Positive feedback, but I'm not happy about it

I don't like it when eBay sellers try to make up money by overcharging on shipping.

It makes me conflicted. The card shows up and the condition is fine. But you charged me $3.49 for first class shipping, and sent it in a PWE. And not even a fancy eBay standard envelope PWE with tracking. This was a regular PWE.

When I point this out to the seller, they usually respond something like this: "u got a vintage crd for less than 5 go fuck off dont buy from me agin"

Sellers tend to do this when they think a card will sell for a bit more. In this case, I bought a 1952 Wheaties Phil Rizzuto. I was the only bidder at $.99. Plus $3.49 shipping. I do not like to pay 3x for shipping, but I figured less than $5 all in for a Rizzuto from 1952 was cool.

But the seller had other plans, and needed to recoup some money and not take a bath in this transaction. So my card came in a PWE between two pieces of cardboard. No top loader, either.

Again, the card arrived ok, but not the point, at least to me it's not. But I also didn't want to be too big of a dick, so I emailed the seller via eBay messages over the weekend and gave him a chance to respond.

He didn't.

But I still didn't want to be a dick, so I left positive feedback. I will say that I did one-star his shipping cost, and in the feedback I mentioned that other buyers should be warned about his shipping. He has over 700 positive feedbacks and no negative or neutral, so I'm not going to be a blemish.

Still, don't be a dick and make up some profit by skimping out on shipping.

eBay Bucks for the win

With my buying habits, I usually only have a couple dollars of eBay Bucks.

Sometimes I'll play a game and see what I can buy with my $2.31 credit. Other times I'll just apply it to whatever purchase I'm making and save a buck or two.

This past quarter, I had a bit more eBay Bucks than usual, despite the program changing and eBay Bucks becoming rarer. By far the most I've had. I had purchased two Mickey Mantle cards in March, and did so during an additional 5% eBay Bucks promo. So I had some funny money to play with.

Problem is, I don't have a current project or anything on my wantlist that a high priority. I couldn't get a Griffey RC or a Carmelo Anthony autograph. I could have applied the Bucks toward one, I guess. I thought about maybe getting a Tino autograph I didn't have, but I have a lot of Tino autographs and there isn't an apple of my eye.

Instead I turned my attention toward a Derek Jeter card I had been following for quite some time, and snagged this via auction as opposed to BIN:

It's such a great looking card from 2000 Fleer/Skybox E-X, part of their insert set called E-Xceptional. These come in red /1999, green /999, and blue /250. While this is the most common of the bunch, it's still not an easy card to come across.

The card itself is diecut, yet symmetrical. The background effect is a little hard to explain. It gives the card a lot of depth. I was expecting more of a flat foil from scans, but it's quite different in person.

I still don't fully know why this was the card I settled on, but in the end, I'm happy with my decision. I just wish eBay Bucks were still a regular thing, and not a special promotion.

Welcome, eBay standard envelope

One of my favorite developments over the last few weeks as been the arrival of the eBay standard envelope. This provides the seller and buyer with the option of what is generally a trackable PWE shipping envelope.

I couldn't be more on board.

As a Tino Martinez collector, I often see his cards listed for $1 or $2, with $3.99 shipping. Unless it's a card I rarely come across, I generally refrain. Once in a while I'll check out other items for combined shipping, but for the most part I HATE paying more for shipping than the card itself.

And as someone who is firmly in the camp of #TeamPWE, I would gladly pay for non-bubble mailer shipping.

I'm not 100% how it works as a seller yet. I know there are three pricing options: $.51, $.71, and $.91. What I'm not sure of yet is if they are enforced, what sort of envelope qualifies for which option, etc. It's still unclear to me.

And I fully expect to see sellers still charging $4 for shipping and using this option. That won't be ok.

Additionally, if I dabble in selling and using this method, I am unsure if I can just drop these envelopes in a normal blue mailbox like I have at my corner, or if I need to make the trek to the post office to have the clerk scan these envelopes like they would a larger package. If the latter, that loses some appeal for me, as a seller.

