once you count in the buy in (usually too high), the fees, + the sell price (usually lower than they paid).

some prospectors (like me) can/do make $ prospecting (and yes, I have my fails- see chris lubanski lol), but rarely do it through ‘bling’ cards that I show off on message boards. I buy early + I buy guys who are cheap b/c everyone + their baby mamma are chasing the guy on the bc/bcdp box. Ex., I was buying up madbum xfractors @ $5 ea. I also invest a limited amount in a player- ex., I spent a whopping $400 on my entire moose stash + have long since paid it off (+ still have a gold 9.5, 7 blue ref 9.5s, some ref 9.5s, some x 9.5s, 8 ee au 9.5s, 3 ee au 9s, etc.) b/c I sold some when his prices doubled from what I paid. The most ‘bling’ card I prospect in is generally a blue refractor as the profit % is generally greater on blue refs and below. I also ‘know when to fold them’ + do NOT try to sell @ the absolute high.

Greed, ego, + lack of knowledge do most prospectors in imo + often, those who people view as ‘smart prospectors’ LOSE $ yet are seen as ‘smart’ b/c they post the most and/or post the most ‘bling.’ The smartest + most profitable prospectors are the 1s who are the quietest.

EricInCT · Jul 6, 2009

rainmanesq said:
people tend to often focus on the ‘bling’ side of prospecting while forgetting that the more rare the card, the higher your buy in. people also tend to get wowed by sigs on message boards yet rarely follow the transaction from purchase to sale + if they did, they’d probably find that, like in vegas, many people talk about their ‘wins,’ yet may people actually lose once you count in the buy in (usually too high), the fees, + the sell price (usually lower than they paid).

some prospectors (like me) can/do make $ prospecting (and yes, I have my fails- see chris lubanski lol), but rarely do it through ‘bling’ cards that I show off on message boards. I buy early + I buy guys who are cheap b/c everyone + their baby mamma are chasing the guy on the bc/bcdp box. Ex., I was buying up madbum xfractors @ $5 ea. I also invest a limited amount in a player- ex., I spent a whopping $400 on my entire moose stash + have long since paid it off (+ still have a gold 9.5, 7 blue ref 9.5s, some ref 9.5s, some x 9.5s, 8 ee au 9.5s, 3 ee au 9s, etc.) b/c I sold some when his prices doubled from what I paid. The most ‘bling’ card I prospect in is generally a blue refractor as the profit % is generally greater on blue refs and below. I also ‘know when to fold them’ + do NOT try to sell @ the absolute high.

Greed, ego, + lack of knowledge do most prospectors in imo + often, those who people view as ‘smart prospectors’ LOSE $ yet are seen as ‘smart’ b/c they post the most and/or post the most ‘bling.’ The smartest + most profitable prospectors are the 1s who are the quietest.

Very well said and some good advice in the above paragraphs. I will be the first to tell you I am not the smartest since I have only been prospecting for about a year or so, still a LOT of learning to do. One interesting comment made above; a blue refractor as the profit % is generally greater on blue refs and below This I never knew until recently. Keep in mind especially if you have the item in an auction format, that you want to have MANY bidders vying for that one special card for their collection.........say 30 people will bid on a refractor if the price is right, 20 will bid on the xfractor, maybe 15 will bid on the blue.....then it becomes expotentially smaller as the card gets rarer and rarer.

Case in point: I won a BGS 9.5 orange refractor for 260 and the day before someone bought a gold refractor for 200 raw of the same card. That $60 was huge to someone, I am sure they would have liked the orange but reality set in and they just didn't have the extra 30%. Instead of me buying the orange for 260 I could have bought 10 refractors, maybe graded 3 or 4 of them.....I can then sell a few and diversify my investment...the key is that the prospect would not have to be super hot for me to make a profit I could sell them faster and have more interest due to the price.

jcmint · Jul 6, 2009

rainmanesq said:
people tend to often focus on the ‘bling’ side of prospecting while forgetting that the more rare the card, the higher your buy in. people also tend to get wowed by sigs on message boards yet rarely follow the transaction from purchase to sale + if they did, they’d probably find that, like in vegas, many people talk about their ‘wins,’ yet may people actually lose once you count in the buy in (usually too high), the fees, + the sell price (usually lower than they paid).

some prospectors (like me) can/do make $ prospecting (and yes, I have my fails- see chris lubanski lol), but rarely do it through ‘bling’ cards that I show off on message boards. I buy early + I buy guys who are cheap b/c everyone + their baby mamma are chasing the guy on the bc/bcdp box. Ex., I was buying up madbum xfractors @ $5 ea. I also invest a limited amount in a player- ex., I spent a whopping $400 on my entire moose stash + have long since paid it off (+ still have a gold 9.5, 7 blue ref 9.5s, some ref 9.5s, some x 9.5s, 8 ee au 9.5s, 3 ee au 9s, etc.) b/c I sold some when his prices doubled from what I paid. The most ‘bling’ card I prospect in is generally a blue refractor as the profit % is generally greater on blue refs and below. I also ‘know when to fold them’ + do NOT try to sell @ the absolute high.

