After 5 weeks of bringing you Buy/Sell/Hold, it began to dawn on me.... What's the point of telling people which cards you should be buying, selling, or holding if you aren't able to successfully execute from the knowledge provided? So that's EXACTLY what I'm planning to do! Until the end of the year, I've set myself the challenge of attempting to double a starting balance of $1000 into $2000, through the buying and selling of trading cards!
I'm pretty confident that I can surpass the target amount, but it'll be interesting to put my card knowledge to the test and show EVERYONE in the trading card community that you can absolutely benefit from that hobby that you love financially! Will I get everything right along the way? Of course not, I'm sure I'll go through times of swallowing my pride and taking losses. But in saying that, will I also experience some huge wins? Absolutely!
In trying to make this challenge as transparent and replicable as possible, I've implemented some rules which gives everyone following along the opportunity to turn my insights into action!
RULES
Can only BUY trading cards from eBay and Really Good Vibes Trading Card Group
Can only SELL trading cards through eBay
Not allowed to TRADE cards
Not allowed to purchase NEW products or sealed stock
Provide a trackable spreadsheet (click to view!) which anyone is able to access which includes all purchase details, proof of purchase, calculated fee's etc.
STRATEGY
Overall Strategy:
It may sound simple, but the overall strategy of this series revolves around identifying cards that I think pose value in terms of price or potential future value. The quicker you're able to identify where value lies in trading cards, the more successful this challenge will be! As the weeks progress, I'm certain we will delve into investments which aren't necessarily urgent sales. Heck, we might even start to build a collection of longer term holds should our funds permit it! However I'll be trying my best to leave emotion at the door, and will be buying and selling cards to prioritise reaching our goal!
Weekly Strategy:
To begin, it's all about getting 'in and out' of cards as quickly as possible, in comparison to buying cards as investments. In order for this series to thrive, money needs to continue to regularly turnover so that there is ALWAYS enough funds in the account to make purchases that are too good to refuse! By doing this, my eBay listing strategy is going to be aggressive with an emphasis of prioritizing time spent compared to level of profit! What do I mean by this? I would rather take $5 less on a sale to move the card quickly, than hold that same card for an extra two weeks. In those two weeks I could potentially roll that sum of money over multiple times, which is a better usage of the available funds. As long as we are aiming to make a 30% margin on each card, I'm happy to take the money and run!
So, what cards am I planning on buying? When buying cards for this challenge, I obviously need to take into account that I must buy cards for prices which are able to net profit after eBay fees. So in saying that, I need to be pretty selective about purchasing cards, as buying cards only slightly below market value won't push me any closer to that $2000 total!
What's also playing in the back of my mind, is that I think we can expect a new release from Select sooner rather than later. Once that eventually rolls around and there are new cards in circulation, trying to sell older cards on eBay is going to become increasingly hard. However, the period right before releases is usually presents great opportunities to buy, as collectors begin to list cards from there collection before they begin to focus on the 'shiny new product'. So trying to remain as liquid as possible to prepare for that impending moment is definitely an important factor!
So without further ado, let's dive into some of the cards I was able to pick up for my first week of 'Buy/Sell/Hold In Action'!
BUY'S!
1. Nick Daicos Rising Star Nominee 434/626 - $24 (eBay)
In 2023, you can't go wrong when it comes to buying undervalued Nick Daicos cards! It seems as though regardless of the cards numbering, there's an insatiable demand for Nick Daicos trading cards, and in particular his rookie cards! The fact this card popped up for only a few dollars more than the $15 it would've originally cost, alongside the fact it was the only single available on the market, made pulling the trigger on my first card extremely easy! If the 'Pies' were to beat Melbourne on King's Birthday, I expect that the Daicos hysteria will run rampant again and this card will be in demand and a quick flip!
2. Beau McCreery Futures 37/95, Optimum 2022 - $21 (Facebook)
Sticking with the Collingwood theme, or more so the theme of in-form teams, I saw this Beau McCreery Futures pop up on Facebook for what I initially thought was a reasonable price. And once I double checked the comparative prices on eBay and available supply, the asking price of my purchase was nearly 3 times cheaper than the cheapest listing on eBay! Annoyingly, McCreery was subbed out of Collingwood's win with injury this past weekend. But being a popular player in the Collingwood side, alongside people's interest in the Futures insert from Optimum 2022, I think this card definitely has flipping potential!
3. Bulk Lot: Sam Banks, Tom Brown & Josh Fahey Copper DPS, Tom Stewart Yellow Acid *LOW*, McDonagh Parallel *LOW* - $64 (Facebook)
Another way I try to maximise a deal when negotiating with a seller, is starting off with one card that I believe is undervalued, and building up the deal to benefit both parties.. Most of the time sellers are happy to add discounts when multiple cards are involved, so I just kept adding cards into the deal until it didn't make financial sense anymore. the deal started with the two Richmond Copper DPS's for $25 each, Trying to stick with bigger collector base teams, the Stewart and McDonagh cards will have appeal on the due to the fact they're both low numbered copies of their respective cards (002-009)!, To finish, the Josh Fahey DPS was $5 which even though is a GWS card, I back myself in to flip that card for profit.
NEAR MISSES!
Hopefully over the coming weeks we start to see a 'SELL' section of this article, however because I've only started buying for this series over the weekend, none of the bought cards are in hand yet! However, we did try to acquire some cards which was ultimately unsuccessful, but I think these near misses are just as important to document as it gives a bit of context as to where my thinking is currently at!
Jake Stringer Gold Showstopper 20/40, 2020 Prestige - $182 (auction price, eBay)
I had my eyes set on this Jake Stringer Gold Showstopper for a few days, but unfortunately got outbid in the last 30 seconds of the auction! So why did I bid on this card to begin with? As I've been banging on about all year, I think Essendon are going to discover some team success this season and feature in the 2023 finals series! They got an easy remaining fixture to finish the year, and Jake Stringer in particular, s the X-factor player who Bombers supporters gravitate towards, i.e. De Goey, Shai Bolton etc. Yes it would've been great to secure this card at auction, however I think my strategy of buying low-end cards to begin with provides better value for money as it currently stands. In order to sell this card for 30% profit, I'd have to achieve a sale of approx. $267 which may take more time to realise in comparison to my other pickups. Probably a good auction to miss in the end!
WEEKLY TOTALS!.
Link to spreadsheet -> https://bit.ly/BSHSpreadsheet
So there you have it! The first installment of 'Buy/Sell/Hold In Action' is now complete, with what I'd consider a promising start to the series. Be sure to let me know if you agree or disagree with my first few pickups! Hopefully now the monkey is off the back, the deals will start flowing, and we'll start to chip away at the $2000 mark!
If you're interested in following along, find below the spreadsheet where all transactions will be recorded!
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