Regardless, it has helped land me cards like these two for $2 shipped (each). To me, that is much more palatable than $.99 + $3.50.

Welcome, eBay standard envelope. I hope you're here for good.

Not a time for haggling over pennies

I use the "Make An Offer" feature on eBay frequently. I try not to low ball, as most of the cards I'm making offer are only a few bucks anyways. But if someone has a card for $4.99, why not see if I can get it for $3? At worst, I can usually get it for a few cents cheaper after seller counteroffer.

However, there are times when cards pop up that are rarely seen, and out of fear of missing out on the card, I immediately choose "Buy It Now" instead of hoping I can get it for $.75 less. The opportunity cost of missing out is too great.

That recently happened with two Tino Martinez cards that I rarely see pop up, so naturally they would within a week of each other. These are not high end. But they are cards I have been keenly aware of, yet rarely see.

The first is from a brand that keeps aging like a fine wine. Pacific! For years, Pacific had a "Latinos of the Major League" insert set. I was always a little confused by this set, as I felt it was unfair to peg these particular players because of their heritage. However, Pacific was geared toward a Spanish-speaking population for years, so perhaps it wasn't odd at all. I'd be curious as to what others think.

The other "Latinos of the Majors" cards from other years pop up a lot, but not this one from 1999 Pacific Crown. When I saw it for $2.99 or best offer, there was no time to haggle. I chucked it in my cart and checked out as fast as I could, although I still had time to got through Acorns to make sure I got my $.03 invested!

It's a beautiful card. A nice, textured foil with colors that really pop. Once again, Pacific designed a card that gets better in time.

The next is a rare card only in the sense that I never see it. I have plenty of the non-shiny base versions, but the Museum Collection never finds its way into my eBay feed. I finally snagged it for just over a buck, and again, no time to haggle over pennies.

This card has always been special to me, both from the HR Derby he won to the fact that it was the first card Tino ever signed TTM for me.

Sometimes you gotta jump at the chance and not hold out for a sale or a better price. It's not worth the agony over missing rare cards to get a slightly better price.

Have a little faith

Last week, I won an eBay auction for a 2020 Topps Baseball Stars Platinum autograph of Tino Martinez. The card is a 1/1.

I was the only bidder, so I won it for the minimum bid (which still wasn't cheap). However, once I went to check out, I noticed something concerning:

The seller had only one feedback, and it was as a buyer. My heart sunk a little.

I've been on card-twitter long enough to see how this usually goes. People are constantly posting awful questions from eBay buyers, refund requests, or instances where they just don't get a card. Naturally, I thought I'd have to join these ranks.

I didn't realize it was a one-feedback seller. I bid on the card without looking to see if it was a reputable ebayer. I can't say I am always diligent about that.

So I prepared myself for the worst. I prepared myself for the card to no show, to have to open a claim, and even if I got my money back it wouldn't be for weeks. But then something happened.

The seller reached out.

He sent me a nice note thanking me for my purchase, and that this was his first sale. He was excited! He even sent me a picture of the outgoing package, addressed to me. Even then, I thought, "is this just part of the scheme?"

But four days later, the card showed up, packed perfectly. I kind of felt bad for my lack of faith. I'm glad I never publicly questioned or reached our with snark asking if he was actually going to ship it. But the guy wanted to make his first sale, and he did. Maybe he's looking for some money for the holidays. Maybe his family needs it. Maybe he just wants to start selling cards.

I'm glad this transaction went smoothly, and I'm glad I didn't put him on blast. A low feedback number isn't always a bad thing. Everyone needs to start from somewhere. I made sure to give him 5 stars and a positive feedback score, and I wish this seller the best.

You have to start somewhere, and he's on his way. I wish I had more faith, but it was a nice reminder that not everyone out this is a scam waiting to happen.

I'm such a flipper and ruining the hobby

Man, right now blogging and life just isn't mixing. Not that I' prolific and my "look what I got" posts take much effort, but even those are hard right now. Between the busiest time of the year at work and helping the kids with their virtual school, it's been insane.

