Selling LOW END Sports Cards PART TIME can be ROUGH...
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- čas přidán 4. 02. 2023
- Being a part-time low-end sports card seller isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. You will have your ups and you will have your downs. Some days you’ll sell a lot of cards and some days you’ll sell very little and some days you might have no sales at all. This is the reality that I face from time to time as a low-end card seller.
In the past I’ve documented 7 days’ worth of card sales to see how I am performing, and, in this video, I decided to document another 7 days. Despite this being one of my highest performing months since becoming a part-time low-end card seller, I did face my ups and downs for the month. And the results in this video show how slow sales can be at times.
But I still love what I do and it’s truly a labor of love. You still got to push forward and continue working and honing your craft. Selling low end sports cards is not easy, but the potential for success is there if you are willing to put in the work. You can’t be afraid to fail if you want to succeed.
Interested to see what's in the store? Here is a link to my eBay Store (affiliate link): ebay.us/fZ92MT
Supplies and Equipment I Use (affiliate links):
eMART Light Box: amzn.to/3L1v2pq
iDPRT Thermal Label Printer: amzn.to/3YwfkFZ
Thermal Labels for Label Printer: amzn.to/3mxkjZC
Epson Scanner: amzn.to/3ZKgwHj
Top Loaders: amzn.to/3SXhxJi
Penny Sleeves: amzn.to/3L9eVGi
No. 10 Security Envelopes: amzn.to/3yme11E
Size 0, 6x9 Bubble Mailers for bulk orders: amzn.to/3ZMmfMi
Painter's Tape to seal top loaders: amzn.to/3ZLrvzE
Digital Scale for weighing packages: amzn.to/3YCCUB2
Easel Display Stands for taking pictures: amzn.to/3ZNVze1
Card Guard Binders: amzn.to/3IYkjJJ
Follow me on IG: @Josh.Unboxed
DISCLAIMER: **** This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links or eBay Store link, I’ll receive a small commission. This is an additional way to help support the channel. Thank you all for your continued support!
#sportscardscollecting #lowendsportscards #sportscardflipping
Hey guys, I made a mistake on Day 7 of the sales. I made 7 card sales, but the text graphic says 10 cards. A mistake on my part in the editing process. Just wanted to bring that up! Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the video! 😀
You're good! If someone caught that and made a stink about, they're a person that will complain about anything.
Since I learned about drafts, it's making it way easier to get my cards listed, and I'm very thankful you showed us how to use that in your videos. I was in the low 400's but I'm about up to 550 items in 4 days worth of doing listing when I can. Since I work a full-time nursing job, 12 hour shifts, I have to try and fit things in with my cards when I can. I hope to get to 1000 items in a few months, and I'll see if I can get my sales rates up. I'm working with thinking 10 cards plus a day could get interesting, but I think it's doable. Thanks again for another great video!
Thanks Kevin! I'm glad that you find that using drafts is helpful for you! I too work a full time job, so finding time to list cards can be challenging. So using drafts helps me set up for the week in case things come up. Just stay consistent and stick with your listing goals and I hopefully you'll see some improvements!
Thanks Josh, I'm a low end card seller also. It is tough some weeks I keep saying I'm not getting rich but I'm having a lot of fun! Your videos are always informative and encouraging to me. Keep up the good work.
It's good to hear that you are having fun with it! I always look at it as a labor of love. Thanks for watching my videos! I'm glad you are finding value in the content!
Ebbs and flows for sure bro! Totally relate to the reality, consistency in posting daily is the key (as you have mentioned). Love the content and thanks for the continued encouragement in this venture of LECF! (low end card flipping😂) Thanks again for the Manning Flamethrower!🔥 🤙🏻
Thanks for the kind words of encouragement! Keep it up and stay consistent. Hope you enjoy the Manning Flamethrower!
Definitely a labor of love, and takes time to figure out what works. Thanks for sharing!
