Buying boxes on ebay

[Pokerpro503]

After quitting collecting cards in 2000 when i was 15, I have recently rekindled my love with collecting cards and have started buying a lot of boxes. After buying about 20-25boxes at my local card store I started purchasing some older boxes on ebay(2003-04 spx, sp authetic, 2008-09 topps chrome etc) but have been told by some people that buying boxes on ebay may not be the best idea due to "case crackers"

So my question is, is it smart to buy boxes on ebay obviously wanting to get random boxes from a case and not a box from a case that has already been searched through.

[alligot]

My understanding is that most of them have been searched through. I just started collecting after about 20 years away and of course I went right to ebay without putting much thought into it. My personal experience, I have bought 5-6 boxes and havent gotten squat. Random junk. Might be my bad luck but most people say they have been searched. Spend the few extra $$ and buy from card shops online. At least that is my plan.

[Pokerpro503]

Thanks for the reply, after opening a bunch of boxes and not got much I think i will stay away from them. What card shops do you recommend online and how can you be sure that they arent case cracking before they sell their boxes also?

[golfermatt91]

I have bought some boxes on ebay and have been successful, the key is too look for dealers on ebay who just sell hobby boxes and sports memorabilia. People who sell cases of boxes as long as large quantities. There are also some reliable internet dealers such as dacardworld, and blowoutcards who sell boxes on ebay, and you can always feel safe buying from them.

[GiantsSB42Champs]

i would stay away....

one guy who is legit is corporate1000 bought from him good guy... i'd stick with cases because those are factory sealed from anywhere...

[alligot]

The only one that I have bought from so far is dacardworld. Their prices seem fair but I haven't received the boxes yet. I am new to collecting so I am probly not the person to be talking to on the subject. My advice would be to read a lot on these forums and others and take your time before buying. Good luck to you and have fun

[Pokerpro503]

i would stay away....

one guy who is legit is corporate1000 bought from him good guy... i'd stick with cases because those are factory sealed from anywhere...

Thank you, I just impulse bought a bunch of boxes on ebay and at the time didn't even consider at the time that case cracking was even a practie. Oh well lesson learned and in the future I'll just stick to my local hobby store.

[hist]

I believe that even though a good card may have been pulled, it doesn't mean you don't have a chance at a good card. For example, a local shop owner thought a box was dead because the autos/jerseys were pulled. He ended up opening the rest of the box and pulled a superfractor. I believe the usual hits may be gone, but I've heard many stories where a box/case that was thought to be dead, yielded a super rare card.

[BigAl_83]

Welcome on this great forum!

Perhaps online/youtube. I watch a lot of the breaks from Chri5784 (cards infinity).
You can buy boxes online from his website/store, and he can break them and post video on youtube (or have him ship boxes sealed if you prefer).
He has pulled some sick stuff, from Kobe 1/1 lakers logo auto to Noah logoman/auto and much more great stuff.
plus if you have him break stuff and just ship the cards it might save you a lot of $$ on shipping.
Just might be another option for you, or at least it is a great to way to see what products hold which hits.

[Pokerpro503]

Final note on this ebay boxing buying nonsense. Since getting back into collecting in the last month I have also decided to start buying some football boxes as well, so naturally as with basketball I impulse bought some boxes. I ended buy a lot of 6 2011 topps chrome boxes 24 packs per card 4 cards per pack. The add did not explicitly say "hobby box" but i looked at the hobby boxes and they also contained 24 packs with 4 cards per pack. I assumed they were hobby boxes and bought the lost for $505.

Fast forward to today when they arrive in the mail and I open the package only to realize they were not the same Topps chrome hobby box that I had bought from my local card store. They were still the 24 packs per box but didnt have the guaranteed 1 rookie autograph per box like the hobby ones. So immediately I knew I had been fooled/naive and bought what I am guessing now are just retail boxes.

So Just out of frustration I bust through all the boxes as fast as humanly possible assuming it was very likely I wasnt going to pull much of anything good. After rifling through like 140 of the 144 packs, my best card was literally a cam new base rookie and a julio jones base refractor both worth less than $20bv, no autographs, no patch cards nothing!!! But what do I find in the of the final 3 packs but a Cam Newton/Jake Locker dual autograph refractor numbered to 25!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turns out they didnt scam me as much as they thought they were going to :))))