$100 Profit + $50 Profit + $13 Profit—3 Flips & Tips to Learn From (One Was a 1st Bowman!)
I talk about different card-flipping strategies because I like to use different card-flipping strategies. Here are 3 recent flips—high, medium and low, with different types of cards/strategies.
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Disclosure: I also work closely with CollX, and this content may be disseminated via the CollX app at some point. That said, all opinions, examples, experiences are entirely my own, and not shaped by any third party input or guidance.
This is not buying or investment advice. I’m simply reporting the data I’m seeing. Please do your own research and make your own decisions. Just because cards have increased in value up to this point, it doesn’t mean they will continue to do so.
I talk about a few different types of card-flipping strategies because I like to use different card-flipping strategies.
Really, no matter what you’re doing, I think it’s good to diversify—and I don’t mean swerving completely out of your lane 😜.
Seasons come and go, hype rises and falls. Different platforms get saturated, others shutter altogether. Having different processes and revenue streams help keep things moving.
So, here are 3 recent flips - high, medium and low value - involving different types of cards and strategies.
1. Chandler Simpson 2022 Bowman Auto Refractor, $33 Buy → $100 Sale → $55 Profit
A little sub-lesson here that isn’t directly tied to this sale, but a nice point you might want to run with.
A while back I made a TikTok video urging eBay sellers to not just use “autograph” in their listings, but “auto” instead. I was told by quite a few people that it didn’t make a difference, only for me to use two seconds to show them otherwise.
To prove my point again, if you look at eBay right this second and search “drake baldwin bowman chrome autograph” (sorted by ending soonest) the first listing with “autograph” and not “auto” is this one—$40 with 2 days, 13 hours left.
Also note the listing underneath it that includes both “auto” and “autograph.”
Now, do a similar search but instead it’s “drake baldwin bowman chrome auto.”
Where is the listing that only has “autograph” and not auto? (Hint: it’s not there).
So if you’re a seller and not using “auto” in your title, you risk missing out on a lot of eyeballs, bids, and sales.
Anyway, at that time I bought a handful of cards searching for listings that had “autograph” in the title but not “auto.”
My goal was to show the deals you could find with this process:
9/16 Chandler Simpson 2022 Bowman Chrome Auto Refractor for $33.44 shipped
9/16 Kevin Alcantara 2024 Bowman Scouts 100 Auto /50 PSA 9 for $18.84 shipped
9/16 Pete Alonso Topps Now Auto /49 for $48.97 shipped
9/15 Zac Veen 2020 Bowman Chrome Auto for $27.24 shipped
9/15 Michael Vick 2023 Topps Composite Auto /25 for $48.33 shipped
9/15 Hunter Goodman 2024 Topps 1989 Red Auto /25 for $16.09 shipped
9/15 Jordy Nelson 2008 Leaf Rookies Freshman Jsy Auto /10 for $50.73 shipped
9/15 Rosman Verdugo 2022 Bowman Chrome Auto /150 PSA 9 for $13.67 shipped
9/15 Walker Jenkins 2024 Bowman Chrome Prospect Auto for $113.32 shipped
I won’t go through them all, but the Simpson was probably a $10 discount at the time, and the Walker Jenkins was a definite steal.
Some of the others like the Alcantara, Verdugo, and Veen I’m holding for now.
I did end up selling a few of them fairly quickly after I bought them, though, to try and cement the point. Here is how that worked out:
Vick sold for $65.84 before fees, so a little more than the $48.33 shipped I paid
Jordy Nelson sold for $95.06 before fees 5 days after I bought for $50.73 shipped
Alonso sold for $93.96 before fees a couple weeks after I boight for $48.97 shipped
Altogether, not bad. Again, not a perfect experiment by any means given there are so many variables that could impact the final sale price on both ends. (For instance, the Alonso was in the midst of the Mets’ playoff run).
But still, my gut feels like there is something there.
After fees, the resulting profits:
Vick -$3.66
Alonso +$27.76
Nelson +21.84
Anyway, a bit of a tangent.
With Chandler Simpson’s surge, I recently listed that Bowman Chrome Refractor auto I bought for $33, and I accepted a best offer of $100. I’m happy with that amount given the card had some surface scratches.
And let’s also remind ourselves…this is $100 for a player who has yet to play in the bigs. Yes there is a lot of hype, but is his 1st Bowman Chrome Refractor Auto a $100 card? He wasn’t named a Top 100 prospect; just missed.
Here are a few of the players near the top of that Top 100 list, and where their 1st Bowman Chrome Refractor auto has recently sold:
#36 Chase DeLauter $114
#37 Emmanuel Rodriguez $111
#39 Colson Montgomery $76
#40 Josue De Paula $100
2. Shaq 2004-05 Upper Deck Flight Team Rainbow, $9 Buy → $150 Sale → $108 Profit
Know and seek. I’ve talked about this strategy many times before, and with this flip, I’ll say it again.
I saw this Shaq get listed on COMC and even though the price seemed a bit much on the surface, it had a few watchers. I had never seen the set/parallel before so I did some digging.
Guess where I looked? CollX! Guess what I found? That exact card, Shaq and all. Guess how much I paid? $8.75!
The condition wasn’t great, but no complaints.
I listed it for around $500 and didn’t get much action, so ended up lowering the price and lowering the price until offers started coming in. I got one for $150 and was happy with the sale.
Side note—I love parallels like this because they are super easy to spot from the front of the card. Sometimes on CollX it’s tough to tell just what version of a card is actually being sold because the seller only uploads the front of the card. Think Circa Rave and even refractors at times, depending on the photo.
But with these, you can tell just by the background color. Blue is base, red is the rainbow.
Anyway, if you haven’t already, I encourage you to look at the Sneaky Valuable Card list and my past sales sheet in order to see what types of cards might be out there for you to swipe.
3. Jay Buhner 2005 Topps Fan Favorites Refractor /299, $3 Buy → $19.99 Sale → $13.42 Profit
And then of course, one “back to the well” example, and I’m predicting 2005 Topps Fan Favorites Refractors /299 will become some of my favorite cards to rinse and repeat with. I’ve only had a couple, but they are out there and routinely underpriced.
Bought this Buhner for $3 on CollX, sold it quickly on eBay for $19.99:
If you can find a star for cheap, you’re sitting pretty, but even lesser-known names sell well (if you’re buying the card for $3-$5).
Other sets I love to check for right now:
2002 Donruss Orginials What If
1999 Topps MVP Promotion
Topps Chrome Black Refractors
Anyway, that’s all for today—Did you learn something? Anything inspire you to find a flip? Good luck!