I hope virtual school is going well for those of you who are dealing with it. It's not easy. I feel bad for the kids. I feel bad for the teachers. I feel bad for fellow parents. I've already upgraded my internet connection (1 Gigabit, suckas), plus have a wifi extender set to arrive tomorrow. There's a lot of bandwidth needed in my house right now.

One piece of card-related activity I dealt with this week:

Yeah, I bought it. I entered the Topps online lottery thingie, got an email I was one of the chosen ones, and bought it for $250...well, $280 after taxes and overnight shipping. I had no intention of ever cracking this open. I was always going to do my small part to ruin this hobby by flipping it for a substantial profit.

And I did.

Pre-sale prices when this first came out hovered in the $900-$1,000 range. I didn't want to do a pre-sale. I wasn't comfortable with it. So I waited until it was in-hand to list it. Luckily I got mine fairly quickly compared to most.

I listed it for $749.99. Got a $700 offer, and took it. That's a nice profit of about $325+ after fees. And before you silly people ask, no, the time it took to do all this wasn't much of an additional cost. Let's say 5 minutes to buy the box, 5 mins to list on Ebay, and then 15 minute trip to the post office to mail it.

Am I contributing to the demise of the hobby? Maybe. But am I $325 richer after paying myself back first? You bet I am. Am I going to spend that profit on cards? You bet I'm not.

I mean, maybe I'll buy one nice card. But I'm still pretty bored with collecting right now, so I'm not looking at this as hobby play money. I'd actually rather buy a share or two of Apple. You know, real stocks instead of card stocks. 

At the end of the day, even though all went smoothly, it was a bit stressful to have the box in hand. It sort of felt like when the Hogwarts crew had Slytherin's locket. If there is another Topps lottery thing for an online-exclusive, I'll definitely enter. Why not, as long as prices stay extraordinary.

So I apologize for contributing to the demise of the hobby. But my bank account doesn't.

What wood you do?

Every so often, one of those eBay coupons gets passed around Twitter.

Sometimes it's for $3. Sometimes it's for $5. It works for some. For others, no dice. I'm not sure who is valid or why they work or don't. I'm not even sure if eBay knows. It's a crapshoot.

But this coupon was $25 free if it worked. That's not chump change! The requirements were that the card must have been priced $25.01 or more, before shipping and taxed!

Tip: you can set a min price of $25.01 to start your search.

I hurriedly went to my saved listings, where a few cards fit that bill. I put a card in my cart (without committing to buy), entered to promo code to see if it worked, and sure enough, the code was successful!

I didn't have a card that struck me right away as a must-have for that money. My wish list is kind of bare right now, as I'm sort of in an unfocused hobby rut. I'm a little bored with collecting right now, honestly. I could have gone a few ways with it, I guess. But nothing popped into mind directly. No autograph I've been wanting. No vintage card I've been drooling over.

Not wanting to take too much longer out of fear of the code no longer being valid, I snagged a Tino I had been eying for a while. It was in the running to be my 1,000th Tino if I decided to splurge. And since I never did, I applied the code and got this for $6 plus shipping.

Pretty awesome card. It's a 1998 Leaf Z2 Axis Fractal Materials Wood Die Cut. I don't know what all that means. I just know it's got an attractive die cut, which always appeals to me. It's one of just 20 copies, numbered 17/20. The woodgrain on the card is really attractive, as well. I've never seen another one of these, and it had been sitting on eBay a while, so into my Tino collection it goes.

I wish I was a little more organized or focused right now, but when in doubt, I can always find a rare Tino. So in that, it was a success!

Did you see or take advantage of this code? If so, what did you snag?

Filler cards are getting better

I'm not someone who gets annoyed when an eBay seller throws in extra filler cards in the packaging.

I once saw someone Twitter complain (shocking, right?) about getting extra cards. Me? Nope. It's fun. Sometimes a seller will send extra Yankee cards, figuring I'm a fan for buying a Yankees card. Sometimes I'll buy a Tino Cardinals card and get Cardinals cards. No big deal.

Recently, I bought a fun Clarke Schmidt die cut autograph:

Cool card. Not much to say. If baseball ever comes back, I hope he stays on his upward trajectory to NY.