Selling low end does definitely take up a lot of time, but it's fun. Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video!
Thank you for these videos. Your videos motivated me to start selling low end cards to fund my nonprofit that works with high risk kids in New Orleans. Once I found a routine, it has brought a lot of joy to my leisure life. Keep it up.
That is awesome Charles! Love what you are doing with that and hopefully selling low end cards can help fund that. Selling low end cards can be a little rough at times, but I believe through consistency one can really see success in this area, it just requires more work though. Thanks again for the comment and for watching my video! Glad you are finding value in it!
Thanks for taking the time to upload this realistic video! It's nice to see the transparency in the hobby. Take care!
Thank you for the kind words! I really appreciation you taking the time out to watch the video. I'm a big believer in providing transparency.
Love this in-depth video bro!!! Keep ‘em coming please
Thanks bro! Much appreciated!
I recently got into selling low end cards to pair down my collection and make a few bucks to buy and focus on PC. Good content. Subscribing now.
Thank you for the awesome video! Super relatable and relevant!
Thank you Vincent! Glad you enjoyed the content and found value in it!
Thanks for sharing as always Josh. 🙏
Stumbled across your channel and love it thanks for the content and move a little is better the not moving any
Thanks for checking out my content, glad you are finding value in it! And definitely... slow motion is better than no motion!
It's all about the progress brother....good luck to you! Keep grinding!
Practice makes progress! Thanks!
Great Information Josh, thank you!
Thanks as always Brad!
Love the video, keep them coming.
Thank you, Belinda! So glad you are finding value in the videos!
Love the content. You should create a video of the process of buying the cards to shipping it out
Thanks for watching the videos! I'm glad you are finding value in it. Not a bad idea on that. It would cool to show the whole entire process of my sourcing for cards, then listing, selling and shipping it out.
Very cool video thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I'm happy that you enjoyed it and found value in it. Thank you again!
Just found your channel a few days ago and it’s been great! Really enjoy the content. I’ve set my daily listing goals and have already seen an increase in sales!
A question for you: What level store do you have? I have a Starter level store, but I’ve noticed that with my daily goals, I’ll hit my 250 free listings in only 2 weeks.
Just wondering what you’re doing to avoid the extra insertion fees. Thanks for all your content!
Thanks Joshua for checking out the content! It's much appreciated. Glad to hear that you've seen an increase in sales too!
To answer your question: I have a Basic Store Subscription. The reason why I moved up to this level is because of what you are elluding to... once you get close to your free listings limit, you may end up having to pay extra insertion fees. This is the main reason why I chose a higher store level. I see my self listing more than 250 a month due to how many cards I'm listing daily. There are going to be some days and some cards that just sell slower than others. So by understanding that, I went with a higher store level.
Hey josh nice video I just started selling low end sports cards as well and yes it is tough 😅
Hi Isaac! Thanks for checking out the video. Selling low end sports cards has its ups and downs, but I still enjoy doing it! It's not easy at first, but I believe by sticking through it and staying consistent you can see some success here.
I wanted to sell low end cards part time to get as much back as possible to keep buying new cards and packs to build my collection and possible hits. If I bought a box for 34.99 and I could sell $20.00-$30.00 worth of cards out of it. It won’t be that much of a loss. Also, you should be able to write off the box of cards you bought at the end of the year? I’m sure there are accountants that could explain more on this.
Nice Josh unfortunate you didn't net more, I sold 5 cards to my card shop today, they say they pay 50-60percent of going price, but seriously think that's about how much they cost me, I think when I've dropped 25-30g in the last five years, profit doesn't always matter(Australian dollars that is, I was collecting a little before that, but bulk of my cards is from that period). If I lived in US I would buy from you, I always see a few cards that I'm like damn I would pay double for that. Keep grinding man
Thanks Aaron! That's just the ups and downs of selling the lower end cards. I think that if you bought the cards to hang onto for a bit there comes a point where the profits don't matter because that money has already been spent. But that's just my frame of thinking. Of course you would like to see that you get a little more out of what you paid for, but it's not always going to be the case. Thanks for the words of encouragement and will definitely keep grinding!
