The Numbers: August 14-20, 2022

My numbers are skewed this week because of three sales which totaled over $1000. I have had enough slow days with one or two sales and few offers over the last few weeks that I know a slow week is a possibility, maybe even a likelihood. I haven’t been listing much either. The weather has been too nice to spend much time listing. I go through my auctions listings to find new inventory to buy, I ship out new orders and I sort my week’s purchases — a small handful will (eventually) get listed in my store and the rest I send out to sell on consignment. It’s a nice life.

I’m sure I will have a slow eBay week soon if I don’t start listing more, and there is so much to list. But there will be plenty of time for that when the weather is cooler. It’s nice to have some extra money in the meantime.

8/14/2022 – 8/20/2022

Total items in store: 1358 (down from 1381 last week)

Items sold: 39 (30 via best offer, 1 via seller initiated offer, 18 via promoted listings)

Gross sales: $3151.47 (down 11% from one year ago)

Net sales: $2193.33 (down 10% from one year ago)

Average sales price: $80.81 (up 81% from one year ago)

Time spent searching through online auction listings for new trading cards inventory: 14 hours (up from 13 hours last week)

Highest price sold (net): $357.21 — Derwin James Panini Select green prizm auto patch rookie #1/2

I stocked up on Derwin James cards a few years ago when he suffered a season-ending injury in his second season. I didn’t really plan it that way (I rarely do), but came across listings for a few of his rarer cards and then did some research. He had been a top draft pick and the consensus was that he would be one of the best defensive safeties in football if the injury didn’t linger. Last week, James signed a record contract for a safety after a very successful 2021 season. So my hunch paid off.

The buyer also bought the same autographed green prizm patch card, #2 of 2, from me in the same order. The total sale was over $900.

These are two of the best James rookie cards available from this particular popular set because of the rarity and features of the cards. So I understand why the buyer paid up for these cards. Plus now they have a unique matching set. It’s a smart investment if you understand the card collecting world. The buyer told me they plan to grade the cards and they think James is going to win DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year). So they are following their own hunches. Just from more of a gambler’s life than a scavenger’s.

I have a few more rare James cards which I’m sure will sell in the coming weeks as the new season starts. Then it’s on to the next buy low, sell high players.

I made more money selling these two cards than I made in a week at my last day job. I try to stop and appreciate that as much as I possibly can.

Lowest price sold (net): $12.12 — Jimmy Howard 2004-05 SP Authentic Rookie Redemption #307/399

This is a much more common type of sale for me, especially in the last few months. I bought a lot containing a large quantity of this serial numbered rookie card of Jimmy Howard, longtime hockey goalie for the Detroit Red Wings. I think I paid maybe $50 for a lot of 25 or so?

I looked up the listing that I purchased in the process of writing this post — I actually paid $27 for a lot of 16 of these Jimmy Howard rookie cards. What a bargain!

There are a few large sellers who sell these bulk lots of the same card or same set. I assume part of their trading card enterprise is submitting cards in bulk for grading, and these bulk lots are rejects from that process. Every card has little flaws to its corners, edges or surfaces except for the select few PSA 10’s and much more common 9’s. You don’t want to submit a modern card which will grade an 8 or lower (though it happens) since those really don’t add any value to the card, and grading is not cheap.

But not every collector wants or needs a perfect card or a graded card. Sometimes they just want one nice rookie of the goaltender for their hometown hockey team. So I list these cards individually in my eBay store and I send them to consignment. I get my $10 to $15, they get their card, and I list the same Howard card with a different serial number as part of my listing process this week. Everyone wins.