30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

I'm A Sucker

I'm a sucker.  I'm a sucker for new types of card collections.  I'm a sucker for one of a kind accomplishments in sports.  And I'm a sucker for combined shipping discounts.  Like I said... I'm a sucker.

Two weeks ago, I decided to start collecting autographs of athletes who are the only person to ever accomplish a feat within their sport.  A few days later, Jay over at Card Hemorrhage reminded his readers of Rennie Stennett's once in a generation feat of going 7 for 7 at the plate during a nine-inning game.  Although the achievement has happened before, Stennett is the only modern day MLB player to do it.

2012 Leaf Cut Signatures #NNO

When I finished reading his post, I ran over to COMC and eBay to see if I could find a certified autograph.  I was surprised to find out that he only has two certified pack pulled signatures available.  One is a one-of-one In The Game cut signature from 2014... and the other is the cut signature you see above.

There weren't any copies of this card available on COMC, but I found one on eBay with a BIN price tag of $8.  Now normally, I wouldn't spend this much money on a plain looking cut signature of a living athlete, but according to Beckett, this card only has a print run of 22.  In other words, if I didn't purchase this right now, I might not have the opportunity again.

The only problem was that it wasn't only $8.  The seller was also charging $4.99 for shipping and when you factor in tax... the final price was going to be about $14.  I began having second thoughts on the purchase.  Then I scrolled down and noticed that each additional item shipped for only 25¢ each.

The hunt was on.

After sifting through his store for over thirty minutes, I had added ten more autographs to the shopping cart.  Actually there were more, but I trimmed things down because I didn't want to spend that much money.  At the time of checkout, the eleven cards totaled $62.35 (+ $13.50 shipping and tax, which my eBay Bucks almost covered).

The bulk of the purchase contained fan favorite autographs from early 2000's products like this:

2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Autograph #FFA-DST

This card is a nice addition to my Hometown Heroes PCStieb is one of a handful of professional athletes that attended the same high school as me.  I was tempted to show off the entire purchase here, but I have a feeling that some of the cards will eventually end up receiving their own post.

However... since I don't usually write basketball card posts, I'll go ahead and show you all the latest addition to the Los Angeles Lakers PC:

2018-19 Panini Impeccable Lakers #LA-ACG

A.C. Green is probably best known for abstaining from sex until he got married, which is pretty cool accomplishment.  However I didn't buy this card for that reason.  I picked it up because he was an integral part of the Showtime Lakers during the second half of the 80's and continued to play with them into the early 90's.  He's also made his mark in the record books by playing the most consecutive regular season games in NBA history.

Well that's it for today.  I have a few more autographs that I'll be writing about and adding to my Unique Accomplishments PC in the upcoming weeks.  I'm also trying to hunt down a few others that were suggested by some of you.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here is today's question of the day:

Do you ever get sucked into buying additional cards from a seller because of their combined shipping policy?

Please tell me that I'm not the only "combined shipping" sucka out there.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

21 comments:

The Diamond King said...

You are not the only combined shipping sucka!! I've done that many times. Hard to pay that shipping for a single card, isn't it?

Laurens said...

Combined shipping policy is a lure to buy more stuff but I try to keep in my mind which card was my priority, the centerpiece card [relatively speaking] that I really wanted so I don't feel like I splurged on a bunch of other cards without an apparent reason.

Brett Alan said...

I definitely try to combine shipping when I can. How much of that is smart and how much is being a sucker is hard to say. But too often I then find that the shipping isn't set to combine, which means I have to email the seller--some are good about it, some not so much. But I tend to buy small time stuff, and it's hard to get a good deal (or, from the seller's point of view, to OFFER a good deal) with the cost of shipping.

John Sharp said...

That Dave Stieb card is nice. Amazing what you find on ye olde Internet.

Good Job. 👍

CrazieJoe said...

Love that Stieb card - he has a great signature.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

ABSOLUTELY!

bbcardz said...

