Hockey Cards - Part III

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

the only person that ever mentions "influencers" in this thread like they actually matter is you

Im not the one posting youtube videos of current crap being pulled.

when you decide to yell at the clouds and consistently claim that you keep selling cards at the top of the market

Thats not true.

Got rid of a BC Trout auto for 25 bucks, dumped all my Mahomes rookies before his stuff blew up and sold Tom Brady rookies for 10 cents each chasing Urlacher.

I Own every bad deal just as much as every good. Its just my good deals are very, very good. (Thumbs)

 

[shakes the clown]

Im not the one posting youtube videos of current crap being pulled.

Thats not true.

Got rid of a BC Trout auto for 25 bucks, dumped all my Mahomes rookies before his stuff blew up and sold Tom Brady rookies for 10 cents each chasing Urlacher.

I Own every bad deal just as much as every good. Its just my good deals are very, very good. (Thumbs)

My worst deal ever was when I traded a 1976 Topps Hank Aaron for a Charms blow-pop to some older kid in my neighbor's garage. I was 6 at the time, but when I told my dad about it he gave me an earful that lasted about 20-30 years

 

[waffledave]

Finally completed the collection I was working on.

 

[Dr Pepper]

My worst deal ever was when I traded a 1976 Topps Hank Aaron for a Charms blow-pop to some older kid in my neighbor's garage. I was 6 at the time, but when I told my dad about it he gave me an earful that lasted about 20-30 years

 

[shakes the clown]

lol if I took my dad's Mantle rookie and traded it for anything I wouldn't be here today to tell the story. And that goes for the Topps or the Bowman.

 

[Satan]

had a small psa order pop today (17 cards)- 70% gem rate.

here are some highlights

 

[dr robbie]

I went down a youtube rabbit hole and ended up watching some videos of hockey card box breaks. I don't know - it was kind of fun seeing the excitement/disappointment of the person opening them and the pulls.

Either way, I noticed a couple of things. It seems like a modern box of hockey cards has a certain number of "hits" per box. Another thing is that the openers seemed to know if there was a good chance at a good card by the thickness of the pack (guessing thicker cards are more likely to have additional things like jersey pieces, etc.).

What's stopping people from buying boxes and only opening the thick packs and selling the rest? Or, lets say you have a box that has 1 hit per box and get that hit on your first pack. Couldn't the seller just sell the rest of the packs knowing they are duds compared to what was already opened? Or do people not buy individual packs anymore and just boxes? As a kid, we only bought packs, so maybe that's the difference now-a-days.

 

[Kcb12345]

Or, lets say you have a box that has 1 hit per box and get that hit on your first pack. Couldn't the seller just sell the rest of the packs knowing they are duds compared to what was already opened? Or do people not buy individual packs anymore and just boxes? As a kid, we only bought packs, so maybe that's the difference now-a-days.

Yes indeed. Some packs do have "filler" cards in them though to make their appearance thicker so you can't tell, but I'm sure people have all sorts of ways of getting around that.

I also know people have figured out at times which box in the case or which row will have the hit, or which stack of packs in the box the hit will be in. Stuff like that seems common

Don't see many people buy individual packs anymore though. You can just do the same with boxes however

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

The pump in prices over the last few years is based on non-hockey collectors moving to hockey as a substitute product during the pandemic because McDavid, Ovechkin, etc cost a fraction of the equivalents in popular sports - and people thinking there is some level of "profit" to be made via collecting.

The reality is that speculating on cards is a form of sports gambling, but probably worse, especially for newer collectors who don't understand that patterns and peaks that certain cards take, who also don't have the historical knowledge of the hobby to understand context.

I could be wrong, but I think prices for most modern stuff will crater because there is not a finite supply of people to pump this stuff up. Most of the sustained increase in value can be boiled down to inflation. It's a mirage.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the normalization of sports gambling hurts the hobby long term. The way sports cards are marketed is a proxy for gambling. It's astounding to me that they never faced any regulations beyond no purchase necessary rules. Most people who open these boxes aren't interested in sports cards, they are interested in the thrill. Sports gambling is now pushed harder and is more accessible.

