Why are you not trading anymore??

[NYMets6986]

I miss the days of when we had multiple companies producing baseball cards. I like Topps but I also like to have more options and I think limiting the hobby to one company was a huge mistake.

I kind of like UD produvts like sweet spot classic, sp legendary cuts, and the hall of famers sets in the early 2000s, I wish they woud come out with that kind of stuff again.

 

[Hoyt55]

I actually don't mind Topps being the only product in town as much as other Benchies do, as a broke, jobless teenager, it gives me a lot less product to chase after than I would have back in around 2005 with all the Topps sets, all the UD sets, and not to mention Donruss. However, I wish Topps would just par down the sets they release. Just give me Series 1, Heritage, Series 2, A&G, and Update and I'd be happy. Do we really need more A&G knock-offs like Gypsy Queen or a set like Topps Lineage?

 

[David K.]

With the disaster in Japan and freeze on my pay for the next 2 years.. Looking forward to a slow down in May! Best regards, David

 

[chaplain11]

I have been trading a bit of late but I don't have much newer stuff. I pretty much stopped busting stuff in 2006 with the exception of the SP Legendary Cuts case I bought each year and a few pre-2006 cases over the years, but nothing the past year. I just dropped what I would have spent on a case and got a ton of nice stuff for my PC (all being posted in the Recent Pickup - April edition).

I personnal don't care for Topps products. I really miss the Donruss/Playoff/Leaf/Studio brands and some of the UD products. But that won't keep me from picking up the older stuff. I just do more buying than trading.

Dewayne

 

[bombie1138]

One other thing that keeps rolling around in the back of my mind is what is going to happen to the card market when the dust settles from the steriod
trials,..
Bonds cards haven't fallen yet in Beckett,Clemens, either but I have a feeling that may change here soon,..I was always in for the fun of it but my collection will take a major hit when that happens,...

Clint

 

[chaplain11]

One other thing that keeps rolling around in the back of my mind is what is going to happen to the card market when the dust settles from the steriod
trials,..
Bonds cards haven't fallen yet in Beckett,Clemens, either but I have a feeling that may change here soon,..I was always in for the fun of it but my collection will take a major hit when that happens,...

Clint

That could very well be true. It is also another reason I do not focus on the "hot" rookies. Look at Strasburg, Joba Chamberlain and even a reach back at Ben Sheets. You pay soooo much money for their stuff when they first come out but they aren't proven and have such a high risk associated with them. Just wait a year or two and you can get their autos for a fraction of the cost. That is why I stick with HoFer and retired star player focused sets instead of the rookie heavy products.

Dewayne

 

[37Jetson]

Postage for a bubble mailer is $2.00+ so it really does not make small trades worth it to me. 25 trades means $50+ in postage alone and that is too rich for my blood.

 

[Dilferules]

One other thing that keeps rolling around in the back of my mind is what is going to happen to the card market when the dust settles from the steriod
trials,..
Bonds cards haven't fallen yet in Beckett,Clemens, either but I have a feeling that may change here soon,..I was always in for the fun of it but my collection will take a major hit when that happens,...

Clint

Bonds and Clemens stuff is way overvalued in Beckett, the demand is just not there (except for Yankee Clemens stuff for Yanks collectors). I don't know the last time somebody wanted a Bonds card from me unless maybe they were completing a set. I don't know why BV's didn't drop on that stuff long ago.
Richard

 

[NYMets6986]

That could very well be true. It is also another reason I do not focus on the "hot" rookies. Look at Strasburg, Joba Chamberlain and even a reach back at Ben Sheets. You pay soooo much money for their stuff when they first come out but they aren't proven and have such a high risk associated with them. Just wait a year or two and you can get their autos for a fraction of the cost. That is why I stick with HoFer and retired star player focused sets instead of the rookie heavy products.

Dewayne

I totally agree with you, Im not much into collecting rookies.

 

[Gnep31]

I have to chime in and say that I am happy with just one card company. I was never a fan of all the bells and whistles the other companies tried to throw at the market to compete with Topps.

The only reason I would want to see UD come back is to create some competition and bring down the price of cards....well that is how the market is supposed to work....

 

[djbjinflorida]

I don't trade as much now as before because I am able to buy cards that use to go on average for 15 to 20 dollars are now going for 2.50 a piece delivered. I have a very large collection of Scott Kazmir cards and I collect dups but because his performance over the past couple of years has been subpar other collectors have given up on him and dumping his cards at low prices. I have purchase a number of lots of autos and gu recently for as low as 2 to 2.50 a piece including shipping, have bought over a 100 in the last three weeks like this in 4 lots. Would be great if he returned to form but having a good time buying his cards very cheap now. Serious some of these cards were going for around 20 dollars a piece just two years ago. I guess this happens to player collectors when their star starts having problems.

Been great for me but has made trading more difficult because it is so much cheaper for me to buy right now. Danny

 

[brewerfan34]

Time is probably the biggest factor for me, followed by money. Since I am most interested in collecting Brewer and low end Ichiro cards there is TONS out there for me to get. Trading is a bit more difficult because I am not going to open $100 boxes to trade for Brewer cards from the 1990's. For $100 I can buy lots of team sets and save lots of time.

Besides out of a box of cards how many of them have real trade value? Aside from set collectors there is not much demand in trading for about half of the teams.

