easiest ways to make money in this hobby?

[miguelcabrera]

leave the hobby is probably the easiest

 

[gogosox40]

You guys are thinking small here

1. Start a auction company
2. Allow your employees to be able to bid on the auctions
3. Shill like crazy
4. Anytime you get caught shilling a card for crazy money, send it back to PSA/SGC to get it reslabbed with a new serial number.
5. Hire strippers to attract lonely men to consign to you at auctions.
6. It helps if you were at one time jailed for committing phone fraud by stealing money from churches, police and firemen retirement funds.

Amazing! Got a good laugh thanks

 

[zach]

Dont call it a hobby, if you wanna make money with cards.

Why?

People make money with their hobbies (no matter what they are) all the time - why is this different?

 

[zach]

Think the hobby is too expensive? Have to sell to stay in the hobby? Is the hobby to expensive for new people to join in on the fun?

Truth is making money off the hobby makes the hobby more expensive for collectors, others making money off the hobby makes the hobby more expensive for you. Granted there certainly needs to be some people making money, there doesn't need to be many and it definitely doesn't need to be everyone.

/public service announcement

Huh???

This make no sense at all.

So you're trying to say only a few people should make money in this hobby?

People can make money in any hobby. In fact many successful small businesses has started from people making money with their hobby.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Why?

People make money with their hobbies (no matter what they are) all the time - why is this different?

For many people the selling part is really a part-time occupation that provides income. Someone who is 'making money' in their hobby is minting coins and/or designing currency LOL.

[h=2]hob·by[/h][SUP]1 [/SUP]   [hob-ee] Show IPA
noun, plural hob·bies.1.an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Huh???

This make no sense at all.

So you're trying to say only a few people should make money in this hobby?

People can make money in any hobby. In fact many successful small businesses has started from people making money with their hobby.

Its not that complicated LOL. If you think about it for a moment you even explained what you were missing yourself.

 

[nappyd]

so only way to make money is to treat a hobby like a small business/side job? but then everyone would have stuff to sell at a high "value" price and no one wanting to buy it

 

[All The Hype]

Prospecting is usually a lot tougher than people like to admit. Easier is to learn what the market is on some fairly steady cards (Jeter auto's, Ruth GU etc.) and bid the bottom end of what they go for. You will only win a small percentage of the items you bid on but assuming the cards are expensive enough that you do not lose any potential profits in fees and shipping and you are a little patient it's a pretty low risk approach.

I agree with this, prospecting is not an easy way to make money. It's doable, but it takes time, patience, and discipline to achieve any notable success.

As far as tracking the market on vet cards, one simple way to do it is to follow the RC prices of a few consistent All Star caliber players during the season, and wait for prices to dip either during or after the season. Even the best players' cards drop at some point during the year, but those players who are consistently good will almost always come back up. Knowing this trend, if you simply take the time to learn the market, you can make a lot of money on a single player over and over again. I can't even tell you how many times I've bought and resold rookies of Justin Verlander for profit.

 

[shayscards79]

Think the hobby is too expensive? Have to sell to stay in the hobby? Is the hobby to expensive for new people to join in on the fun?

Truth is making money off the hobby makes the hobby more expensive for collectors, others making money off the hobby makes the hobby more expensive for you. Granted there certainly needs to be some people making money, there doesn't need to be many and it definitely doesn't need to be everyone.

/public service announcement

If anything, this hobby is expensive because of the going rate of the boxes the cards come out of in the first place, not the people selling singles. If you have a buyer that is willing to pay more than the next guy... that's just how a market works.

You can lose money just as easily.

 

[shayscards79]

Exactly.

I started off prospecting 2.5 years ago and making good money now. Of course I had to put up a lot of money up front and it has required dedication. I've spent some of it on my hobby portion of it, but once you start reinvesting, it's a lot easier to make money.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

If anything, this hobby is expensive because of the going rate of the boxes the cards come out of in the first place, not the people selling singles. If you have a buyer that is willing to pay more than the next guy... that's just how a market works.

You can lose money just as easily.

Are you saying sellers flipping singles makes the hobby less expensive for collectors? What if those flippers were never there in the first place?

 

[hawkfandan]

leave the hobby is probably the easiest

BOO!!!!

 

[shayscards79]

Are you saying sellers flipping singles makes the hobby less expensive for collectors? What if those flippers were never there in the first place?

