How do you work your way into high end?

**Hollywood42** · 02-24-2013, 07:34 PM

I'm asking this half out of curiosity and half for personal benefit- How did you work your way into having more high-end cards? At some point, every collector started out with nothing. I don't really know how to work my way up. Each time I get a good hit, I always seem to trade it for a PC (which is just fine, don't get me wrong), but then I'm out of high end traders and it makes it hard for me to get higher end PC items. I don't have the money to be able to buy higher end products like Tribute, Triple Threads, Museum Collection, etc, so obtaining high end cards is fairly difficult. Anybody have any tips on how to work my way up? Would also love just to hear some stories on how your collection grew from 1980s commons to Five Star autos. Thanks!

**Rowdy Gentleman** · 02-24-2013, 08:02 PM

It sounds like you bust cards to trade your hits. Which is fine but if you want the higher end stuff I would suggest to buy them as singles or with the hits you get trade them up even if you don't get a PC Card. Keep trading up until you have a card worthy enough to trade for the desired high end card.

**pwaldo** · 02-24-2013, 08:52 PM

Buy bulk lots on eBay or at card shows. Not total junk lots but stuff that contains stuff that people want but that is still cheap. If you can get enough of it then you can trade it for better stuff. If you buy lots that contain rookies (usually in newer lots) some will go up and some will go down. If you trade the ones that go up on a high note you can get stuff like Hall of Famer autographs for them. Then you can diversify your trade bait and trade in their favor to move up and get better stuff.

**Rowdy Gentleman** · 02-24-2013, 09:05 PM

PWaldo's suggestion would be great if you could afford some of the rookie lots. Those things can get VERY pricey. I would stick to buying the singles and if you want to break still I would find a product that you like and work on the set. With the hits you get either sell or take my other suggestion. If you can find affordable rookie lots then PWaldo's suggestion would be the most lucrative.

**Jazzer540** · 02-24-2013, 09:09 PM

I started with trying to do half trade/half money with some of my first trades... beef up my collection. I bought a TON of retail though... so although lot of money horribly spent, I STILL have tons of #'d, refractors, inserts, etc.. and sometimes can put a lot together for someone.... hence if someone has a really nice collection of my PC guys, I will hand out some GU's to them.

**tkraft24** · 02-24-2013, 09:22 PM

Hang up the box/pack busting if you want to beef up your hits to trade. Personally, I like picking up large lots of GU or refractors every now and then because it mixes up my tradebait. I don't mess much with nice autographs anymore because its rare that a comparable Indians autograph surfaces on here.

I recently made my largest purchase ever with some of my tax return.....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330874453271...84.m1439.l2649

I plan on selling the top 30-50 hits which should recoup most of my money and than I'll still have 200 or so new cards for trades! Again, this is the largest purchase I've ever made. I usually buy smaller, less expensive lots.....for the cost of a box of cards.

**pwaldo** · 02-24-2013, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by Rowdy Gentleman

PWaldo's suggestion would be great if you could afford some of the rookie lots. Those things can get VERY pricey. I would stick to buying the singles and if you want to break still I would find a product that you like and work on the set. With the hits you get either sell or take my other suggestion. If you can find affordable rookie lots then PWaldo's suggestion would be the most lucrative.

Yeah if you have money it is a lot easier to make more money unfortunately. If you are starting at the really low end of the spectrum it becomes a lot harder. Basically just avoid retail, avoid boxes and packs and maybe save up to get something better because it is a lot easier to have ten $10 cards than it is to get two $50 cards.

**jayohhessaych** · 02-24-2013, 11:15 PM

I sell unwanted cards on comc.com. 90% of my high end cards have been purchased with credits on that site from unwanted cards i have sold. It takes a little time but it has worked great for me.

**the 'stache** · 02-25-2013, 01:59 AM

I put money aside for the cards I want, then buy them. It's not rocket science. I just budget myself, and stay disciplined. And since I'm getting into vintage now, the cards I want will take even more discipline.

**Hollywood42** · 02-25-2013, 07:18 PM

Thanks to all that have replied! This is good info for me!

Jayo- How has storage fees affected what you sell at COMC? Also, what types of cards sell the best for you, anything you ahve a really hard time moving? I've considered going to COMC to sell some stuff for awhile now, but haven't pulled the trigger quite yet

Originally Posted by jayohhessaych

I sell unwanted cards on comc.com. 90% of my high end cards have been purchased with credits on that site from unwanted cards i have sold. It takes a little time but it has worked great for me.