Flipping cases, ebay store, etc

Long story short: I want to buy cases, break them down, sell individual boxes.

My question: Does this work when buying 'wholesale' through Blowout, ASC, DA Cardworld, GSC, etc? It seems like a 'best case' scenario is a $4-$8 per box profit, and that's IF it doesn't flop immediately.

Downsides I see:

1) Competing with the wholesalers

2) Boxes seem to go for slightly cheaper on ebay than wholesalers, probably because of slightly less credibility

3) My shipping costs would look higher because of no earned discounts, so my box prices would have to be lower to compensate.

I'm interested in taking my hobby to the next level, but I don't want it to become any more than that - a hobby. I don't feel like dumping $30,000 in to inventory to get bulk discounts, but I also don't feel like making the effort to buy/sell boxes for $20 profit, ya know?

Any general thoughts on this scheme of mine? Stuff I'm not considering? I feel like the 'worst case' scenario is breaking even, best case a very small profit.

I think you should sell structured derivatives. I feel like you could make a killing.

Honestly, I don't think the profit justifies the investment based on what you're talking about. If you invest $1000, you should be able to clear more than 48-96 profit.

I think the all in cards buisness model works best when moving small amounts of wax

cgilmo said:

I think the all in cards buisness model works best when moving small amounts of wax

Click to expand...

Which is.... packs, too? There is definitely SOME money to make, especially if it's a side gig. The problem with ebay, which I'd totally overlooked until now in this whole equation, is the fee structure.

Until the end of the year when Stras-mania winds down. it maybe be tough to make some money on cases since there price are up already on all presells I have done this twice this year already and have only made about 25-30% . Which is not bad really but can be a time waster as the more expensive products come out . Ie Tribute and Triple Threads.

I flipped two cases each of '06 BC and '06 BCDP, by the box using BIN/BO on eBay. I don't recall where I got the cases from, but I paid about $60/box presale and made a substantial profit on each when I flipped later (within about a year on each). BC treated me better - I ended up making at least $30-40 per box profit. So, long story short, make educated decisions about which sets to target and it should treat you well.

Just disregard my post if I am off-base and you're looking to run a more immediate "middleman" approach.

I'm thinking both middle-man and long term. I don't think there's much viability, if any, in an immediate return scenario. At least nothing worth the effort. Long term, maybe, but like the guy two posts up said, everything is so dang expensive because of Strasburg that there's no room for profit.

I should stick to enjoying cards only, and forget the business side of it.

jswaykos said:

I'm thinking both middle-man and long term. I don't think there's much viability, if any, in an immediate return scenario. At least nothing worth the effort. Long term, maybe, but like the guy two posts up said, everything is so dang expensive because of Strasburg that there's no room for profit.

I should stick to enjoying cards only, and forget the business side of it.

Click to expand...

To be honest, I think that you're right on here, especially at this point in time. As much as I enjoyed flipping those cases/boxes, I haven't had the interest to do it again. It's all about the collecting. And some small-time prospecting

ahodge84 said:

jswaykos said:

I'm thinking both middle-man and long term. I don't think there's much viability, if any, in an immediate return scenario. At least nothing worth the effort. Long term, maybe, but like the guy two posts up said, everything is so dang expensive because of Strasburg that there's no room for profit.

I should stick to enjoying cards only, and forget the business side of it.

Click to expand...

To be honest, I think that you're right on here, especially at this point in time. As much as I enjoyed flipping those cases/boxes, I haven't had the interest to do it again. It's all about the collecting. And some small-time prospecting

Click to expand...

+1, couldnt say it any better, i prospect as well, with all benefits going to my pc/box busting/reinvesting haha

yankeesfan24 said:

ahodge84 said:

jswaykos said:

I'm thinking both middle-man and long term. I don't think there's much viability, if any, in an immediate return scenario. At least nothing worth the effort. Long term, maybe, but like the guy two posts up said, everything is so dang expensive because of Strasburg that there's no room for profit.

I should stick to enjoying cards only, and forget the business side of it.

Click to expand...

To be honest, I think that you're right on here, especially at this point in time. As much as I enjoyed flipping those cases/boxes, I haven't had the interest to do it again. It's all about the collecting. And some small-time prospecting

Click to expand...

