Been picking up some prospect stuff. Need expert help & info

biggmack2001 · Oct 22, 2009

Hello all
I am in no way a prospector as I am mostly into HOF stuff but I was able to trade for a Bowman Chrome RC Auto Superfractor recently and I have to admit it has me looking for some cheap deals on the Bay in hopes that a player makes the bigs one day. My question is how do you decide who to pick up or is it all a crap shoot and I also wanted peoples opinions on what i have gotten recently and if you know anything about the players an opinions and ifo is greatly appreciated.
Thanks: AJ
Traded for this and it got me hooked. Have the gold and all the other versions incoming besides the red.

$23.00 DLVD

$25.99 Buy It Now on Ebay as well as the Orange Refractor below it and $54.97 DLVD for the 2

This and the Romero were approx $10.00 DLVD from Ebay

Traded for this

Pulled these 2

These are all my incoming. Traded for the Ryan Adams and the rest were pretty cheap buy it nows on the Bay.

All The Hype · Oct 22, 2009

I've been prospecting pretty seriously for about two years and have so far done very well.

Picking a player is not random in any way. You have to look at a number of different things: stats, age, potential, hype, card prices now and potential future values, and what team's organization they are in to name a few. Considering all these things, the idea is to pick someone who you think has the best chance to see card value increases at some point in the future (i.e., creating a sell point for you to move the stuff you're buying right now).

It's a simple concept: buy low, wait for prices to increase, and sell for a profit. The actual thinking behind it is much more intricate and takes time and research.

One player I will talk about is Rick Porcello. He was my biggest investment because he had cards that I thought could see sizable increases if he panned out the way he was supposed to. Guess what...Porcello had a great season in the Majors this year and I sold a lot of the cards I had bought before the season for BIG profits.

Prospecting is not an exact science. There are no firm rules because crazy things happen in baseball and crazy things happen on eBay. There are guidelines that most of the successful prospectors know and understand, but the bottom line is that you can make money off of ANY player if someone out there decides that they all of a sudden want to collect cards of Ole Sheldon (one of my first prospecting experiences that worked out for me in the end :lol: ).

In regard to your question about the stuff you have bought recently, I do not know much about any of those guys. One thing I personally do is stay away from printing plates. They seem to be one of the most unpredictable 'cards' available, and as a prospector, I'd like to rule out as much unpredictability as possible.

Here's a link to a thread I posted over the summer summarizing a lot of my experiences and talking about what I learned and some general prospecting guidelines and such. It's an extremely long read, but the feedback I got from most people who took the time to read it was pretty positive: http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47168&hilit=prospecting:+my+experience

HPC · Oct 22, 2009

ALL_THE_HYPE said:
I've been prospecting pretty seriously for about two years and have so far done very well.

You have to look at a number of different things: stats, age, potential, hype, card prices now and potential future values, and what team's organization they are in to name a few.

It's a simple concept: buy low, wait for prices to increase, and sell for a profit. .

These are about the 2 most important things.

dont hold a card to try and make an extra $20 and end up losing money....if you can double your profit, do it. Dont hold on for life.

Another thing I always looked at, was where guys fit into their organization.

Some guys you know will never play because theyve got Pujols to compete with, or A-Rod, Jeter, Mauer, etc.

Also, look for guys in the later rounds. Nick Adenhart was drafted in the 14th round.

I made a HUGE profit off Micah Owings, and he was a 3rd rounder.

biggmack2001 · Oct 22, 2009

ALL_THE_HYPE said:
I've been prospecting pretty seriously for about two years and have so far done very well.

Picking a player is not random in any way. You have to look at a number of different things: stats, age, potential, hype, card prices now and potential future values, and what team's organization they are in to name a few. Considering all these things, the idea is to pick someone who you think has the best chance to see card value increases at some point in the future (i.e., creating a sell point for you to move the stuff you're buying right now).

It's a simple concept: buy low, wait for prices to increase, and sell for a profit. The actual thinking behind it is much more intricate and takes time and research.