It is about the long haul. I'm still at the beginning stages of the lower-end game. Hopefully, as I list on a more consistent basis sales will go up.
Definitely about the long game. Just keep up with your consistency. I also found that having a balance as to what types of cards you list helps out as well. You want to have cards that can move and have some cards that are slower because you want to have something for everyone. If you are always listing cards that are slow movers, then it won't matter as much how much you're listing because those cards won't move. So by having cards that can sell quickly, you will always have movement. This is a topic that I have planned for a future video!
You ever done variations listing on eBay. You can sell your common cards for the entire set of the year for 1.50 dollars each card. Offer buy 10 cards for 25 percent off.
I haven't really explored variation listings and would really like to start looking into that as my inventory expands. It seems like a great way to list a bunch of cards. Also I haven't done much with promotions either, but something to look into for me. Thanks for the advice!
My 2 cards I bought was in day 5 . That’s awesome . The Rodman and Bo Bichette
That's cool! Hope you enjoy the cards. Thank you so much for your support!
Nice Vid and Breakdown! Keep up the good work! 💪🏻
Thank you! Really appreciate that and I'm happy that you enjoyed the video!
I appreciate your videos and I sell low cards too but I am selling what k currently own already. I don’t see a lot of money in selling $ 2 dollar cards if you are sourcing them. I am seeing a lot of sellers wanting .25-.50 for base Prizm and colors which is what will sell but they are still $2 cards and I pass on newer bull because there would be zero profit of you add in your time to source. Good luck and I hope you keep making sales
Look into coupons - I'm playing around with 6+ items for 50% off type coupons and they really seem to work, especially if your cost per card is low. It allows you to take that hit but move volume!
That's a good suggestion! I haven't really played around with the idea of coupons. Will have to look into that!
Doing the same. Last week has been really slow
It's definitely been slow - especially near the tail end of this week. But gotta keep it moving.
Great video! Have you discussed on video your decision to offer free shipping? I keep debating that. I'm also assuming you use the eBay standard envelope?
Thanks for checking out the video, glad you are finding value in the content! I haven't done a separate video on my decision to offer free shipping yet, but it is on my list of topics for future videos. Funny enough, my last video previous to this was either going to be selling in volume or why I offer free shipping as they kind of go hand in hand. But that is a topic I do plan on doing a video on for sure.
And yes, I use the eBay standard envelope. Low cost of shipping really helps out a lot when selling these lower end cards.
How do you do free shipping when selling a card for a $1 or $2 ?
The idea of free shipping is to hopefully entice buyers to buy in bulk which helps me save in shipping and fees. I will end up losing most times on $1 cards, but I consider those loss leaders. At times those cards where bought in bulk to where I've already broken even on the entire lot I purchased and even at selling those cards at $1 to $2, it just becomes pure profit at that point. There are a few things to consider when selling cards at such a low price while offering free shipping. Sure the profits may not be huge, but the idea is to try and sell in volume/bulk.
I got into it about 7 months ago and I agree it's brutal. Just a quick question. I see your low ends are free shipping, are you doing the standard $1.08 shipping or are you doing a certain calculation on shipping? Loving your content keep it up sir.
Yea it cost me around $4 to ship so I would love to know as well because I would be losing money I feel like?
@@gunnzcichcichlids493 are you selling on eBay and selecting the plain white envelope shipping option? It costs a $1.08 if you’re selling single cards in the mail.
You can use the shipping option called "eBay standard envelope". It only costs .60 to ship a 1 oz envelope. You can usually ship 3-4 cards without it going over that 1 oz weight.
@@bradscardsandcollectibles1596 how do you fit 3-4 cards. Are they not in top loaders?
