Leaving no mystery about it, I’m thrilled with my first two experiences selling to Blowout Cards. Sports cards are booming and many in the hobby are looking at ways to benefit, myself included. Three weeks ago I knew nothing about the process, or even that Blowout Cards purchased unopened product in small quantities.
Submitting cards to COMC is not a cost effective option at the moment. Basic submissions are taking months longer to process that in “normal” times, and with no compensation to sellers missing sales throughout this boom. Selling on eBay right now is a scary proposition. We see scamming running rampant. USPS efficiency is at a level that if they were a private business and not protected by the government, they would be out of business.
I joined the Topps Montgomery Club last fall, purchasing most of product that club members have received early access to. The latest two releases were 2020 Bowman Sapphire and 2020 Finest Flashbacks. I purchased both, selling to Blowout Cards and doing well for myself.
It is quite possible that I could have made SLIGHTLY more selling on eBay or to others elsewhere, don’t get me wrong. Despite this, I will continue selling to Blowout Cards at every opportunity. Why? Collecting every last dollar isn’t paramount, considering the benefits that I receive.
PEACE OF MIND
Blowout Cards is well known in the hobby. Soiling their reputation by taking advantage of collectors to make a few extra dollars isn’t smart in the big picture. From where I sit, I much prefer dealing with them than some random user name on the internet.
In the early eBay days, it was a modern day Wild West. I joined in 1999 and though I was never burned buying anything, there are thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) that were. That’s not an issue today, though the Wild West aspect has returned.
It’s rare that a day goes anymore and I don’t see something on social media about a seller being scammed. Many times it involves eBay, recently with Project 2020, and because of slow shipping by USPS. There’s little it appears sellers can do because of the dual buyer “protection” of both eBay and PayPal. I see that it seems to be a little tougher for “buyers” to scam if it’s just the PayPal “protection,” but it does happen.
Selling to Blowout Cards, my only true concern was that USPS would screw me. I purchased additional insurance to be safe, but I’ve heard dealing with claims are a nightmare. I experienced anxiety that either my items wouldn’t deliver, or they would deliver damaged. Blowout does not accept damaged boxes, understandably.
SPEED OF TRANSACTION
The team at Blowout cards does not mess around! I sent an initial email to Blowout after a Twitter followers tagged me in a BlowoutBuzz tweet. The reply to that email came back in less than 30 minutes from Chris, as has EVERY email reply from him.
I confirmed my sale of two boxes of 2020 Bowman Sapphire after a few messages back and forth (this was my first time through the process). I shipped them later that day (a Friday) via USPS Priority Mail and to my surprise, they arrived Monday. I failed to send Chris the tracking info as requested. When I opened PayPal to get him the tracking number Monday afternoon, I discovered that they had already been delivered!
Chris told me that once the receiving team let him know they were received, he would send over PayPal payment. That receiving team worked quickly receiving the shipment and the payment was in my account the next morning.
The only part of the entire process I didn’t mention was one page that I needed to fill out and include with the shipment. I filled that form out in less than five minutes.
I shipped boxes and waited on payment, spending maybe 15 minutes of my time. Payment received in four days. Shipping during the week, via an overnight service, might have gotten me my money faster, but at a higher cost to me (seller does pay their own shipping).
I easily decided that I was selling to Blowout Cards again if they put 2020 Finest Flashbacks on their “most wanted” list. They did, and I did. Admittedly, I wondered if I was just lucky that things worked out well the first time and it would be a longer process on the second go-round.
I shipped out my three boxes the next Friday. I received my payment MONDAY, the same day they received the shipment. As I stated earlier, the team at Blowout Cards does not mess around!
THE PROFIT
Blowout paid less than eBay, but factoring in fees, not much less. Sales are fluid and have may have risen since I sold, but at the time I was very happy with their offers. The “difference” in what my net sales were was worth it, considering my minimal anxiety about scammers and returns.
Time spent on everything, from ordering the boxes, opening, emailing and shipping was under two hours and probably more like 90 minutes. Was it worth the time and effort I put in? I’d say so.
Slice it any way you want, I find this profitable for (less than) two hours of work. I made $625 per hour and $250 PER BOX. This won’t last forever, I’m not that foolish. The card market will slow down. I would be stupefied if Topps doesn’t add at least 1000 new Montgomery Club subscriptions, watering down the impact. I’m riding this wave as long as it lasts, thanks to Topps and Blowout.
THE EXTRA MONEY
My heart tells me to take this money and go spend it on one really nice cards. My mind tells me to use the money for non-hobby related purposes. My mind wins out. I know there are much better ways in life to allocate the money. I redistributed a small amount of it back into the hobby, but I feel much better about plans I’ve made with it outside the hobby. I hope to have more opportunities to do this again soon.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
I understand that most Montgomery Club members are baseball fans and collectors that would prefer to just open their product. If you elected to sell, would you go the route I did, or would you prefer to sell through eBay, Twitter or any of the other options out there? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave me a comment below.
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