 

[Hunter368]

Best company to rate/grade cards at a reasonable price in Canada?

Best way to then sell a card that’s been graded? I have a Wayne rookie card

 

[Satan]

Best company to rate/grade cards at a reasonable price in Canada?

Best way to then sell a card that’s been graded? I have a Wayne rookie card

Since you're talking about selling... Step 1 is don't bother grading a Gretzky rookie with any of the canadian grading companies, unless you know it's going to grade out at a 1. The return on investment just isn't there. (Well actually Step 1 is make sure your Gretzky rookie is authentic lmao)

Use the PSA website to find group submitters since you're only looking to submit 1 card. There's a few reputable PSA group submitters that could grade your Gretzky.. depending on condition it'll probably cost $60-110 CAD to grade. Yes these costs are more expensive than KSA/MNT but you don't want to cheap out on grading it if you are looking to sell. The guy who runs "PSA Canada" is a great guy- based out of Nova Scotia. I used to submit through him until I started sending stuff to PSA myself.

As for selling, there are a ton of Facebook groups with hockey card collectors within Canada where you could sell it yourself. I can PM you some suggestions. Most people are going to offer you anywhere between 60-85% of eBay comps though so it might end up being a slog... but that's not to say that you won't be able to sell closer to eBay comps on Facebook.

If you go the eBay route and have low feedback (or a brand new account) it could deter potential buyers. If you just want to make money fast, you could also send it to a consigner that sell on eBay (there's a few within Canada) and they'll auction it off for you and pay out like 80-85%.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

Best company to rate/grade cards at a reasonable price in Canada?

Best way to then sell a card that’s been graded? I have a Wayne rookie card

When you grade a card, you become a stakeholder in the perception of the grading company.

The Canadian grading companies are a waste of money because nobody in the hobby values them. Adding an MNT or KSA holder to your card generally does not add value compared to the cost. To verify this, go to eBay and type in the term "MNT 9.5" young guns. You can verify that MNT 9.5's generally sell at the same price as raw Young Guns, but then deduct the grading costs that the owner originally paid, and the card was actually devalued.

For vintage (Gretzky), PSA is the flagship. If you are grading it to sell, find the most economical way possible to get it into a PSA holder.

For modern hockey like Young Guns, BGS has been the flagship for many years. PSA is becoming more acceptable because of numerous factors. I think part of it was the speculators coming in from other sports during the pandemic. Other sports view PSA as the flagship grading company.

I also think that a lot of novice collectors don't look at grading rationally. They view it similarly to opening boxes. It's gambling. They don't own a loupe, they don't pre-grade their cards, look at comparable sale prices, and then make a calculated decision about what they should send in and whether the odds of a higher grade justify the submission price. Go to a site like Reddit that is loaded with novice collectors and see every "should i grade this guys?" post. For these people, PSA is the better value proposition because the bar for a PSA 9 or 10 is lower than the bar for a Beckett 9.5 or 10. So if they send things in blindly, not only is it cheaper per card, but the outcome is more exciting.

The best way to sell a graded card is through whatever marketplace offers you the most customers and the best rate. eBay is still the top market place for cards, unless you get lucky with a local sale that has no fees. If you list locally, odds are you will get lowball offers from resellers. I am not familiar with the cosigners who operate on eBay and who is trust worthy or easy to deal with, but they do advertise fee rates that are lower than what you would typically pay on eBay. I would not sell a four or five figure card on eBay on your own if you aren't experienced with the platform.

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

With a Gretzky, PSA is the way to go.

If you can't afford it, SGC before they up their pricing now that PSA owns them. SGC has a strong history in vintage and for awhile was the go to grader for vintage.