"My First Big Case Break!!!" - Results and Feedback

[bd3d86]

Reading this thread was exhausting! I am subscribing as well....that way any time I feel like I can bust a ton of product I can read again how much work it all is! Thanks for the posts guys!

[bmuelle21]

I really don't know how you guys with jobs can do case breaks. I'm in college right now so it makes it a little easier to open, sort, scan, list, and ship 4-6 cases of cards but I even find that I'm having a difficult time balancing to case-breaks between other things.

[frozenntimesports]

Originally Posted by brentandbecca

paying someone to sort sets takes all $ direct from profits IMO

What I was talking about was if a company built a sorter and charged a couple bucks a set ($2-3) and shipping it directly for you to your customer.

I don't even know if its feasible but would the market be there for it? Essentially the cost to the seller would be shipping the base off to the hopper, the cost of the collating, and the cost of postage to wherever the sets were going.

[alexlazarevich]

Originally Posted by KaraandMelliesDaddy

What I was talking about was if a company built a sorter and charged a couple bucks a set ($2-3) and shipping it directly for you to your customer.

I don't even know if its feasible but would the market be there for it? Essentially the cost to the seller would be shipping the base off to the hopper, the cost of the collating, and the cost of postage to wherever the sets were going.

I like the idea of it. The technology already exists. Topps can sort sets easily. We've all seen those machines which cut the cards, the card move along in the trays and can be sorted just as easily as they can be mixed up. If someone could build a sorting machine, but have it built inside their home, boy that would be a huge advantage, to have such a machine. Huge.

You know what I've always wondered? You know how most packs have cards that are oriented upside and downside, so when you open the pack you have to turn up (or down) several cards in the pack. That to me is one of the most annoying things about how they pack cards. Why the heck do the manufacturers do that? Are they doing that just to make our lives more difficult. Just having all the cards in the pack facing one uniform orientation would speed up sorting a bunch, maybe even 10-20%, I think? It would also cut down on dings, because occasionally when turning cards to the correct orientation, I might ding a corner or some such crap. It's important not to move too fast because you get more dings if you move fast.

Anyway, if anyone knows why the heck the manufacturers do that, I've love to know who's idea it was, and punch them in the face.

[dthimesch]

Originally Posted by Ooosh

I'm available to sort!

I wish you lived closer to me!

Originally Posted by bd3d86

Reading this thread was exhausting! I am subscribing as well....that way any time I feel like I can bust a ton of product I can read again how much work it all is! Thanks for the posts guys!

your telling me, but this my be a nomination for most informative thread of the year.

[rednecksims]

Do you think that you can turn a profit as easily with 1 case (of lets say a mid end product) as you can with 4 cases?

Thanks
David

[brentandbecca]

Originally Posted by rednecksims

Do you think that you can turn a profit as easily with 1 case (of lets say a mid end product) as you can with 4 cases?

Thanks
David

no, that is too dependent on getting a hit
except maybe high end, then you are better off doing 0 or 1 as to opposed to 4

[neahcrow]

I did not get a master set with 2 jumbo cases. I missed it by 3 minis- they were sorted very poorly. 0 of some 7 others. I barely got 1 of each 50 golden moments too.

[88kc]

I have enjoyed this thread and have learned alot of the do's and don'ts. I will someday do a case or two but not sure when. Thanks again to all who have put in their two cents.

[brentandbecca]

there is far more to say and add, but a message board and a few in-depth posts does not do it justice honesty

can't go over it all
and there are many tips to the trade
plus it has not been factored in price of cases, etc

[C&M Sports Memorabil]

One case of hobby here with good/great results- 2 cards. one large lot and one master set got me back $360 and with my other sales I am alreay in the plus colume.

I sort by 50's and the wife is of great help. I list hits immediately on ebay for 1 day auctions and then the follow up stuff for 3 day actions. On the following Sunday I take relist all unsold auctions after making market corrections for price. I hold a couple of sets back and sell the in 30 day auctions.

