Friday, January 13, 2012

I Sold My First Card On eBay! Victor Cruz Salsa Danced Some Cheddar Into My Wallet!

I had always been interested in flipping a card or cards on the Bay, but I was too lazy. Hell, I had this particular card that I finally ended up selling almost listed, but was too lazy to have eBay call me. Anyhoo, after finally going through with it I couldn't be happier with the results. Here's the card I listed and sold, and the only time I plugged it on the blog:


One of the hottest names in the hobby, mister salsa dancer himself, Victor Cruz. I grabbed this from my LCS's eBay store sometime early-ish in 2011, for just 99 cents. I only bought it because it was a buck, and I knew as a Giant Cruz carried inherent value, though I knew nothing of him at the time. I'm sure I figured I'd end up trading it to B.A. Benny, but once Cruz started putting up huge numbers I felt it was appropriate to flip the card and make a profit of some kind.

After finally getting the card listed after Cruz's three-catch, 164-yard game on December 24th that included a 99-yard touchdown reception, I chose a seven-day auction with no reserve and a buy-it-now option of $30. Shipping was set at two dollars and fifty cents, and I must say thanks to the owner of my LCS for the advice about listing items and his strategy to maximize profit.

Within a day of the listing going up around 1 a.m. Christmas morning, the card had four bids and was at $15.50. I was ecstatic, needless to say. A couple days passed and four more bids led to a whopping $32+ on the Cruz and my jumping for joy as there remained about four days left on the auction. A day later, however, and the high-bid had reverted back to the fifteen dollar mark as a bidder cancelled their bid because they had entered the wrong amount. I wasn't very pleased, as you might imagine.

The auction remained at a standstill until the final day. It was also right before this that I realized the Cruz would end in the wee hours of New Years Day, before the Giants-Cowboys game. This was a mistake on my part, but you live and learn.

The Cruz ended up jumping back into the low $30 range, and finally closed at $32.23, for a grand total of $34.73 after shipping. Once fees were deducted, I scored $33.42, a nice chunk of change my PayPal account is happy to see. Removing my original investment in the card, I profited $31.43.

All-in-all, I'm thrilled with my first experience as a seller on eBay, and I know I'll partake in it again at some point. I've already spent most of the proceeds from this sale, with the rest ticketed to cover part of a card I need to pay for. I'll post on those when they hit my mailbox.

12 comments:

  1. Not a bad little profit at all, congrats!

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  2. Good to hear. This post actually makes me want to get off my butt and start listing some of my stuff. I've never done it before and have always been worried about the negative effect of having next to no feedback (I'm talking blue star range).

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  3. Good Stuff Greg. I love putting up cards of players that have big games and making money.

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  4. Very nice. I did something similar with a boxed set. I bought a set of 2000 Bowman Draft Picks (the one with one auto included) for like $6 last year. The auto I pulled was Grady Sizemore with the Expos that "booked" for $250. I still have it and am hoping for a bounceback season, but even without it I could probably get $50 out of it right now.

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  5. dude - nice haul. i hear thats how donald trump got started. lol

    congrats to you pulling the trigger and hitting bulls-eye.

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  6. Say what you will about ebay, it still is the place to sell. I started selling on there a few years ago and found that using the Ebay shipping is the way to go to. You actually save money. For up to 3 ounces it will cost you $1.71 to ship a non machinable package or thick envelope. That includes tracking! If you took it to the Post office it would be $1.75 for the postage alone and another 80 cents for tracking. And if your going to sell more I recommend buying bubble mailers in bulk. There are some great deals on Amazon and with free shipping to boot. You can get your bubble mailer costs down to 15 to 20 cents a piece. Just some advice. I think the thing that kept be from selling sooner than I did was the fear of not knowing how much to charge for shipping so I didn't get screwed and I didn't over charge. It's a great way to get rid of some unwanted cards and help support you hobby. Cheers Oh and I still have some cards I set aside for you a while back, I'll send you an email later if your still interested in a trade.

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  7. That's awesome! Well done. Can't wait to see which Russell Martins you bought with your haul!

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  8. Very cool. Free money in our hobby is killer. Well done sir.

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  9. Dennis- Thanks!

    Paul- Haha, you must give it a shot!

    Jesse- Thanks! And yeah, Cruz had so many big games haha, thankfully.

    Johnny- Nice, good luck with the Grady!

    Stealing Home- Thanks man!

    Mark- Appreciate the tips! And yes, I'm still down to trade.

    A.J.- Gracias! And shockingly, they weren't Russ Martins.

    GMo- Can't go wrong with free money ever.

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