I started raw/grade/flip this summer. I’m learning this lesson the way currently. Tried taking advantage of July PSA NFL special, bought as much of the “hot rookies” as I could. 20 cards graded, 60% gem rate. Didn’t get the cards back fast enough to sell into preseason hype… now I’m struggling to break even on some of the Tens, loosing money on the 9’s and raw grading rejects
Nice analysis, It looks like if you stayed with silver only you may have been better off? What if you did the analysis just on silvers? Interested to see.
Yeah that was actually a big lesson I learned last year too that I didn’t mention in this video. Silver prizm rookies are the way to go. Usually not much more expensive than other parallels raw but graded they tend to do 2x as much
@synergycards you would have thought that other rare parallels would be better... i guess with tha amount of parallels its hard to navigate the rareity. When in doubt buyers go with silver i guess. 🤷@@synergycards
RC speculation has always been a hit or miss. Maybe you hold them a year and see what happens which could be worse or sell now for a smaller loss. When I started back with collecting, stopped around 2000 and restarted just before pandemic, looking through what I had and it was funny seeing all the bigger RCs from the mid/late 90s that are now basic commons now.
Yeah things change really quickly in this hobby for sure. All things considered I’m glad I got out of these when I did because it at least gave me cash I could reinvest
Thanks for watching! Around 80% of the cards I buy online are gradeable. I did a video showing my guide to buying clean raw cards on eBay where I share my exact numbers.
Definitely. His values very well may go up this year. But even if that happens, I’d rather be able to take the cash now and move on to the next thing and then grade a bunch more fresh Wemby’s after the season if it makes sense. Just my personal strategy, there’s lots of viable options with Wemby. Thanks for watching!
You have to buy a card, wait for the player to become elite, THEN grade it. You decided to enter into a speculative market and then are shocked when it doesn't go your way. You may have lost $10 on the Mathurin card, but I feel that $10 is all it is worth.
In my opinion, my issue here was that I graded the cards too late. Every card/player mentioned in the video had earlier psa 10 sales that were profitable. To me, it doesn’t make sense in this day and age to buy a raw card of a new rookie/prospect and wait to grade it. Too many people are buying into prospects early which drives their prices way up in the beginning. If the player doesn’t pan out (which happens most of the time) you’re gonna lose money on the raw card and potentially lots of time too. I just personally don’t like holding on to raw or graded cards for very long (case in point from this video).
That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. There are lots of ways to enjoy this hobby and everyone has the choice whether they stay or leave. I made this video (and all my videos) to showcase what I’m learning about profiting in the hobby in hopes that the people who are interested can learn with me. If it’s not for you, that’s totally fine.
A couple issues I see here: 1. The basketball card market is full of the sneaker/flipper types. Not a lot of younger collectors. 2. The players you choose by and large are not very good, I see this same thing happen with the prospecting in baseball. Most people can’t figure out the two or three guys who are the best players. Not having the right players is the kiss of death at the end of the day. I do wish you the best of luck.
Yeah those are both good points. Point #2 is really the whole idea behind not holding new players into the season. Only a couple actually play well enough to justify their prices. All the cards/players I mentioned in the video had margins before the season started. The cards of theirs that I sold earlier were profitable. The biggest issue for me was the timing, and I made that worse on myself by holding out even longer on certain cards
@@synergycards yes, for sure. It’s a tough game, but it’s easier if those players were the top players, their prices wouldn’t fall so fast. And it’s tough because a lot of ppl are trying to do what you’re trying to do
Agreed. Paolo and Chet cards did fine for me into the season while the others plummeted. Tough game for sure. There’s lots of ways to lose money and much fewer ways to turn a profit. But it’s fun and it is a skill that can be refined and learned as time goes on.
For me personally, I’d rather just avoid the risk/speculation of holding players into the season. Some people do it successfully, but I’d just rather sell them off and move on to the next thing
I see ur buying expensive cards and player productions are not working out. I think Wemby is a hold. I would say stop trusting the .99 cent bidding process, you get screwed everytime. Set ur price and let the card seat, you will get it sold.
I actually didn’t auction any of these cards, they were all fixed price listings. If I were to hold a player, it would be Wemby. I just want to avoid the risk and grade lots more of his stuff next year again if it makes sense
@@synergycards we all take big losses in this hobby. Personally, I prefer selling a graded card with safe profit margins. Also, I only grade cards I pull and have trust issues buying raw cards off eBay. Keep the faith
Would love to hear your thoughts/experiences/questions about this topic!
I started raw/grade/flip this summer. I’m learning this lesson the way currently. Tried taking advantage of July PSA NFL special, bought as much of the “hot rookies” as I could. 20 cards graded, 60% gem rate. Didn’t get the cards back fast enough to sell into preseason hype… now I’m struggling to break even on some of the Tens, loosing money on the 9’s and raw grading rejects
Yeah definitely a tough way to learn, but it’s good to learn these lessons early and just keep iterating and improving your process. Best of luck!
Nice analysis, It looks like if you stayed with silver only you may have been better off? What if you did the analysis just on silvers? Interested to see.