[calculusdork]

Originally Posted by C&M Sports Memorabil

One case of hobby here with good/great results- 2 cards. one large lot and one master set got me back $360 and with my other sales I am alreay in the plus colume.

I sort by 50's and the wife is of great help. I list hits immediately on ebay for 1 day auctions and then the follow up stuff for 3 day actions. On the following Sunday I take relist all unsold auctions after making market corrections for price. I hold a couple of sets back and sell the in 30 day auctions.

This is exactly how I did things w/r/t listing.

Can't say enough to thank you guys for all the information that's been provided here. Really got some good people on this site, and in the "case-breaking industry"

[rednecksims]

Originally Posted by brentandbecca

no, that is too dependent on getting a hit
except maybe high end, then you are better off doing 0 or 1 as to opposed to 4

I really wanted to bust a case of Topps Chrome FB and hope to break even or make a slight profit. But I really didnt want to sink more than 1K into it incase I absolutely got slaughtered, but if there is no chance or a very slim chance of going neg then its not worth it to me.

David

[bmuelle21]

Originally Posted by brentandbecca

no, that is too dependent on getting a hit
except maybe high end, then you are better off doing 0 or 1 as to opposed to 4

exactly...before I got into case breaking I use to think that all the money was in the hits you got but really a ton of it comes from sets, and lots of inserts and base rookies.

[mgugs46]

Two things:

1) I love when Brent posts.
2) I find when sorting multiple cases, that I actually start to recognize the patterns that the cards come out in...say for example, 2012 bowman, I believe every time a Josh Bell card appeared, a Clay Holmes was next. I could be remembering the names wrong now at this point, but you get the point....sort enough, and you'll start recognizing patterns. Some are so predictable, that if you are doing it by team, you eventually don't even have to look hardly.

[Amberkow]

As a brand new member to this board, I also did my first case break with Update, and so far I'm pretty happy with this. My goal was check out the waters, and break my first case. I agree with everyone that it is a lot of backbreaking work. I only broke 1 case, but have put in a solid 10 hours, and got all the base cards sorted on Friday and ready to ship. My biggest worry was that I would not be able to sell the base cards, and I was surprised to sell 5 sets in 3 days.

Thank you all for all of the information that you posted. I have been learning a lot from all of you over the past couple weeks, and hope to become a more active member of this community in the future.

[monkeymcgee]

I realize my question may have sounded a little flip earlier, but I was serious. Do set buyers expect all the cards to be sleeved or not? I'd rather not have to do that, but if that's the standard then I guess I will.

[calculusdork]

Originally Posted by monkeymcgee

I realize my question may have sounded a little flip earlier, but I was serious. Do set buyers expect all the cards to be sleeved or not? I'd rather not have to do that, but if that's the standard then I guess I will.

Ah ... definitely not. Never sleeving base cards, ever ever ever.

[darth*winbid*]

I actually sleeve 'em. But it takes me much longer to get base listed because of this. It's a mental thing for me, less worrying about dinged corners.

But I'm not sure if there's a proven benefit to sleeving.

BTW, another entertaining thread sir!

[brentandbecca]

Originally Posted by bmuelle21

exactly...before I got into case breaking I use to think that all the money was in the hits you got but really a ton of it comes from sets, and lots of inserts and base rookies.

comes from all the leg work, the profits that is

[brentandbecca]

Originally Posted by rednecksims

I really wanted to bust a case of Topps Chrome FB and hope to break even or make a slight profit. But I really didnt want to sink more than 1K into it incase I absolutely got slaughtered, but if there is no chance or a very slim chance of going neg then its not worth it to me.

David

unless a real lucky hit, it is a loss on a case

[brentandbecca]

Originally Posted by C&M Sports Memorabil

One case of hobby here with good/great results- 2 cards. one large lot and one master set got me back $360 and with my other sales I am alreay in the plus colume.