The package was also full of filler cards surrounding the purchased card.

It looks like this seller was cutting back on some 2018 Topps inserts.

Pretty cool! I never saw the Postseason Prominence cards. Fairly run of the mill Topps inserts, but a new Jeter I didn't have.

I thought these were cool and a nice gesture. I'll probably add some to TCDB. Or pass them on through a free card Friday.

Regardless, it's cool when a seller throws in something extra, whether it fits my collection or not.

Get paid back for buying cards

Not an ad or an endorsement! Just something I wanted to share...

I buy a few cards eBay on eBay each month.

I'd say I probably make 5-6 eBay purchases a month, give or take. Most of those are in the $7-8 range after shipping.

One thing that I highly recommend is making money back on the cards or purchases you make off of eBay. It just makes too much sense to get rewarded for purchases you were going to make anyways, similar to cash back rewards from credit cards.

Many of us are opted into eBay Bucks and usually get 1% back on purchases, unless they have a 8 or 10% back promotion, which is always fun. Seriously, when they do that, I am more apt to buy items that have been sitting in my watchlist. I bet I am not alone.

But did you know there's are a few ways to make back Monday ON TOP of eBay Bucks?

My personal preference is via Acorns. For those who don't know, Acorns is a robo-investing app. I've been a customer of theirs for a little over 2 years, after I heard that Kevin Durant invested in the company. Seriously, that's when it came across my newsfeed and I thought it was interesting. Basically, what happens is that Acorns rounds up your debit card purchases and once you've got $5 of round-ups, invests the money into an ETF (exchange-traded fund). No work needed on your end. For example, if I buy something for $4.25, then they round up to $5 and $.75 is set aside. Once the "spare change" hits $5 or more, it transfers from your bank account to your Acorns account.

Beware! The subscription is $1 a month, which is high if you don't put much in every month. I probably put in $30-$40 in each month (I use my debit card every day...I never carry cash), so the $1 doesn't hurt as bad. $12 a year for the account is covered easily, so far, in dividends, so I don't take the fee too seriously. But I know it could be a blocker for some if you don't put much in, such as $10 a month, and 10% of that goes to the fee.

Now on to getting money back! One of the best features is a section of the app called "found money." Found Money consists of a ton of retailers and services that will deposit additional money into your Acorns account by spending with them. eBay is one of those companies, and invests 1% of the final purchase price into one's account. Other retailers include Uber, Dick's Sporting Goods, Walgreen's, Walmart, Apple, Macy's, Nike, and more...so not just random places you've never heard of.

The only thing is, you have to go into the eBay app by way of the Acorns app, or by using the Chrome extension on desktop. So here's what I do:

Once I win an auction, or add a card into my cart, I'll close out of eBay, open Acorns, then click "eBay" under found money. The app opens right back up, I go to my cart, and check out. Then I still get my eBay bucks, plus another 1% of the purchase hits my Acorns account. Pretty cool.

It's not going to make me rich, but I've gotten about $17 back and invested in my account over the last year from purchases I was making anyways on eBay, with the only effort being clicking into eBay through Acorns. Small contributions, but they add up:

Other companies do this is as well, such as Rakuten (formerly Ebates), which actually offers actual cash back in the form of PayPal or a check. There are also other similar investing apps such as Stash (which I also use), and Robinhood. Tons out there if you're looking for a way to invest in some stocks/funds without going through big brokerages.

I'm not advising anyone to invest outside of their means, and in no way is this spare change app thingie going to make me rich. But it's a cool feature to consider and hopefully gets you looking for some other services where you can be rewarded for purchases you are making anyways. It's helped me save without feeling it in my wallet.

I have saved over $1300 from these round-ups, and I'd like to think it was $1300 I wouldn't have saved otherwise. Plus with dividends, eBay found money, and the market's current performance, it's nice to have a small investment account that just does its thing without putting much thought into it.

A big eBay bozo

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have a seen a few Tweets from me about a bizarre shipping case that occurred on a recent eBay purchase.

