Back to the Well—How to Use Sneaky Card 🧠 to Find Profitable Flips on CollX (Plus Hand-Picked Steals!)

Why reinvent the wheel when you have something that works? It's a process. Know the stuff, search for the stuff, repeat! 3 more tips to find deals on CollX...along with some hand-picked deals for you.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As I am a part of the eBay Partner Network and other programs, if you follow these links and make a purchase, I’ll receive commission (at no cost to you). I appreciate your support!

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.

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In the last “flips” newsletter I talked about “staying in your lane,” and then proceeded to hit you over the head with the metaphor.

I won’t take you down that road again (pun intended) but I do want to point out where driving that same route every single day helps it become second nature.

Meaning, when searching for cards to flip, sure, I’ll sometimes search for something I never searched before. But when that inspiration is on "E” I go back to my trusty Sneaky Card list and also sort through past sales to remind myself of what might be listed out there since the last time I checked.

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For anyone new here, I try to track most of these flips on my Purchases & Profit tracker. This, plus that Sneaky Card list can help give you some ideas on the types of cards you can search for the flip.

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In addition to the resources above, though, there are just some things I have engrained in my brain. I find myself doing these same things over and over again on CollX, and will continue to do so as long as they yield great results.

1. Routinely Check for the Same Underpriced, Yet Top-Selling Players

You’re probably sick of me talking about Tom Seaver, so I won’t use him here as an example of a player that is routinely underpriced :).

But seriously, even though I don’t have them all spelled out on the Sneaky Valuable card list, I’m routinely checking for players like:

• Rickey Henderson

• Barry Sanders

• Don Mattingly

• Barry Bonds

• George Brett

• Tony Gwynn

• Nolan Ryan

• Ben Wallace

• Bo Jackson

• Ryne Sandberg

• Barry Larkin

• Joe Mauer

• Chipper Jones

And many others!

Again, I love the 90s-early 00s, and find that I know these a lot better than most, so it’s an area I try to stay searching within. You might be different, with knowledge that gives you a leg up elsewhere, and that’s great!

Anyway, new cards are added to CollX every single day. I’m not saying I check for thee same players every day, but I do it regularly.

Saved searches help in this instance, of course, but I also like to utilize the “What I’m Collecting” feature:

Here you can select specific players, teams, etc. and then when you’re looking at a particular seller’s inventory, you can just click the “What I’m Collecting” button to filter the results to show you only those items.

This is really useful when looking to bundle items for a bigger deal (more on this below).

2. Routinely Check for the Same Underpriced, Yet Top-Selling SETS

This is where the Sneaky Valuable list comes in handy.

As talked about in last “CollX Tips” post, 2002 Donruss Originals “What If” may be the most underpriced set of ALL TIME (joking, of course, but perhaps at least in the history of this newsletter).

I bought this Rickey on COMC for $5.99 and quickly flipped it for $65 (and that’s only because I already found a deal for the one that sits in my PC! And side note, it’s now a $150+ card if you see it around).

I also flipped a Nolan Ryan from the same set for about $11 profit, and am waiting for a $2 purchase of a Dave Winfield and $5 purchase of a Barry Larkin—both of which should sell for at least $25 each, give or take.

Not to mention the sweet deal of the Barry Bonds I highlighted in that same newsletter, where one lucky subscriber snagged it for $27!

Again, just one set example. I’ve flipped 1997 Pinnacle Epix a few times (as have other subscribers that I’ve heard from), and the 1999 Topps MVP Promo has been a welcome surprise. Older Finest Xfractors, and believe it or not Fleer Brilliants seem to pop-up more than I would have ever thought they would.

So, save your searches, complete your “What I’m Collecting” list and check them often.

3. Follow Your Favorite Sellers (And Discover New Sellers Offering Discounts & Deals)

Last but not least, there are some sellers I revisit routinely. In fact, I think I have at least 10 purchases from one seller alone, and a handful of purchases from the same sellers.

So, a bit self-explanatory, but if you get a good deal from a seller, follow them.

The next step, though, is to discover new sellers—namely those who offer hefty discounts.

How? You can filter as such.

For example, this is a workflow I like to set up and explore:

• Search one of the player’s I mentioned above (i.e. Don Mattingly)

• Filter results by seller discount “Yes”

• Sort results by “Highest Price”

If a seller has a really nice $50 card but also offers a 25% discount on $50+ purchases, things get a lot more interesting.

As a real-life example, in the results, you can see this sweet 1993 Dominators Auto /5000 listed for $100, but the seller offers 20% on purchases of $50.

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Not saying this is a great deal - just an example - but since we are talking about it, this is the process I’d go through with this card:

What’s the lowest currently listed on eBay? $179.23 for a BGS 8. There aren’t any raw copies for sale. When I’m flipping, I want to be the only seller or the lowest-priced seller and still make a decent profit.

What’s the most recent comp (and how recent)? About $90 in mid-Feb. Of course, how does the last sale compare with the price you’re looking to buy at?

With this example, with the discount and shipping, you can get the card for $83. Based on the comps, I personally wouldn’t buy at that price for a flip, but it’s a good option for a Mattingly PC.

OR, make an offer!

You can still get the 20% discount as low as a $50 purchase, and not to mention the seller may have other items you can add to a deal.

Just go through their card listings, find a card you like and click “add to deal.” You’ll then be able to make an offer on the lot. For instance, This seller has a nice Ripken Platinum Anniversary Gold /50 for only $20 that you might want to add/offer on:

CollX Deals & Steals

Now, my favorite part of the program…let’s find some potential deals!

I find my fair share of cool and fun cards to flip, so what better way to get you started doing the same than putting all of the above in action and finding some real cards just sitting, waiting to be bought right now!

Are these the BEST deals? I’m sure there are far better, but this is also just me spending a few minutes following my own guidance.

Of course, this is not buying advice—please do your own research and make your own decisions! I’m trying to balance getting you good info with time to research, so do your due diligence.

Take a look at the cards below, and good luck! First, you’ll want to download the CollX App:

Once ready, check out the card, my reasoning, and the link to buy. Some are low-tier, low risk, others a bit more. Good luck!