Greed, ego, + lack of knowledge do most prospectors in imo + often, those who people view as ‘smart prospectors’ LOSE $ yet are seen as ‘smart’ b/c they post the most and/or post the most ‘bling.’ The smartest + most profitable prospectors are the 1s who are the quietest.

Jen speaks the truth. IMO some of the guys who come on the boards and itemize every transaction they have invested and post when they made 6 dollars are the people who haven't got a clue and never will. The people who are quiet and dont flaunt when they make a profit on a prospect are the people who know whats up.

trevordchi · Jul 6, 2009

Many people with the "best" stashes are the worst prospectors. The good prospectors got rid of their stashes once they became "good".

lisu · Jul 6, 2009

I suck at prospecting. I like my shiny cards too much.

EricInCT · Jul 6, 2009

trevordchi said:
Many people with the "best" stashes are the worst prospectors. The good prospectors got rid of their stashes once they became "good".

Has Hanson become good yet

at least his prices haven't plumetted yet.

rainmanesq · Jul 6, 2009

trevordchi said:
Many people with the "best" stashes are the worst prospectors. The good prospectors got rid of their stashes once they became "good".

drop it like it's hot. prospecting rule 101

rainmanesq · Jul 6, 2009

lisu said:
I suck at prospecting. I like my shiny cards too much.

Lol shiny’s pretty. Why do you think I gawk @ your bucket? :lol:

mlbsalltimegreats · Jul 6, 2009

rainmanesq said:
people also tend to get wowed by sigs on message boards

:lol: I am that guy!

rainmanesq · Jul 6, 2009

mlbsalltimegreats said:
rainmanesq said:

people also tend to get wowed by sigs on message boards

Click to expand...

:lol: I am that guy!

:lol: It’s ok. I too get mesmerized by the blingy chrome rainbows

AKA Coastal · Jul 6, 2009

I stick with large lots of lower end cards. High-end prospecting is overrated (i can explain if anyone is interested).

Jays_Cards · Jul 6, 2009

It all depends on what you want out of prospecting. While I am very much ahead of what I have spent, I dont do it for the money. I could have dumped my Bruce stuff last year when he was on fire, but I like to prospect smaller stuff and keep my huge stuff. The only exceptions that I can think of are a Lincy Red Ref Auto that I made over $1k on and the Price super which I did very well on as well. I think some people take prospecting way too seriously, especially in the current market in which we are in.

plainwhitejerseys · Jul 6, 2009

rainmanesq said:
The smartest + most profitable prospectors are the 1s who are the quietest.

Excellent line.

Though sometimes they are "loud" about things other than their prospecting. To me, the only reason ever to show your "stash" is when you have a nice inventory of someone who is clearly not going to make it. At that point, the "stash" becomes a collection.

Jaypers · Jul 6, 2009

plainwhitejerseys said:
rainmanesq said:

The smartest + most profitable prospectors are the 1s who are the quietest.

Click to expand...

Excellent line.

Though sometimes they are "loud" about things other than their prospecting. To me, the only reason ever to show your "stash" is when you have a nice inventory of someone who is clearly not going to make it. At that point, the "stash" becomes a collection.

What about Cooper Brannan?

uniquebaseballcards · Jul 6, 2009

LOL Isn't prospecting just another word for selling? If you can't sell you can't prospect.

lisu said:
I suck at prospecting. I like my shiny cards too much.

lvdan · Jul 6, 2009

plainwhitejerseys said:
rainmanesq said:

The smartest + most profitable prospectors are the 1s who are the quietest.

Click to expand...

Excellent line.

Though sometimes they are "loud" about things other than their prospecting. To me, the only reason ever to show your "stash" is when you have a nice inventory of someone who is clearly not going to make it. At that point, the "stash" becomes a collection.

Ive got a few of those :x With the collectibles market in general being in the crapper, I don't know that think there are many people making good consistent money prospecting right now. You can catch lightning in a bottle every now and then and I know that some of you are more disciplined and educated than others. But the reality is it seems the scale has been sliding downward overall to a point that it usually takes a torrid hot streak from a prospect lately just to approach the prices(break even or make a small $) that the same guy was reaching a year ago while you "bought in low" before his explosion. There are obvious exceptions to this but overall I just don't see nearly as much spiking going on in the market.
I don't pretend to be any expert in fact I'm a novice has-been prospector who is pretty out of touch nowadays. I used to spend at least 5 or 6 hrs a day online and now its an hour or two each week but when I see what stuff is selling for overall, including the hot players, it doesn't look that pretty. My own neglected inventory has taken a decent sized dump to the tune of maybe 40% Im guessing. ::facepalm::
Still love cards though

plainwhite-Always dug the cheezburg avatar photo

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