I purchased the following card for $6.75 + $3.82 shipping:

For $3.82 shipping, I think we'd all expect a bubble mailer. I am someone who has ZERO issue with PWEs, especially if the auction has free or $1 shipping. It's expected.

By my $3.82 shipping charge got me a PWE.

Now, the card arrived just fine and in a top loader, but honestly, I felt robbed of $2. The seller didn't get what he wanted in the auction, so he made two extra bucks by undercutting the shipping.

Feeling a bit chapped, I reached out. Here is the full eBay message exchange:

I apologize if that was a little tough to follow, so here is the breakdown:

1. I ask about the shipping, feeling like it should have been a bubble mailer.

2. Seller says he didn't look at the shipping, asks if card was damaged.

3. I say "no", but the cost still seems too high given what I paid.

4. Seller justifies his actions by saying I got a good deal on the card.

5. Since it didn't get to me damaged, he didn't think he needed to offer a refund. He finally gave a partial refund.

6. I said thank you and that his logic is bizarre.

7. He says he was drinking during Game 6 of the World Series.

Freakin' weird.

All in all, card arrived ok, I got a partial refund, and I got some good laughs and a bunch of Twitter followers out of it. I still think the seller was wrong and probably does this a bunch, knowing most buyers won't ever reach out about it.

eBay really is the land of bozos.

eBay buying from a blogger

A few weeks ago, Bru of Remember The Astrodome and now of a self-titled blog, reached out that he had a few Yankees-related eBay auctions ending shortly. They were very fairly priced with cards from sets I don't come across, so I placed a few bids. I'm glad I did!

My first win was for an autograph of Yankees 2018 1st Rounder Anthony Seigler. He's lost a bit of his prospect shine after a pretty rough season in A ball. His offensive game wasn't up to par this year, and then his season ended due to a fractured patella, which sounds pretty awful. He's still young and has plenty of time to turn it around. In the end, I was thrilled to score this autograph for just a few bucks.

The next lot of cards I bid on were from the re-birth of Leather & Lumber. Any new Judge and Gleyber cards are pretty awesome. Overall I like the look of the set.

I also got sniped at the end of an auction for this Aaron Judge Slugfest card from the same set. However, Bru said he had an extra and threw it in, which was super cool of him.

About a week later, another auction was ending, this time for five cards from Bowman Platinum. Again, Judge, Torres, Stanton, and the forgotten Miguel Andujar were included. There was also a RC of Chance Adams, who has at least 356 different rookie cards and 289 different autographs.

It's always nice to buy from someone you trust. Thanks, Bru!

Saved Searches

Ebay saved searches are both a positive and a negative for me.

They are a negative for me because of how easy it's become for me to quickly find cards and spend money, especially on cards I don't need.

I should limit my searches, although some are more to monitor a market than to actually buy. For example, I set up a saved search for that Michael Phelps autograph A&G card that I got int hat crazy $25 online marketplace lot. I have no intentions of selling it, but the search helps me keep tabs on frequently they are listed and what they go for. (P.s. They still routinely for for $200.)

One area where saved searches are a huge benefit are for my player collections. With these saved searches comes a massive amount of patience. Given where I am with these collections, there is A LOT of sifting through cards I already have, or rolling my eyes at listings like this:

However, once in awhile, through all he clutter, a card like this pops up.

It's even more fun when I'm the only bidder on a low-priced auction with free shipping, as this was the case.

More often than not, this is the kind of card I buy from my saved searches. Nothing major, but parallels or smaller cards that somehow get missed or overlooked.

What about you? Do you have a lot of saved searches that you rely on?

Menendez Brothers Karma

Last month, the card universe somehow got swept up by a 1990-91 NBA Hoops Mark Jackson basketball card. It's not Jackson that drove the interest, rather two fellows sitting behind him. The Menendez brothers, known for being convicted of killing their parents, are sitting courtside, just to the right of Jackson's hip. Many believe that based on when this game occurred, that they attended the game after they killed their parents, but before they were arrested.

This is the most common of commons from one of the most over-produced sets in basketball card history. These were so overproduced that my grandma used to buy me boxes of these on my birthday int he late 90s. Of course, I was always interested in the Michael Jordan cards from this set.

