Frustration with Purchasing

[xzebra]

Ok so I am starting to get irritated.
How the heck do you get good cards?
I have spent over $200 on cards in the last two weeks with nothing but garbage. NFL Select, Mosaic and Prizm.

Gave my son $50 tonight to go to a card shop tonight with a friend and crap again. What am I doing wrong?...My wife is not happy with me!
Loved getting back into this hobby, but am about ready to leave already. Simply cannot afford the inflated card prices with no pulls.

 

[Steelers8873]

Hello and sorry to hear about the bad luck with box prices soaring you will seldom get your monies worth out of a box. Your best bet are to buy small lots or single cards of the players/brands that you will like you will be happier over the long run.

 

[AndyDrummond]

I agree with @Steelers8873. I buy boxes to rip got the sets I want to complete, but you can’t count on “hits” to break even. Spend the extra dollars you have on the lottery ticket boxes and invest the majority of your budget in the cards you really want.

I would also say now that you have cards you’re not really in to, decide where you want your collection to go. Are you going for a player, team, sets, etc…. Once you know that, post up a trade list. Nothing better than going to the mailbox when you’ve sent out some stuff you didn’t want and opening a package with a card of your favorite player.

 

[xzebra]

I agree with @Steelers8873. I buy boxes to rip got the sets I want to complete, but you can’t count on “hits” to break even. Spend the extra dollars you have on the lottery ticket boxes and invest the majority of your budget in the cards you really want.

I would also say now that you have cards you’re not really in to, decide where you want your collection to go. Are you going for a player, team, sets, etc…. Once you know that, post up a trade list. Nothing better than going to the mailbox when you’ve sent out some stuff you didn’t want and opening a package with a card of your favorite player.

Thank you for your time and response. What is a lottery ticket box and where would I purchase?

It is just not fun when doing this with my son as he gets disappointed and I want to keep him in the hobby because he was having fun at first. It is almost like kids cannot afford to have fun with it like when I was younger.

 

[xzebra]

Hello and sorry to hear about the bad luck with box prices soaring you will seldom get your monies worth out of a box. Your best bet are to buy small lots or single cards of the players/brands that you will like you will be happier over the long run.

Thanks a lot for your feedback. Where can I purchase small lots?

 

[Steelers8873]

@xzebra -A good spot to look would be sportlots at their auctions people sell lots on there all the time although it's auction you will find you can score some really nice lots for cheap a lot of stuff you may want will have few bidders I get nice lots from there often or if you want to buy lots you could start here and either watch for people to be selling cards/lots which is all the time or start your on thread asking for lots and what you would like to have in them some people will be more than happy to put a lot together for you. Other placxes would be other trading sites or social media but be very cautious if you go the social media route there are a lot of dishonest people that have bad intentions.

 

[grapler135s]

Also please feel free to post on this site if you are looking for any particular cards, players, teams, sets, etc. as there are a lot of great members that might be able to put together little lots for you here on SCC.

 

[AndyDrummond]

Thank you for your time and response. What is a lottery ticket box and where would I purchase?

It is just not fun when doing this with my son as he gets disappointed and I want to keep him in the hobby because he was having fun at first. It is almost like kids cannot afford to have fun with it like when I was younger.

I hear you…the boxes are always tough for good hits, that’s why I call it the lottery. I will say that if you buy hobby instead of retail you can get boxes with the guaranteed hits, but they are generally more expensive and you still run the risk of getting the less desirable autographs. I always go into opening boxes with low expectations, but that is tough when you’re a kid for sure.

 

[darkman]

Ok so I am starting to get irritated.
How the heck do you get good cards?
I have spent over $200 on cards in the last two weeks with nothing but garbage. NFL Select, Mosaic and Prizm.

Gave my son $50 tonight to go to a card shop tonight with a friend and crap again. What am I doing wrong?...My wife is not happy with me!
Loved getting back into this hobby, but am about ready to leave already. Simply cannot afford the inflated card prices with no pulls.

I know the frustrations sometimes, when the boxes just don't seem to yield the nice things that one would hope for, but I have learned to alter my focus when that happens. I start to look for the notable players (even base and mass insert sets) and see if there are player collection or trading opportunities.

You might be able to start getting a greater happiness level, if you post some of the individual star (or even semistar) pulls, and I (and maybe others) could offer some trades. At least that would be something for your time and money.

 

[northicehero99]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with packs, but we all go through that, it is the downside of buying packs or boxes. As others have said, go through what you got and see if you have any good trade-bait to get something you want. There are lots of pro and college player collectors, so just because you don't like a player someone else out there might. Not sure what you bought, but sometimes you have to watch what store you are buying from as well. I had a store that was notorious for telling me I could not pick packs, but another collector I knew was always in that store and able to pick packs. This person was a good pack picker as he always cleaned out the boxes, needless to say, I stopped shopping at that store. The other thing is you never know what is left in open boxes, when buying packs, someone may have come in before you and pulled all the good stuff, that is the risk of buying from open boxes. I usually buy full boxes, but even that, does not guarantee you a great hit. Anyway, don't give up and good luck with your next purchases.

 

[kpit1978]

Like any form of gambling only play with money you can afford to lose. Breaking boxes can be very addictive. Something like a spot in a monthly break, if there's a team available that you like, can be a good way to get back into the hobby. You know your cost and can budget accordingly plus you get a chance in multiple boxes some of which may be pricier than anything you could afford on your own (without getting in hot water). There's still no guarantees of course but over time you're going to see get your share of the hits. I've recently gotten my 9 year old involved in a few breaks and he gets a thrill out of it when he hears his name called...and then drives me nuts asking about when the card(s) are going to arrive.

 

[kpit1978]

Not sure if baseball interests you at all but at the moment $35 gives you one of four available teams and you get all the cards pulled for your team from the boxes listed below:

Option 2 (15 Hits): 13 votes
2022 Topps Five Star Hobby (2 Autos)
2022 Topps Stadium Club Hobby (2 Autos)
2022 Panini Capstone Hobby (2 Autos AND 2 Relics)
2022 Topps Series 2 Hobby (1 Auto OR 1 Relic)
2021 Bowman Sterling Hobby (5 Autos)
2021 Topps Gold Label Hobby (1 Auto)

Now the teams available may not appeal to you but as part of the break any teams that open up are offered to break participants first (random draw if there is multiple parties interested). I started out with the Rangers but eventually teams like the Yankees, Orioles and Tigers became available. On top of that Mike has monthly free box breaks for being involved in breaks or trades. He's also doing things like our recent NFL weekly pick the winners and Super Bowl Square contest. All in all he's way too nice to us and it makes me suspicious but I haven't been able to figure out his evil plan...yet.

 

[K.C._Royals!]

Thanks a lot for your feedback. Where can I purchase small lots?

I recommend sportlots.com or comc.com --- I use (and love) both.
...and then there's eBay, of course.