Have You Ever Flipped a Card for $100 Profit? If Not, Read This.

A $100-profit sports card flip can be elusive. Instead of chasing it and not ever finding it (or chasing it and making a bad buy), here is a strategy you can try instead.

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’m also working 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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With the growing Ballcard Genius communities here and on TikTok, I’ve gotten a ton of questions about how to simply get started in flipping sports cards—I love it!

Sometimes though, I feel like my typical response is a bit of a letdown…

I don’t have a secret formula to predicting the next top prospect, or knowing exactly which card to buy (or the perfect time to sell). Instead, it’s usually just about starting small, or just getting started in general instead of trying to be perfect about it.

See, I come from an SEO, content, and site analytics background in my other (personal non-card life), and there is in fact such a thing as analysis paralysis (or, spending too much time thinking/researching and zero time doing).

In the card world, I see the same thing with people trying to figure out how to make hundreds on a single card buy. And it’s an easy place to get stuck—the perfect flip, or the card that will double or triple in value overnight won’t just jump into your lap.

Sure, of course you can get in early on a prospect who you believe in and hope they pan out. And if that prospect happened to be Bryce Eldridge, Konnor Griffin, or Jac Caglianone, you’re looking pretty good right now.

But the reality is, payoff usually takes time, and there’s always risk involved. You either have to buy a $1 card and sell it for $100 after fees - which is rare - or a $50 card that sells for $150 after fees, a $200 card that sells for $300 after fees, and so on.

Thankfully, it’s not the only way to profit $100 in cards. It’s one way, but it’s not the only way.

There are two other processes I’d like to highlight in my next few posts, with this being the first.

1. Over the past few days I sold 6 cards for about $100 profit

Here are the six cards that brought in $99.26 in profit:

1. Brevin Knight 1997 Skybox Premium Autographics Century /100 Auto +$29.50

2. Darryl Strawberry 1997 Topps Chrome Baseball Refractor +$23

3. Rickey Henderson 1995 Collector's Choice SE Gold Signature +$15.64

4. Barry Larkin 2002 Donruss Originals What If 1986 Rated Rookie +$17.03

5. Scott Rolen 2001 Topps Gold +$6.24

6. Jason Kendall 2000 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory #83 Red /100 +$6.96

Why These Cards?

You’ve heard it before:

• All retired players, nothing flashy.

• Players I routinely like to flip (Rickey Henderson)

• Sets I routinely like to flip (Donruss Originals What If)

• Types of cards I routinely like to flip (90s Refractors)

• Era I routinely like to flip (90s-early 00s)

I have some of these memorized, but I like to remind myself with the Sneaky Valuable Card list and my past sales:

Five out of those six cards were simply found as a function of searching the same things every few days.

The one that wasn’t - the Bevin Knight - was a discovery, and thus falls into my “know and seek” category: Learn something valuable exists and then go and search for where it might be underpriced.

Here is the process:

• I saw this one below was listed on COMC in late February and had 3 quick watchers, which caught my eye.

• Checked CollX and found one for $33.25 shipped

• Checked eBay to see if any others were currently listed (no)

• Checked recent comps and last one sold on eBay was back in July 2023 for $40. Usually with that much time passing and one currently for sale, I tend to give more credit to the current listing price than the sold “comp.”

So, I bought it, got it, listed it for $125, received a quick offer for $75 and accepted.

Where Did I Buy These Cards?

Five out of these six cards were bought on CollX; the Jason Kendall was purchased on BuySportsCards.com. Right now I spend most of my time surfing CollX for deals, but there are probably others to be found on:

• BuySportsCards.com

• DollarBoxCards.com

• Beckett Marketplace

And others!

How Quick Was the Turnaround from Buy to Sell?

As mentioned time and time again, one big reason I love flipping cards this way is because I don’t need to wait for them to appreciate. Meaning, the cards are already worth more than what they are selling for.

The biggest risks here are not receiving the card or receiving it in poor condition (more on this below).

So all that said, here are the dates from when I purchased and when I sold. Keep in mind shipping times fluctuate as most of these were shipped PWE.

1. Brevin Knight: Bought 2/21, Sold 3/4

2. Darryl Strawberry: Bought 2/22, Sold 3/9

3. Rickey Henderson: Bought 2/26, Sold 3/7

4. Barry Larkin: Bought 2/27, Sold 3/7

5. Scott Rolen: Bought 2/16, Sold 3/6

6. Jason Kendall: Bought 1/28, Sold 2/7

(Even though not as recent as the others, I included the Kendall here because it was one that was bought elsewhere, and while I absolutely love CollX, want to remind everyone that part of finding good flips is looking where others aren’t.)

What Condition Were These Cards In?

For me, this is probably the toughest aspect about buying cards on CollX. Many of the cards listed from the era I love to buy from (1994-2005) have a greater chance of having imperfections.

That said, if the card is scarce enough, it doesn’t matter a ton. I’m forthcoming about all of a card’s imperfections in my eBay listings, and most cards still sell without issue.

I had a sweet Darren Daulton Fan Favorites Refractor /299 come in from BSC that had literally been run over and busted all over the place and still sold it for $6. Many of the older refractors have surface scratches.

The Rolen I sold had a huge gouge as shown below; the Rickey Gold SE had bad corners.

So, if you find a great deal but the card isn’t in perfect shape, just remember that scarcity is a powerful thing.

All of that said, there is one Shaq I currently have for sale that I thought would go quick and for around $400 at that, but I think condition is hurting it. It has 14 watchers, but I now have the price down to $225—which is totally fine because I bought it for $9.

Let’s Get to Flipping!

So again…there’s no single perfect strategy for flipping sports cards, but there are plenty of ways to make it work (especially if you don’t want to take big risks).

Whether it’s identifying underpriced cards through consistent searches, flipping overlooked 90s inserts, or simply taking action instead of waiting for the "perfect" opportunity, success comes down to persistence, learning, and adapting.

I’ll add that sure, the devil’s advocate might argue that selling one card for a $100 profit is more efficient than selling six cards for the same return—you’re using fewer supplies, making fewer trips to the post office, and dealing with fewer transactions. And that’s fair! But finding that one big flip is a lot harder than consistently churning smaller wins, and I’ve found that steady, repeatable success adds up just as well.

I also like to remind myself to “keep the money moving.”

• List cards quickly

• Allow best offers

• Accept best offers

Very few times do I get full listing price. Sure, it depends on the card but if I bought for $5, listed for $100 and got an offer for half of that, I’d consider making the sale.

The biggest thing is how quickly that offer comes in—if it’s immediately, I’ll wait and see what other action I get. If it’s after a week or two, I’m much more willing to sell for lower (especially if I know I have more inventory on the way).

So, stay active. Keep checking for deals, refining your process, and learning from both wins and losses. Know where to look, spot patterns, and make smart, incremental gains.

In my next post, I’ll dive deeper into the other method - which is more focused on current players - that has worked well for me (and others in the Ballcard Genius community)!

Until then, happy hunting, and if you’ve got a great flip story, I’d love to hear it!

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