+1, couldnt say it any better, i prospect as well, with all benefits going to my pc/box busting/reinvesting haha

Click to expand...

Maybe I'll take up prospecting instead

Of course, by 'prospecting' I mean buying every RC auto in the $2 bin and hoping something sticks. If not, I'll have loads of shiny cards that I'll enjoy, 'valuable' or not! Hey - it worked once with a Jose Tabata AU!

jswaykos said:

yankeesfan24 said:

ahodge84 said:

jswaykos said:

I'm thinking both middle-man and long term. I don't think there's much viability, if any, in an immediate return scenario. At least nothing worth the effort. Long term, maybe, but like the guy two posts up said, everything is so dang expensive because of Strasburg that there's no room for profit.

I should stick to enjoying cards only, and forget the business side of it.

Click to expand...

To be honest, I think that you're right on here, especially at this point in time. As much as I enjoyed flipping those cases/boxes, I haven't had the interest to do it again. It's all about the collecting. And some small-time prospecting

Click to expand...

+1, couldnt say it any better, i prospect as well, with all benefits going to my pc/box busting/reinvesting haha

Click to expand...

Maybe I'll take up prospecting instead

Of course, by 'prospecting' I mean buying every RC auto in the $2 bin and hoping something sticks. If not, I'll have loads of shiny cards that I'll enjoy, 'valuable' or not! Hey - it worked once with a Jose Tabata AU!

Click to expand...

for your sake, it would be smarter instead of spending $20 on 10 scrubs, spend $20 on one solid card that has room to go up (IE: Brett Jackson chrome auto)

cgilmo said:

I think the all in cards buisness model works best when moving small amounts of wax

Click to expand...

searching wax and packs has it's advantages as well

Jeff N. said:

cgilmo said:

I think the all in cards buisness model works best when moving small amounts of wax

Click to expand...

searching wax and packs has it's advantages as well

Click to expand...

Are you saying Andrew searches packs, you dipshit?

JoshHamilton said:

Jeff N. said:

cgilmo said:

I think the all in cards buisness model works best when moving small amounts of wax

Click to expand...

searching wax and packs has it's advantages as well

Click to expand...

Are you saying Andrew searches packs, you dipshit?

Click to expand...

I wasn't, no. I was indicating that searching is an alternative business model. But nice avoidance of the swear filter.

What kind of business model is dropping 20-30 negs on BMB members? The "I'm an *******" model? You seemed to get real quiet when Andrew brought that up.

And I didn't avoid the swear filter. I typed in "dipshit" and the board software didn't edit it

Only way to make money on wax online is to buy directly from the company. Sure, you can make some once in awhile, but long term there just isn't enough wiggle room. Think about it; why would anyone buy from you, an unknown, at a 12% markup (approximate fees) when they could buy from multiple other online retailers at a lower price and free shipping?

JoshHamilton said:

What kind of business model is dropping 20-30 negs on BMB members? The "I'm an *******" model? You seemed to get real quiet when Andrew brought that up.

And I didn't avoid the swear filter. I typed in "dipshit" and the board software didn't edit it

Click to expand...

Actually, I finally took the plunge and foed him and didn't see him post it. I did see it quoted, but I didn't bother responding because he's not worth my time.

If I dropped 30 negatives, my account wouldn't still be in existence, would it? Go ahead and use the feedback tracker and see if I ever did it. Obviously, I didn't.

It was over 5 years ago. All the negs Jeff left got removed with in a day or 2. Ebay took care of it seeing he went on a negative feedback rampage.

I really have no reason to lie about this. I think he was upset at the time that he was still on his lifetime ban on BMB.

Jeff, I rarely talk with you but I must say that your original post would insinuate that some underhanded business is being done with Andrew's wax peddling.

blanning71 said:

Jeff, I rarely talk with you but I must say that your original post would insinuate that some underhanded business is being done with Andrew's wax peddling.

Click to expand...

I can see how it could be interpreted. However, again, I was simply stating a different business plan. Anyone who's going to sell a pack with an orange stras autograph is either not searching or doing a piss poor job of same.