I knew I had countless cards of the Jackson at some point, but I'm sure I got rid of many of them when I sold large boxes of basketball commons this past summer. Luckily I was able to dig one up in my small Knicks collection rather quickly. The card was going for around $25 on eBay after it went viral, and I was able to capitalize and sell one for $20 before eBay pulled all of the listings (only to reverse course later).

I didn't feel bad about this. If someone wanted to pay $20 for a card that showed two murderers, be my guest!

I decided to turn a card I didn't care about into one I wanted, so taking the winnings from the Jackson card, plus $5 of my own hard-earned dollars, I bought a lot that included a Gleyber Torres signed rookie card, as well as a base card of his from A&G.

I was excited! Basically for $5 and an NBA common, I had my first Gleyber autograph on the way. The package arrived just before Christmas, and I eagerly opened it and found this:

Two Gleyber! But, um, no autograph. Huh. I scampered back to eBay and checked the listing. I definitely bought the autograph, yet there was no autograph here. Two base cards, one of which I expected, one of which wasn't a card I recognized.

My first thought, admittedly, was that of negativity. That the seller didn't get what he wanted for the autograph, so he duped me into two other cards, would claim error, then re-list the card. Terrible way to think, I know, but I, however unfairly, tend to think the worst of sellers and dealers sometimes.

What the seller did do was include his Twitter handle, so I messaged him and he seemed remorseful and that it was an honest mistake, and that the Gleyber autograph somehow managed to find its way into a different outgoing package. I get it, especially around the holidays. He told me to keep the two Gleybers and that he would refund me.

I appreciated the refund, but I must admit it rubbed me the wrong way overall. Because the seller makes an error, all he has to do is refund me and he's done with the process? In the end, it makes more work for me, because now I have to go searching for the card all over again. Maybe that's expecting too much from someone, but if I were the seller, I would have gone out and reacquired the card and sent it my way.

Unrealistic, I know. I just felt it was unfair for him to so easily get off for his error, other than the refund, I guess.

It took me about 10 days to find the same card at a comparable price, and I'm glad to say that I did replace the card and the proper one was sent from the new seller, so now I do officially this Gleyber Torres autograph:

But I guess karma did have  to make it a little more difficult for me. Thanks, Menendez Brothers.

Cornering the market

It's weird being really the only market when it comes to collecting certain players. Now, I don't have complete proof of this, but I believe I'm the only person actively chasing Ty Hensley cards.

Even with my Tino Martinez collection, I face competition from Yankees fans, especially for some of his rarer cards and autographs. I still manage to snag most of the ones I want, but it's not easier.

Then you've got the super collectors with collections centered entirely around popular players. I can't imagine how hard it is for Junior Junkie or Collecting Cutch, as both must face a lot of competition for rare cards of Griffey and McCutchen, respectively. Although I have to say, I can't imagine anyone beats those two for key cards of that particular player.

I'd assume P-Town Tom (Vogelmonster) and Zippy Zappy (Torrens) can relate as to being the only market for a certain player. While it's great to not be in a major competition for cards, it can also be frustrating.

For me, Ty Hensley carries the label of "YANKEES FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICK." And that's true. He was. In 2012. Yet many of his cards still carry a premium price because of the interlocking NY, despite Ty's struggle to succeed in pro ball. It's annoying seeing cards I need that are either overpriced, or the seller isn't willing to negotiate. I just want to be like, "dude, if I'm not buying this card, no one is."

Luckily, anytime there is an auction with a minimum bid for a card I need, I usually end up with that card, and usually at the lowest price. So when this autograph numbered to /10 popped up with a $.99 bid, I was all over it.

And won it for $.99. The problem I now face is really the fact that shipping usually outweighs the card cost, but at this point, I don't have a ton of choices if I want to keep building this collection.

When the throw-ins are better than the card purchased

My eBay Bucks were going to expire late last week...all $1.50 of them.

I wanted to spend them on a card without spending extra, so I gave myself a fun challenge. Most of the cards I found were pretty standard base cards, like $.99 with free shipping. But then I saw this for $1 plus $.50 shipping, so I snagged it.