I sort by 50's and the wife is of great help. I list hits immediately on ebay for 1 day auctions and then the follow up stuff for 3 day actions. On the following Sunday I take relist all unsold auctions after making market corrections for price. I hold a couple of sets back and sell the in 30 day auctions.

good way to do it and listing the odds/ends....tougher hits for 3 days is good
plus don't sell self short, some undervalue hits from stuff as base topps
IF you look at market the 'hits' from base topps or heritage will often go way more than a similar hit #d lower from a premium product such as museum, TTT, etc

the topps hits are so tough and have numerous set collectors added to player & team collectors that the higher end stuff may have

you pull a patch out of base topps and just look or an auto allstar jersey or a triple allstar jersey or an auto of ripken, or whatever, compare the market
but again this is not always the case but close to it and not always equaling profits

[brentandbecca]

PS----any of you that opened Update I am looking to trade for or pay for these...
MINIs.......127, 141
GOLDEN MOMENTS......15x5, 38x2, 45x5
GOLDEN GREATS......80
GOLD SPARKLES.....US76, US166, US299
GOLD UPDATE /2012.......US81, US292

[Ajax1723]

Originally Posted by brentandbecca

good way to do it and listing the odds/ends....tougher hits for 3 days is good
plus don't sell self short, some undervalue hits from stuff as base topps
IF you look at market the 'hits' from base topps or heritage will often go way more than a similar hit #d lower from a premium product such as museum, TTT, etc

the topps hits are so tough and have numerous set collectors added to player & team collectors that the higher end stuff may have

you pull a patch out of base topps and just look or an auto allstar jersey or a triple allstar jersey or an auto of ripken, or whatever, compare the market
but again this is not always the case but close to it and not always equaling profits

That's kinda what I do. Most of my hits go one day when they go up, and anything numbered to /25 or lower of a non-star player I will fix price. If it is someone huge like Ripken, Pujols, Harper, Trout, etc, I know in auction being one of the first few will be more important than fixed pricing it most of the time.

Of course I have found exceptions, I sold the first Harper SP for 325, which obviously now looks to be about 10x actual market value. But on hobby release when everyone is opening and putting stuff up, only the not-as-popular stuff goes fixed price.

Other low numbered stuff, like the black parallels, I have been starting at 3.99 or 4.99 so I don't get killed on those, seems they don't do as well in the open market unless they are great names.

My next big break is 3 cases of Topps Chrome Football (wanted to go 4, but they went up too high by the time I got there, might try to get one from my LCS). Only doing one case of Bowman Chrome because of the wrapper redemption. But both should be fun, and I limited the risk with Chrome by getting in at a pretty good price.

[brentandbecca]

Originally Posted by Ajax1723

That's kinda what I do. Most of my hits go one day when they go up, and anything numbered to /25 or lower of a non-star player I will fix price. If it is someone huge like Ripken, Pujols, Harper, Trout, etc, I know in auction being one of the first few will be more important than fixed pricing it most of the time.

Of course I have found exceptions, I sold the first Harper SP for 325, which obviously now looks to be about 10x actual market value. But on hobby release when everyone is opening and putting stuff up, only the not-as-popular stuff goes fixed price.

Other low numbered stuff, like the black parallels, I have been starting at 3.99 or 4.99 so I don't get killed on those, seems they don't do as well in the open market unless they are great names.

My next big break is 3 cases of Topps Chrome Football (wanted to go 4, but they went up too high by the time I got there, might try to get one from my LCS). Only doing one case of Bowman Chrome because of the wrapper redemption. But both should be fun, and I limited the risk with Chrome by getting in at a pretty good price.

some issues with cards like the blacks is that the set builders of those all buy direct offline now because a couple years back they got into bidding wars
commons were going $50-$150 each sometimes as only ones listed, it was nuts, so us case breakers kinda hurt ourselves by selling those or complete gold sets offline as then there is less bids and less shown completed sold auctions which can help without a doubt

BUT you do right by starting at $5 each, helps so much and they are limited so no rush to sell, I have seen blacks go up after a couple weeks when even more scarce, and free listings

I do agree with not-so-op going fixed
and you did well on the harper BUT have seen it go the other way too, where a FP sits there and sits there while market drops too fast