Yes, I definitely check out a seller's other items to see if there's other desirable cards I want.

Jeff B - Wax Pack Wonders said...

Yep I've done that. Usually end up with some cards I "kind of" want in addition to the main card or cards I was looking for.

sg488 said...

No,because in the long run you wind up with cards that you don't really want.

Billy Kingsley said...

No, because I don't generally use ebay all that much. Been a member since 2006 but have less than 150 feedback.

Sean said...

Probably half of my collection is the result of "Why not, I can get it without adding to the shipping cost" clicks.

The Lost Collector said...

I definitely do, although admittedly don’t check for other items a seller has as often as I should.

Fuji said...

the diamond king - i don't mind paying two... or even three bucks for shipping (especially if it's a nice card). but five bucks for an eight dollar card is extreme.

laureans - good point. the stennett was definitely the key card in the purchase, but i was pretty happy to find the other ten autographs at the prices i found. most were much better deals than the key card

brett alan - i totally know what you are talking about. i was very happy to see that this particular seller had it set up to automatically adjust the shipping.

john sharp - even though the stennett was the key card... the stieb was one of my favorite cards from this purchase.

craziejoe - i'm debating on starting a collecting an autograph collecting of his. he has a bunch of cool topps archives buyback autos. i'm holding off for now, but if i can find a good deal on some, i'll probably grab them

johnnys trading spot - great minds think alike

bbcardz - good to know i'm not alone

jeff b - yeah. the cards i "kind of" wanted from this dealer, i ended up taking out of the cart at the very end. but i know what you're talking about. i've definitely purchased a few "kind of" cards in the past to justify the cost of shipping

sg488 - luckily in this purchase, i removed any cards i didn't really want. i was actually really excited to add the autographs i ended up keeping in the cart. but you're right. there have been cards that i've bought that weren't things i'd normally buy if it weren't for combined shipping

billy kingsley - i think ebay makes up 60 to 70% of my card purchases. although i'm cutting back big time.

sean - lol. awesome. now i don't feel so bad

the lost collector - i only check the seller's other items if the shipping isn't reasonable. if the seller offers free shipping, i never check their other items.

Commishbob said...

Oh hell yes.

Nick Vossbrink said...

All the time. Though I try not to go too crazy. The worst is when there's an inventory screwup and everything *but* the card I initially wanted ships. If I wanted the experience of buying a bunch of stuff I wasn't looking for because the item I wanted was out of stock I'd rather go to Target.

Bulldog said...

Nice pickups. And I always liked Dave Stieb. I don't normally go for the combined shipping thing. Usually I'm pretty set on what I'm getting.

Fuji said...

commishbob - it's starting to look like at least 50% of people take advantage of combined shipping sometimes

nick vossbrink - i had that happen to me on sportlots. found a 1974 traded for 18¢, so i added three more cards since shipping was the same for 1 to 4 cards. ended up he didn't have the marichal, but i was stuck buying the other 3 cards

bulldog - stieb always seemed to be a fan favorite. unless you're a white sox fan. he dominated them over the course of his career.

shoeboxlegends said...

These days I don't get lured in by combined shipping much, but back in the day I'd almost always check to see what else a seller had if they offered a discount. Looks like you made great use of your eBay Bucks, can't wait to see what else you got!

The Snorting Bull said...

I get suckered into buying cards with combined shipping all the time. I find the cards I want on Ebay, click on the person's store and add five more cards. All the time. Same on COMC.

I'd like to think that A.C. Green is better known for being in the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Magic Johnson". Underrated sports tune.

Fuji said...

shoeboxlegends - lol. yeah blew my entire ebay bucks certificate on shipping and taxes.

the snorting bull - great song. i should have added it to this post.

Peter K Steinberg said...

Yeah, I got suckered into that once or twice. I think it's just something you have to do from time to time. I've also bought lots of cards for one or two in particular, but taking the rest because it was, well, part of the lot.