Hi Tyler, I do the standard shipping and as BradsCardsAndCollectibles says, they only cost $0.60 for 1 oz in an envelope. $1.08 I believe is up to 3 ounces. You can ship out 1 card in a top loader for under 1 oz. You may also be able to ship out 2 cards in top loaders for 1 oz as well. When it comes to bulk shipping, you can usually fit 3-4 cards in a card saver and ship that in an envelope for either 1 to 2 ounces as well. I went with the free shipping route to hopefully entice buyers to buy more than one card from me in a single order which helps me save on both fees and shipping costs.
How can you do free shipping and still make $? I’ve been selling on eBay for about 2 years now. Lots of low end cards. Just hard to do free shipping. Seeing what your pros and cons are to it. Keep up the grind man. Love the videos.
Most cards I acquire are $1 or less. I've been really shooting lately for less than at least $0.60 per card which will give me some profit, but not much. The one thing that I do focus on though is maximizing sales as opposed to maximizing profits. At the end of the day profit is profit and when you are dealing with low end cards, it's really more about volume because the profit margins are so small. It adds up at the end, so making as many sales as possible is my main focus. For example, what I want is for buyers to buy multiple cards in a single order, this helps save on fees and shipping, leading to profit for cards I sell even at $1.49 with free shipping. I also use promotions to try and entice buyers to buy more than one card which helps with fees and shipping.
Does it work 100%, no it does not. But the idea is all about finding ways to maximize sales.
So I have a couple questions please sir. I know a good title and description it's important but just how important is every idem on the specific list? Also, if I have, say, a Michael Jordan card, when someone searches for Michael Jackson will my card show up just like the big-time stores? I suppose in other words is there anything I can do to increase my chances of getting my cards in front of the buyer? Great videos! Keep it up!
I feel that item specifics are important. As I list my cards, I tend to fill out the item specifics that are relevant to the card I am selling. I think it helps in a sense for certain terms or words. In the case of your example, I think what some people do is list a bunch of athletes or people's names in the "player" section of the item specifics. That way when someone searches for particular players their cards will pop up as well. I wouldn't necessarily focus on filling out all of the item specifics, but rather the more relevant ones - such as player, year, set, card name, card number, team, league. Hope this helps and so sorry for the late reply!
How do you get the cards in the first place? Do u but them for cheaper? I have cards to start selling but how do i keep the flow going with cards?
Very informative video. I been selling low end cards and it’s been fun. However, i feel like I’m not earning much with eBay fees and shipping cost.
Yeah ebay fees and shipping costs can add up. That's the world of selling low end sports cards. It definitely becomes more worthwhile as you sell more cards, but you have to get to that point. I found that being consistent with my listings by listing a set amount everyday along with finding cards that have a tendency to move faster really helps along with that.
Selling low end cards is fun for me too! I enjoy it very much and consider it a labor of love!
Hey Josh, love the videos! How do you deal with deducting cost of goods (cost of the cards) on income taxes from eBay? Thanks!
I keep track of all my purchases. It's a tedious task, but I find it really keeps me organized. I keep track of my sales and the profits and my wife also told me to keep a portion of the profits for tax purposes as well.
So how I go about is this: I keep track of what I purchase from card shows or from eBay, etc. I log them into a spreadsheet on excel with monthly tabs. When a card sells, I track on a separate spreadsheet and put down how much I spent on that particular card to calculate the profits/losses and keep track of that for the month.
It's a lot of work and as it the sales start to scale up, I will have to find a more efficient way of keeping track of these. But this is what I do in the meantime.
Not only do you have the costs you listed, but you also have a printer, paper, ink (or thermal printer and labels), envelopes, top loaders and sleeves, the cost of your eBay store, and other services, like Card Dealer Pro or other research tools. It's still hard for me to see how profits can be made on a $1.49-$1.99 card, especially with free shipping.
keep griding I've been doing the same
Thanks! You keep grinding too!