It would cost a lot more ripping wax to get the stuff you want for your PC. I paid about $200 for every Luck card in my sig for my PC.. but you know what? I'm thankful that someone else pulled it because I could have spend thousands to get the same cards out of wax.

Now, if you look at it the other way, which I'm sure is what you are getting at... sure it could end up costing more for someone wanting to buy something that you are flipping for three times what you paid for it. I mean, sure, you could have just let someone else buy it sooner.. but again, supply and demand is at work here.

 

[AmishDave]

Easiest way to make money in this hobby is to never start this hobby.

 

[All The Hype]

Are you saying sellers flipping singles makes the hobby less expensive for collectors? What if those flippers were never there in the first place?

"Flippers" aren't the reason cards are expensive for collectors. Other collectors are the ones who bid up auction; and whoever is willing to pay the most for the card wins it.

And who is to say that flipping can't be and isn't a hobby itself. About 5% of what I buy is for my own collection, and 95% is bought to be flipped. Why do I invest in cards? Because I love it, it's extremely fun for me to follow markets, to constantly be getting in and sending out different cards, and it's a great way to stay close to the game.

My hobby is to flip cards.

Now why do you have any more right to a card than me simply because you intend to keep it? The same card could be equally beneficial to each of our respective hobbies, so I don't follow the self-entitlement where just because a person collects means that he should have more right to the card, and that "investors" ruin the hobby by running up prices. Whose hobby do we ruin? Because I'm investing and having a great time with it. If I'm willing to pay more than you, then I will get the card, and if you are willing to pay more, then you will get it. It's how a free market works.

 

[notjomommasclint]

Flipping doesn't ruin the hobby.. It feeds the monster for some.. It's profit for others.. No one complains when collectors trade which is the essence of the hobby.. And the original flipping.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

It would cost a lot more ripping wax to get the stuff you want for your PC. I paid about $200 for every Luck card in my sig for my PC.. but you know what? I'm thankful that someone else pulled it because I could have spend thousands to get the same cards out of wax.

Now, if you look at it the other way, which I'm sure is what you are getting at... sure it could end up costing more for someone wanting to buy something that you are flipping for three times what you paid for it. I mean, sure, you could have just let someone else buy it sooner.. but again, supply and demand is at work here.

Take it a step further. If wax wasn't busted by flippers, wouldn't fewer people be buying as much wax and wouldn't it cost less as a result? But even without all these flippers, the same big distributors and casebreakers would be there doing their thing and you'd have access to the same cards anyway.

With regard to your second point, how much are flippers increasing the cost of cards you're bidding on? Perhaps they're bidding $195 on the Luck cards in your sig with the intent to flip them for $400 with the third-highest bidder coming in at $100. Its not really just supply and demand... its also flippers protecting their interests at the expense of yours.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

"Flippers" aren't the reason cards are expensive for collectors. Other collectors are the ones who bid up auction; and whoever is willing to pay the most for the card wins it.

And who is to say that flipping can't be and isn't a hobby itself. About 5% of what I buy is for my own collection, and 95% is bought to be flipped. Why do I invest in cards? Because I love it, it's extremely fun for me to follow markets, to constantly be getting in and sending out different cards, and it's a great way to stay close to the game.

My hobby is to flip cards.

Now why do you have any more right to a card than me simply because you intend to keep it? The same card could be equally beneficial to each of our respective hobbies, so I don't follow the self-entitlement where just because a person collects means that he should have more right to the card, and that "investors" ruin the hobby by running up prices. Whose hobby do we ruin? Because I'm investing and having a great time with it. If I'm willing to pay more than you, then I will get the card, and if you are willing to pay more, then you will get it. It's how a free market works.

I'm not trying to make you or anyone else feel bad, but I'm just pointing out that flipping makes cards more expensive.

Flipping isn't a hobby by definition (see above), its a full-time or part-time job, its an occupation... that is, unless, one intends to lose money doing it LOL.

There's actually some people in this world who enjoy their occupation, seems like you've found one you enjoy.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Flipping doesn't ruin the hobby.. It feeds the monster for some.. It's profit for others.. No one complains when collectors trade which is the essence of the hobby.. And the original flipping.

Not sure what you mean, but this was the original flipping :

 

[csmtampa]

fake patches and sell backdoored cards.... duh

on a serious note, buying large collections and piecing them out seems to work for people