Also with having a family it is tough to say to my wife, "I think I'm going to pick up 3 boxes of A&G this year." Granted we both work and we are not broke, we still have to replace the roof on the grarage this spring, redo our lawn and remodel the basement. The combo of spending $300 and the time with opening and sorting, then trading, as fun as it is, would short change my family.

I enjoy The Bench to make a few trades, look at the collections of others and have interactions with people who enjoy the hobby as much as I do.

 

[Sabrgeek]

I trade large lots of teams

For other people's large lots -- and I have a pretty decent network -- however, many of the people I trade with are having a very difficult time with work,... etc.

I will trade as long as I can with as many people as I can -- and the point is,,, I was down to about 2 teams I needed traders for, now I'm back up to about 6 -- and I do trade bulk for bulk to give you stuff you need for your area.

Right now:
The teams I need traders for are:

Indians, Brewers, Braves, Orioles, Rockies,

That's not bad -- but I'd love to have a home for every team

Regards
Rich

 

[jrchoholic83]

For me it just seems difficult and time consuming to make a trade for a card, and the shipping is more than the card is worth. Plus I have my wants narrowed down so far that I can only find the cards I need for sale, none for trade.

 

[valediction]

I agree with the "it's just cheaper/easier to buy right now".
I've been getting in to autographed cards lately, TTM/IP non certified. Between longtime hobbyists clearing out their collections, dealers I trust with a book of stuff they've collected at shows over the last few decades, and some low risk purchases on ebay, times are good for cash right now.
in the last year or so, I've picked up:
1981 D George Brett auto ($6.50 dlvd with 25 other Brett cards and an insert lot)
1994 Team Stadium Club Roberto Alomar auto $2.99
Goudey reprint Gehringer auto $20
SportKings reprint Hubbell auto($20)
Monte Irvin, Killebrew, Slaughter, and Boudreau TCMA autos $28 dlvd
1976T Pete Rose Auto under $20 dlvd with misc inserts/base
tcma Koufax auto $30
1981 D Yogi Berra auto $15
1961T Duke Snider auto $15
1983 D HOF Heroes Snider auto $9
1987 T Blyleven auto $7 (probably overpaid, but it was here in MN right after his HOF announcement)
1987 Nestle Warren Spahn auto $6
1988D Musial auto $15 (older, more legible version)
1988 Pacific Bob Doerr $5
1990 D Blyleven (part of 4 card Angels auto'ed AS lot incl 1 deceased for around $7 dlvd for the 4 cards)
1991 T Tom Glavine $8
1961 Fleer Feller $15
1960 Fleer Feller PSA/DNA slabbed $20
(4) Ted Williams Card Co. Brooks Robinson autos $2.99 ea

Tough to find someone willing to trade a HOF auto for a 2003 Adrian Beltre GU card


Misc Garvey, Valenzuela, Kaat, Tiant, Tommy John, on card autos $2-10 ea, and a pretty good handful of TTM autos of 1960's-1980's Topps/Fleer/Donruss for $1 or less each. Cheaper than the postage to actually send them out TTM myself.

 

[markmulder20]

And don't forget the cost of shipping just increased. Now it'll cost you $1.71 to ship anything up to 3 ounces. So that means no more "small" deals for me unless I ship it in a PWE.

 

[David K.]

Same here! Reducing the number of trades thanks to the Post Office increases...."everyone knows about it"...quote from woman working at the post office last Monday! I did not know about it and go to the Post Office almost everyday! Going from an average of 90 trades down to about 58!! So they will be losing more money! Best regards, David

 

[potvin48]

And don't forget the cost of shipping just increased. Now it'll cost you $1.71 to ship anything up to 3 ounces. So that means no more "small" deals for me unless I ship it in a PWE.

One thing to note about this is that the $1.71 rate is for envelopes that are 3/4 inch thick or more.

This is the pricing for envelopes under 3/4 inch thick:
1 ounce $0.88
2 ounces $1.08
3 ounces $1.28
4 ounces $1.48
5 ounces $1.68
6 ounces $1.88
7 ounces $2.08
8 ounces $2.28
9 ounces $2.48
10 ounces $2.68
11 ounces $2.88
12 ounces $3.08
13 ounces $3.28

Size limits:
- Rectangular
- No more than 12 inches high by 15 inches long by 3/4 inches thick
- Must not be rigid and must be uniformly thick (see package prices)

Anything beyond that goes to the $1.71 rate up to 3 ounces.

Info obtained from this site: http://www.usps.com/prices/first-class-mail-prices.htm

 

[oldmarine0311]

I have stopped trading due to some family problems (health wise) and then there is all this economy stuff ontop of that, ect ect ect. prices are increasing and product (Topps) has drastcly dropped. after buying a case of 2011 Heritage i was extremely dissatisfied with what i got. but i miss the UD products, they were so much better looking to me. but thats anothr rant altogether too. i have just decided to do TTM projects myself, get the B grade players to sign and make a collection that way. im just so tired of the cost for my hobby that i am almost at the verge of giving up on it anymore. this is jst to time consuming and stressful (money wise) to keep plugging along. and if it werent for the group here i would have made a bon fire this last winter to get loose of the cardboard crap i have.

 

[redsfan24]

Noone has cards I want