30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Am I crazy, stubborn, or both?

I recently picked up several cheap, yet incomplete (except one) 2010 Panini football sets off of a guy on YouTube who needed some extra cash. He needed some extra funds and I figured I'd grab some newer football singles for my students.


One of the sets...
2010 Playoff Contenders had about 10% of the set missing, but at least it included the two base rookie cards of Danny Woodhead and Anthony Armstrong. There's way too many singles for me to chase... so I'll definitely be handing these cards out this summer to the kids (except for those two rookie cards).


I also received a complete set of
2010 Panini Threads football (no RC's), which by the way will be the 6th prize added to my prize list.

And finally... he included two more sets that each fell one card short of completion. I'm not usually a fan of Panini's designs, but to my surprise... I actually plan on keeping one of the sets. The other one I can definitely do without.

I'll show you both designs and see if you can guess which one I liked and which one I think falls into the category of "90% of all Panini products look like that".


The first card I need is card #15 from the
2010 Rookies & Stars set, which is a Lee Evans base card. And the other card is the Vince Young base card (card #146) from the 2010 Gridiron Gear set. Neither is short printed and since they're both from readily available sets... I figured it shouldn't cost too much for me to pick up these two commons to complete my two sets.

Umm... I guess I was wrong.

I found a guy on
COMC who happened to be selling both of the cards I need to complete my set. His original asking price is $.50 for each card... which when combined is less than the price of a bottle of soda at my work.

However... I just couldn't pull the trigger to pay that price for two commons. So, I offered the guy $.50 for the pair ($.25 each).

He later countered my offer with both cards for $.70.


A nice 30% discount off of his asking price (& only $.20 more than what I originally offered)... but... I just couldn't do it. I couldn't bite the bullet and pay his reduced asking price either.

I know it's only 35 cents per card... but they're base cards of Lee Evans and Vince Young.

I know that if I give this guy 70 cents (+ shipping), then I'll be able to wipe off two more sets from my wantlist.

But... after weighing the options and going back and forth... I decided to reject his offer. I'd rather wait and see if I can trade for the two cards I need (
anyone out there have these two cards?)... or possibly buy it from another seller in the future. It goes against everything I stand for (being a cheapskate) to pay somebody $.70 for two commons from overproduced 2010 Panini products.

Which brings me to my questions...

Am I crazy? Stubborn? Both?

I have to admit... after writing this post... and looking from the outside "in"... I definitely sound crazy. However... I'm not backing down. There's no way I'm paying more than $.50 for the pair.

Oh well... at least I have something to search for in commons bins at next year's TriStar show.

By the way...

Can you figure out which Panini design I actually liked? Rookies & Stars or Gridiron Gear?

If you leave a comment (relating to either me being as stubborn as a mule... and/or by guessing which 2010 Panini football set I actually like) I'll award you one point in the contest. However... if you guess the set correctly, I'll give you two points for participating.

FYI: You may join my contest at any point... however there are expiration dates for individual posts (for example, comments left on the June 10th post will no longer receive points).

And just a reminder CCW members... if you're planning on participating... you must leave your responses on the actual blog post... and now in the forums.

Oh... and if you're interested in seeing the most current standings...
click here.

Happy Sunday everyone... and sayonara!

26 comments:

Dawgbones said...

I think you like the Rookies, and you are not stubborn, just like me and ebay, I set a price I am willing to pay and somebody else can have it if they want to pay more, of course they'll only have about 2 seconds to bid after me but that's a whole different story...

SpastikMooss said...

I'm gonna say you liked the Gridiron Gear.

And if it were Ebay or Beckett I'd call you stubborn, but with COMC's shipping prices I think you're fine. Even if you figure it's just 25 cents a card shipping, that's still 60 cents per card in the end, which is waaaay too much for those base cards. Wish I had them to send to you!

BA Benny said...

I agree with you on not pulling the trigger on the deal. I set a price in my mind if I find a card or cards at a store and if I can get them for that online including shipping then it's good but if not I pass.

I will go with the Gridiron gear as I like them better and I think you do too.

jnkben said...

I think you like the Rookies set better and like the commenters before me you are definitely not stubborn or crazy for backing out of that deal!

Captain Canuck said...

WHY do people still insist on using COMC??? They are soooo expensive it's unreal.

There's multiple guys on Sportslots that have both of those cards at .18 cents each, and between $1 and $2 shipping. I checked.

$1.36 is a lot better than whatever the hell the yo yo on comc was talking about.

oh, and I'm going with Gridiron Gear.

Tony Mc said...

I think you prefer the Gridiron Gear, at least thats the one I'd pick.
Theres nothing wrong with a bit of stubbornness, you could probably trade for those card easily or even one of the blog readers will have them.

Greg Zakwin said...

I'm assuming you liked the Gridiron design. I assume this because I like the Gridiron design best.