One player I will talk about is Rick Porcello. He was my biggest investment because he had cards that I thought could see sizable increases if he panned out the way he was supposed to. Guess what...Porcello had a great season in the Majors this year and I sold a lot of the cards I had bought before the season for BIG profits.

Prospecting is not an exact science. There are no firm rules because crazy things happen in baseball and crazy things happen on eBay. There are guidelines that most of the successful prospectors know and understand, but the bottom line is that you can make money off of ANY player if someone out there decides that they all of a sudden want to collect cards of Ole Sheldon (one of my first prospecting experiences that worked out for me in the end :lol: ).

In regard to your question about the stuff you have bought recently, I do not know much about any of those guys. One thing I personally do is stay away from printing plates. They seem to be one of the most unpredictable 'cards' available, and as a prospector, I'd like to rule out as much unpredictability as possible.

Here's a link to a thread I posted over the summer summarizing a lot of my experiences and talking about what I learned and some general prospecting guidelines and such. It's an extremely long read, but the feedback I got from most people who took the time to read it was pretty positive: http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47168&hilit=prospecting:+my+experience

Thanks so much for the info. the only reason and I reapeat only reason I got the plate was because it was $25.99 Buy it now. If Cachanov makes the Majors I can make a nice profit on it and I have read some good things about him.
AJ

ballerskrip · Oct 22, 2009

HPC said:
ALL_THE_HYPE said:

I've been prospecting pretty seriously for about two years and have so far done very well.

You have to look at a number of different things: stats, age, potential, hype, card prices now and potential future values, and what team's organization they are in to name a few.

It's a simple concept: buy low, wait for prices to increase, and sell for a profit. .

Click to expand...

These are about the 2 most important things.

dont hold a card to try and make an extra $20 and end up losing money....if you can double your profit, do it. Dont hold on for life.

Another thing I always looked at, was where guys fit into their organization.

Some guys you know will never play because theyve got Pujols to compete with, or A-Rod, Jeter, Mauer, etc.

Also, look for guys in the later rounds. Nick Adenhart was drafted in the 14th round.

I made a HUGE profit off Micah Owings, and he was a 3rd rounder.

i agree on later rounders, but Adenhart isn't a great example because he was a $1 million guy along with being the the top high school pitcher in the draft until he got hurt playing shortstop in his high school playoffs.....

There are plenty of excellent investments out there. Just do your homework, have a reason you buy the guys you are buying, and you should be okay.

skrip

011873 · Oct 23, 2009

Many times I go for stuff that is "dead" BUT only when its a good idea.

For example: I was buying Howie Kendrick cards by the boat load before anyone even knew he was a Baseball Player because he hit at every level, was cheap cheap cheap and had a couple of rookies (no Bowman Chrome or autos either).

I also TRIED to buy as many 2005 Topps Total Dan Uggla cards. "Tried" because I could rarely ever find them. The ones I did find cost me a quarter each or less and Total is his best and only true rookie. I figured for a $1 investment for 5 or 7 cards, this guy mashed in the minors yet was "old" and didnt have a "premium" rookie so investors stayed away.

I think I made the market on Tyler Clippard rookies. I bought maybe 50 of his Topps Heritage rookies at no more than 75 cents each (many of those for about a quarter each) because he was a Yankee who was ptching well for a few seasons and, again, didnt have a "premium" or auto rookie so many investors steered clear (or didnt even knoew he had a card).
When he got hot, most of them were sold for $5-$15 each and afew for more than that.

Cant say Ryan Howard was ever "dead" but there was a span for a couple of years when his rookies and autos were basically worthless because "he would never play because he's stuck behind Thome". Well look at his numbers in the minors and you would see how he HAD to play on some MLB team. I probably made my most money EVER on him.

sheetskout · Oct 23, 2009

I also prospect. (duh!, right?)

The biggest rule I can give you is to SELL WHEN PROFIT IS ACCEPTABLE and DO NOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT RYAN BRAUN.

More often than not you'll be disappointed.

FortyFour · Oct 23, 2009

Narrow down your prospect portfolio to 5-7 Core guys or less.

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Been picking up some prospect stuff. Need expert help & info

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