Sonny Gray is in the dog house and won't be returning to NY. Brian Cashman has been very open about wanting to trade him. For whatever reason, Gray never figured it out in NY. I am certain he'll be bounce back wherever he ends up. Anyhow, I thought it would be cool to have a relic of him as a Yankee, given that his tenure will end up being just 1.5 seasons with the team.

The seller also threw in two cards around the Gray gray swatch:

I was actually more excited about these, especially the Montgomery!

In all, I think I did pretty well for my massive amount of eBay Bucks.

Perk Me Up, Before You Buy Buy

A few weeks ago, I saw the eBay was running a promotion called PERKMEUP. Basically, it was $5 off a purchase of $5.01 or more. Essentially, it was free money.

I feel like eBay had to have made a mistake and meant to offer it only to a select group, yet it worked for me and for many others. It was a fun night on Twitter when it first hit, as everyone was sharing their pickups. I was glad so many were able to take advantage.

As for me, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to buy, but settled on this card for $5.01. So literally, this card cost me one penny, and not a cent more:

Pretty cool issue of the Topps Live Set, and I like that Topps went with an old school Mattingly photo from early in his career.

I'm still pretty undecided on the Living Set, but definitely feel like it's worth it to add Yankees when they are included.

I've been waiting for you

There aren't many Ty Hensley cards that I don't have.

This is one I knew has existed, but haven't gotten my hands on it. There is a gold version on COMC for $35 (nope), but the neither that nor the silver come around very often. Then an eBay listing popped up with a minimum bid of $.99 + $3.50 shipping.

I was the only bidder!

Not only that, but a second card was part of the lot. I do already have this one, but hey, I would have spent the $4.50 without it, so I look at it as a nice bonus.

The top card would have been a great card to save for my July 4th post, but I am too excited about finally checking it off the list and adding to my Hensley collection.

Not too slabby

I'm not a huge fan of graded cards.

I don't purchase enough high end or vintage cards to really be concerned about them. I do have a couple that I've gotten sent to me or purchased, and that's all well and good. With so few in my collection, they aren't easy to store and sort of stick out like a sore thumb.

However, there are instances where a graded, slabbed card is more affordable than unslabbed. For instance, in March, this same card, ungraded and #'d 1/5, sold or $35.99 on eBay. The bidder was not me.

I bought this same card, graded and #'d 2/5, for $1.99 + 3.99 shipping last week. That's quite a price swing for the same card. It's a 2013 Bowman Platinum Orange that was exclusive to the National Convention. I've had the regular version of this (Orange #'d to 125) for years, but the autograph /5 is fairly rare and I've only seen it pop up once or twice.

I think I scored quite the deal, especially compared to the person who purchased the ungraded version two months ago!

I bid $1,775 for this card...and won!

Having eBay on our smartphones can both be a blessing and a curse. I've used it to easily search for and buy cards when I otherwise wouldn't have been in front of a computer. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've actually been to eBay's website on my computer.

The problem is that it's a lot easier to screw up a bid. I recently did this for the Matt Sauer 2018 Bowman Chrome autograph pictured above. At the time, most were selling in the $2-$3 range. So I put in a very low bid of $1.75 to see if I'd win. However, my less than agile thumb hit the 7 twice. So my bid was actually $1,775. Oy!

Upon a google search, I saw that I could visit eBay's website and go through a process to retract my bid. But I don't like it when I've had people retract bids on me. Plus I didn't want to go to the website versus the app. I also knew that this card wasn't going to skyrocket, so I was pretty safe winning it for a decent prize. I let it ride out, and ended up winning the card for $7.50 plus shipping. It's more than I would have paid on it's own and I probably could have gotten one in the $4 range, but oh well. I'm happy to have it and it's a fun story.

Maybe the seller saw my bid and felt bad, as he tossed in 12 Bowman cards to protect the autograph. I haven't found any Bowman in stores, so I guess it's like I ended up with a pack that contained an autograph of a prospect on my favorite team.

And remember to double-check your bids before pressing "submit"!