Sound logic, clearly.

And I think it has less to do with crazy and more to do with priorities. If completing these sets RIGHT NOW isn't a high priority, then there's no reason to pay more than what you would ideally pay. But if they are high-priority sets to complete, then you should probably just bite the bullet.

But it's far more fun to complete sets through trades anyways.

Oh, and that Rodgers Panini Threads card is just nails. A great, great photo.

Word Verification: chibut?

I don't even want to know.

Eric L said...

Gridiron Gear looks like a lovely set, so I'm guessing it's the one you liked.

Stick to your guns. Crazy, stubborn? Neither. I say you are responsible. Its the nickles and dimes that start to add up and eat away at a budget.

And I know with the few times I've over paid, the buyers remorse has always been a worse feeling than when I have had to let a card go.

Martyn said...

I think your doing the right thing although I'd have bitten the bullet, i think you like rookies & stars!

Curtis said...

i think you like gridiron gear! I think setting a price in your mind and not going above it is respectable.

Martyn said...

BTW Congratulations on reaching 100 followers

Baseball Nut said...

I'd go with Gridiron Gear, so I think you would too.

Everybody has their price point. Its important. With anything that is market based pricing, Collectibles, Real Estate etc. if you don't feel its right, you shouldn't make the purchase. But you are subject to the possibility of not finding it any cheaper elsewhere.

Thats when you have to add two factors, the value of your time spent looking for a better deal and the costs involved to the seller. Just like eBay, COMC charges fees to the seller. That's why you will never see a card listed for less than 20 cents.

In general, if something is close to fairly priced to begin with, 15% to 20% off that is a pretty good deal.

Are you crazy? No. Stubborn? Nope. I would have taken it just to be done with it, but you made the right decision for you.

Ryan G said...

Like Captain Canuck said, I look to Sportlots for commons (and some inserts too). If you find multiple cards from the same dealer it really helps with shipping, much cheaper than anything on COMC would be.

Wes Moore the former JBF said...

Not stubborn at all, I would wait for a trade. I'm guessing you like gridiron gear more, I do.

Hairylemon said...

I think you like Gridiron Gear. No, you are not stubborn or crazy,you have your price in mind and are sticking to your guns.I'm sure you will be able to trade for them anyway.

Anonymous said...

I think you were neither crazy or stubborn to back out. You are a very smart man to stick to your beliefs by not overpaying for a common set. Eventually if you stick to your price range, the cards will come to you when you least expect them.

I think you would pick the Gridiron Gear because it is a better looking set. The Rookies&4tars set looks like most of the older Score sets.

Anonymous said...

I think you were neither crazy or stubborn to back out. You are a very smart man to stick to your beliefs by not overpaying for a common set. Eventually if you stick to your price range, the cards will come to you when you least expect them.

I think you would pick the Gridiron Gear because it is a better looking set. The Rookies&4tars set looks like most of the older Score sets.

Anonymous said...

You, my friend are a very smart man. Stick your price limit and it will come to you.

I would say it has to be the Gridiron set. The R&S set looks like a Score set from 5 years ago.

Mark Zentkovich said...

I would like to trade you for that anthony armstrong some time..for a gwynn or two that you might need.

John Bateman said...

Stubborn - not a bad price for 2 commons - You like Grid Iron Gear

Offy said...

I don't think you are either. Have you checked out Sportlots for those cards? You might be able to find them for .18¢ a piece on there.

I'm going to guess that you prefer Gridiron Gear.

Cheap Card Collecting said...

I don't think you are crazy or stubborn because it's better to trade base sometimes. I think you like Gridiron Gear.

Ryan G said...

I realized that I never bothered to answer your second question, because I'm absentminded like that. In fact, I never really answered your first question, though you could interpret that you're neither crazy nor stubborn for holding off.

I'm going to go with Gridiron Gear. It's a more appealing card, at least based on the two you showed (I don't do football).

Mariner1 said...

You are a wise one. You will find a cheap version of the two cards eventually.

It has to be Gridiron. The Rookis and Stars set looks like any other Panini product.

Fuji said...

Thanks for all of the responses... this official contest entry is closed. Feel free to continue responding... but unfortunately... they won't count as points.

By the way... if you guessed 2010 Gridiron Gear... you were right! 2 points!

Fuji said...

Captain Canuck - You're right... when it comes to picking up commons to complete sets... Sportslots is the place to go. But I love COMC. I pick up cards from them for my PC... all of the time.

Zakwin - I agree... completing sets through trades is the best way to go!

Martyn - Thanks!

Baseball Nut - This is exactly why I love reading comments... you make some excellent points!

Anonymous - Thanks so much for participating... but if you're planning on participating in the contest... you can't stay anonymous ;-)

Markz - Umm... the card is actually headed out. Sorry about that.

Everyone - Thanks for taking the time to answer the question... loved reading the responses!