Yeah that was actually a big lesson I learned last year too that I didn’t mention in this video. Silver prizm rookies are the way to go. Usually not much more expensive than other parallels raw but graded they tend to do 2x as much
@synergycards you would have thought that other rare parallels would be better... i guess with tha amount of parallels its hard to navigate the rareity. When in doubt buyers go with silver i guess. 🤷@@synergycards
Yeah I guess the appeal is just higher for the collector/investor
RC speculation has always been a hit or miss. Maybe you hold them a year and see what happens which could be worse or sell now for a smaller loss. When I started back with collecting, stopped around 2000 and restarted just before pandemic, looking through what I had and it was funny seeing all the bigger RCs from the mid/late 90s that are now basic commons now.
Yeah things change really quickly in this hobby for sure. All things considered I’m glad I got out of these when I did because it at least gave me cash I could reinvest
@@synergycards Wish I could do the same with all the Antonio Walker, Shariff Rahim, Penny Hardaway, Keith Vanhorn RCs I found.
I like the content bro! Question I wonder is how often are the cards you buy off eBay grade able for you?
Thanks for watching! Around 80% of the cards I buy online are gradeable. I did a video showing my guide to buying clean raw cards on eBay where I share my exact numbers.
Tell people about write offs in taxes in card collecting. 😮
I’m definitely not an expert in that area
What is the website you are using to keep track of the cards/prices etc.?
www.synergycards.app. I made it to track my profits and anyone else can use it too
How did you create your spreadsheet?
I use a website I made. I’m currently adding some more features and it’s free to use for now. www.synergycards.app
Idk about getting rid of wemby. He's not the other guys.
Definitely. His values very well may go up this year. But even if that happens, I’d rather be able to take the cash now and move on to the next thing and then grade a bunch more fresh Wemby’s after the season if it makes sense. Just my personal strategy, there’s lots of viable options with Wemby. Thanks for watching!
I m new to the hobby but also maybe even sell the rookie before the next draft
Yeah that’s not a bad idea in a lot of cases.
You have to buy a card, wait for the player to become elite, THEN grade it. You decided to enter into a speculative market and then are shocked when it doesn't go your way. You may have lost $10 on the Mathurin card, but I feel that $10 is all it is worth.
In my opinion, my issue here was that I graded the cards too late. Every card/player mentioned in the video had earlier psa 10 sales that were profitable. To me, it doesn’t make sense in this day and age to buy a raw card of a new rookie/prospect and wait to grade it. Too many people are buying into prospects early which drives their prices way up in the beginning. If the player doesn’t pan out (which happens most of the time) you’re gonna lose money on the raw card and potentially lots of time too. I just personally don’t like holding on to raw or graded cards for very long (case in point from this video).
@@synergycards You are engaging in the card version of day trading. It is yet another example of why people are exiting the hobby.
That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. There are lots of ways to enjoy this hobby and everyone has the choice whether they stay or leave. I made this video (and all my videos) to showcase what I’m learning about profiting in the hobby in hopes that the people who are interested can learn with me. If it’s not for you, that’s totally fine.
Cool app is this just some free excel app or does it pull sales off other platforms like eBay ?
Thanks! It’s just a data entry/reporting app I made to track profits. I’ve been working on more features as well.
A couple issues I see here:
1. The basketball card market is full of the sneaker/flipper types. Not a lot of younger collectors.
2. The players you choose by and large are not very good, I see this same thing happen with the prospecting in baseball. Most people can’t figure out the two or three guys who are the best players. Not having the right players is the kiss of death at the end of the day.
I do wish you the best of luck.
Yeah those are both good points. Point #2 is really the whole idea behind not holding new players into the season. Only a couple actually play well enough to justify their prices. All the cards/players I mentioned in the video had margins before the season started. The cards of theirs that I sold earlier were profitable. The biggest issue for me was the timing, and I made that worse on myself by holding out even longer on certain cards
@@synergycards yes, for sure. It’s a tough game, but it’s easier if those players were the top players, their prices wouldn’t fall so fast. And it’s tough because a lot of ppl are trying to do what you’re trying to do
Agreed. Paolo and Chet cards did fine for me into the season while the others plummeted. Tough game for sure. There’s lots of ways to lose money and much fewer ways to turn a profit. But it’s fun and it is a skill that can be refined and learned as time goes on.
@@synergycards it can, best of luck
Thanks! I appreciate the comments
well im repeating this mistake already. What about rookies who didnt really pop their rookie year but should make an impact in year 2?
For me personally, I’d rather just avoid the risk/speculation of holding players into the season. Some people do it successfully, but I’d just rather sell them off and move on to the next thing
I see ur buying expensive cards and player productions are not working out. I think Wemby is a hold. I would say stop trusting the .99 cent bidding process, you get screwed everytime. Set ur price and let the card seat, you will get it sold.
I actually didn’t auction any of these cards, they were all fixed price listings. If I were to hold a player, it would be Wemby. I just want to avoid the risk and grade lots more of his stuff next year again if it makes sense
@@synergycards we all take big losses in this hobby. Personally, I prefer selling a graded card with safe profit margins. Also, I only grade cards I pull and have trust issues buying raw cards off eBay. Keep the faith
Yeah I don’t rip wax much so most of the stuff I grade is singles I buy online, but yeah definitely a lot of damaged cards on eBay