Just curious. Are you factoring in your cost in acquiring the cards when you state your profits? Thank you for the nice video.
Yes, I keep track of the cost of the goods sold. In the recap portion of the video I discuss how much my costs of goods sold were and show how much I actually netted - which wasn't much. Thanks for checking out the video, it's much appreciated!
do you at solds for all your cards. its so hard to price em. the low end cards especially
Awesome
How is it profitable selling cards for two or three dollars with free shipping? What are your shipping costs on these cards?
When you do free shipping is the default PWE? Or does the buyer pick their shipping preference?
I stick with a defaul PWE and don't have an option for any other shipping preference. However, if the buyer buys multiple cards, I will use first class if it doesn't fit in a PWE or if it goes over $20.
You would sell a bunch of cards at a show. I would pick the smaller shows. Right now a lot of cards are dropping in both price and sales. You are doing ok but need to reduce your shipping costs. Many show dealers have 25c & 50c &1.00 boxes. Many of these cards will book 2 to 5 times those amounts. You may be able to go to a show and buy a whole box for a low price.
Yeah I think lower end cards could move at shows. Not everyone is looking to spend thousands of dollars. Or can afford to, the low-end cards are great for kids, and people who are newer to the hobby, for a starting point as well.
I usually get my cards from my local card shows, where I can get a good amount of cards for around $0.50 or less. I often times buy in bulk at card shows so that I can get a much better deal as most dealers are willing to negotiate when you buy in bulk. I offer free shipping and ship through eBay's standard shipping ($0.60 for 1 ounce, $0.84 for 2, and $1.08 for 3). Most times I ship cards at the 1 ounce rate.
Setting up at a card show will definitely help in moving these cards in bulk and plus will help me save on shipping. Just got to find the time to do so.
Where do you get your cards?
You shipped 70 cards for 100 dollars. What is your time worth ? I do this too but these profit margins are paper thin vs your time dedicated to this
It would be interesting to see how much you would make selling lower end cards at a show, and then compare it to ebay
That's a good idea Andrew! It would be interesting indeed. Maybe one of these days I'll set up at a card show again.
Any good tables to hit at Ontario show?
Not sure who's all going to be there... but I will be going there for sure and will definitely be hitting up some value/dollar boxes. Not sure if you are from the area, but if you are, hope to run into you there!
Dam that’s brutal.
Rough for sure. But that's how it is sometimes, some weeks will be good and some weeks won't be.
You talked me into selling on ebay .. i started a few weeks ago and have sold over 200 bucks ! But the question i have is how do i get more veiws ? I feel like i have cards sitting with no views
I feel that just staying consistent helps. When selling these cheaper cards, we have to come to the realization that not all of them will sell quickly. Sometimes you're waiting for the right buyer to come along to buy the card. That's just the reality of it. So instead, I focus on having a balance of cards of players that tend to sell well and those that might take more time to sell. I've also done a strategy in which you end a listing and then relist by using the "sell similar" option. This will give the item a new id number and hopefully push it up. As long as you stay consistent, I think that will help.
How much did you get after the eBay fee
After fees, selling costs (shipping, etc) and the costs of goods sold I ended up making a net profit of $97.87 for the 7 days of sales. Not much, but some weeks are better than others. It's just the ups and downs of selling lower end sports cards part time.
Free shipping stings considering fees and shipping supply costs. How can you make any money doing that?
True, free shipping can cut into the profits. However, my reasoning for using free shipping is so that it makes it easier for the buyer to buy multiple cards in one transaction without the worry of having to calculate shipping costs, or ask to combine shipping, etc. When there is a multiple card order, you only pay one additional $0.30 transaction feee along with the regular fees associated with the sale. Plus you get to ship out the orders in one package versus having to pay for multiple shipping labels. If you sold 5 cards in one order that is only one $0.30 transaction fee and I can ship that out using eBays standard envelope for only $0.87. If I sold 5 cards individually, I pay an additional $1.50 in transaction fees and have to pay $3.15 for 5 individual labels. So at the end you save money in these cases. Now for my individual orders I do make profit, even though it’s less than a dollar profit. But with low end sports cards it’s all about selling in volume. It adds up over time. For example, I recently made $70 from one sale from a buyer who bought 24 cards, I’ll just have to pay $4.13 for first class shipping instead of having to pay $15.12 for 24 individual labels.
@@JoshUnboxed824 thank you for the reply! Much appreciated!
$97 cleared on $200 in sales? That sounds like a pretty good ROI to me. Am I missing something?
$97 is good from $200 of sales. But when compared to how the rest of the month went, it was lower than what had been trending for me as the number of sales was definitely lower. But you are right though, at near 50% ROI in a week is definitely good.
What was the other $44 dollars or so you took off at the end that brought you to $97.00???
It was the cost of goods sold. Meaning what I spent out of pocket for the cards that I sold.
Curious as to why you don't lower cost of cards and charge more for shipping? If you ship standard eBay envelope, Wouldn't that reduce your eBay fees?
Ebay will still take the fees from the shipping. If he sells a card for $1.99 free ship the fees will be the same as if he sold the card for $1.39 + .60 cents shipping. Offering free shipping will get more eyes on your listings and increase sales
eBay takes their cut based on final sale cost, which is both the price you have listens PLUS shipping cost.
Just like the others have said, eBay's fees are based off the total amount paid - shipping included. So it doesn't matter if I sell a card for $1.99 with free shipping or $0.99 plus $1 shipping, the fees I end up paying are the same.
Are all these being sold on eBay?
Yeah. All my sales are done on eBay.
How does one get 50% ROI selling 1$ cards while offering free shipping?
When a buyer buys multiple cards from me in a single order, I end up saving a lot more than what you would think, I save on eBay fees and also shipping costs. So if someone where to buy 10 $1 cards from me in one order, I only pay an additional $0.30 in fees on top of the final value fee. If I sold 10 cards individually, then I end up paying $3.00 in additional fees on top of the final value fee. In the same example, if one person bought 10 $1 cards from me, I can ship if out for $1.08 using eBay's Standard envelope. Whereas if I sold 10 cards individually, then I have to pay $6.00 to ship out all those 10 cards separately.
Volume sales matter. Also the price point in which I get the cards for. But the bulk sales really matter.
You’re forgetting shipping cost
The selling costs include the cost of purchasing the shipping labels. What did forget to calculate was the cost of the shipping supplies (envelopes, top loaders, etc). But the shipping costs was taken into account along with the costs of goods sold too.
Damn, Nash rc only 3 bucks?
I know right? For some of his cards, it seems to be the going rate.
Please pin me
❤
Rough. And that isn't everything. You didn't mention your cost of goods. How much did you pay for those cards. Of course there is also your time, it takes a good amount of time to pull, package, and ship. And, there are shipping supply costs... soft sleeves, top loaders, envelopes, etc. Yikes!
He did mention COGS (Cost of goods sold) at 8:34 actually ..
Hi Don, I did mention my cost of goods during the recap. I took into account how much I paid total for all the cards sold within these 7 days. As for time, I spend on average 2 to 3 hours a day, listing, packing and documenting my sales. But I did forget to take into account the cost of shipping supplies though.,, top loaders are usually about $0.20 a piece, but at times I usually find some at card shows from the cards that I buy. Envelopes are around $0.03 a piece, soft sleeves are about $0.01-0.02 a piece. It definitely adds up in the end. But as a low end card seller, you definitely need to sell in volume to make it worthwhile. But I sitll love what I do, I guess you can call it a labor of love.
@@JoshUnboxed824 Thanks. If you are making money and enjoying what you are doing you are doing better than most I would say. Cheers!