$100 Growth Project Update–A Large Lot Purchase

Posted by Jeremy on October 14, 2009 under $100 Growth Project | 4 Comments to Read

Remember this undertaking?  For those of you who don’t or are new readers to the blog, I decided to take $100 of my hard earned dollars and invest them in various purchases and sales to see just how much I could net over one year’s time. 

At my last count, I had banked $158.46 and had a 2007 Bowman Chrome Chris Coghlan Blue Refractor Auto RC in my inventory.  The Coghlan auto, on the heels of his NL ROY performance has sold for $50 on a “BUY IT NOW” in my eBay store, netting me $43.42, or $13.42 profit. 

I was spot on with my analysis of Coghlan as a poor man’s Dustin Pedroia.  In fact, the Marlins’ rookie exceeded the ‘08 AL MVP’s numbers despite being in the minor leagues for the first month and a half of the season.  Given this, I think I undersold on the Coghlan card and would not be surprised to see this push past the $100 range following his christening as the 2009 NL ROY.  That said, my initial goal when purchasing this card was to sell at $50 and I did accomplish that.

That brings the total earnings to $201.88, or more than 100% profit over the initial investment.  Not bad considering my passive attention to the project. 

The Purchase…

Immediately following the sale, I won an auction for a mega sized 350 count lot of 2007 Bowman Draft Michael Taylor RC’s.  Shipped, the total cost for the lot was $95.55 or a mere 27 cents per card.  I immediately put the entire lot of them into my eBay store at the price of $1.00 each.  Given Taylor’s potential to earn a spot on the Phillies’ roster next season and long term prospects as a future star, I figure that the ‘07 RC’s will be spectacular low end buys this coming spring.  I received the lot yesterday, and to my pleasant surprise found that the seller had included an additional 15 Taylor RC’s upping the total to 365.

Current Cash On Hand: $106.33

Current Inventory: (365) 2007 Bowman Draft MICHAEL TAYLOR RC’s

Was this a good purchase?  Was it not?  Make your voice heard in the comments section below.  Stay tuned for more purchases and sales in the $100 Growth Project and for more quality prospect analysis!

$100 Growth Project Update

Posted by Jeremy on May 21, 2009 under $100 Growth Project | 3 Comments to Read

We have recorded our first sale from the $100 Growth Project and it comes in the form of a 2006 Bowman Originals Nolan Reimold Buyback Auto #/419.  You may recall that the auto was purchased off of Sportsbuy.com for a total of $8.60 shipped.  I put it on a one week auction once Reimold was promoted to the Orioles.  Though he got off to a slow start, the O’s power hitting outfielder blasted his first HR last night and has raised his MLB batting average to .302.

I licked my chops anxiously anticipating the reaping of an exponential profit.  Monitoring the auction this morning, I saw that the auto only had a couple of bids on it and was sitting at $6.70, but I wasn’t panicking as there were 12 people watching it, giving me the utmost confidence that it would get some furious last minute bidding.

Fast forward to 6 PM…..I stare in disbelief as the auction ends at a measly $11.00—about 20 bucks less than similar auctions had ended at over the past couple of days.

What went wrong?

With Ted Williams-like hindsight, I can assuredly say that putting this on as a fixed price auction would have been best, and in doing so, I would have assured control over determining the profit margin that I received for the card.  Instead, I opted to gamble on Reimold’s ability to make an initial impact for the O’s.  While he played well, it wasn’t enough to increase the demand for this auto.

Still….this aberration is ridiculous.

I thought that until I did the difficult examination of my eBay Feedback Rating.  Over the past 12 months, I had a couple of negative feedbacks and a few delays in shipments.  As a result, my star rating took a major hit, leaving me looking like an unreputable seller.  This fact could have affected potential buyers’ willingness to place high bids on my products, in favor for those that looked like safer purchases.

This episode serves as a reminder that your reputation as a seller is extremely important.  Like any other industry, satisfied buyers tend to be more reserved in praising good service while those that receive poor service are the most vociferous critics and can have a detrimental effect on the business.

Lesson learned.

After crunching the numbers and letting eBay and Paypal each take their pound of flesh, I find that this sale still rendered a profit.  $1.46 to be exact.  Measly as it seems, we’ll take it and move forward.

As of today here’s the status of the project.

Cash On Hand: $ 26.71

Inventory:

• 2007 Bowman Chrome Chris Coghlan Blue Refractor Auto #/150
• 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft Nolan Reimold Refractor Lot (X15)

Where do we go from here?  I am already examining some potential buys.  Have some input?  Give a little blurb in the comments section below.

$100 Growth Project Update

Posted by Jeremy on May 11, 2009 under $100 Growth Project | Be the First to Comment

$100 Growth Project….what’s that?

Well, for those of you who are newer to this site or those of you who completely forgot, I decided to undertake a personal challenge to take $100 and try to make it grow over the course of a year.  To date, I have not done much to make it grow other than purchase a 15 count 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractor Lot at $45 (or $3.00 a piece).

I have made another couple of purchases.  Adding to my Reimold collection, I have grabbed a 2006 Bowman Originals Auto #/421 for $8.60 off of Sportsbuy.com.  The card was originally listed at $10, but I negotiated the price down to $6.50 and then paid another $2.10 for shipping and handling.  I recently saw one sell on eBay for $28 plus $3.49 shipping.  This seems like a nice turn and burn opportunity, but I may just wait until Mr. Reimold makes his MLB debut.  Given the poor play of Felix Pie, it seems that I may not have to wait too long.

I also purchased a 2007 Bowman Chrome Chris Coghlan Blue Refractor Auto #/150 for $30.00 shipped.  This was a couple of bucks more than I wanted to pay for it, but he coincidentally made his MLB debut on the following day and looked pretty darned good.  I think that Coghlan is a poor man’s Dustin Pedroia, with a reliable high average bat that could produce 12-15 HR power at the major league level.  He works the strike zone very well and has the speed to steal 20+ bases per season.  While he normally plays 2B, the Marlins are shifting him to the outfield to replace the struggling Cameron Maybin.  He’s been hitting #2 in the Marlins’ lineup which should give him ample opportunities to score runs in bunches.

WHERE WE STAND NOW:

Cash Available: $16.40

Assets:

• 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft NOLAN REIMOLD Refractor (X15)
• 2006 Bowman Originals NOLAN REIMOLD Auto #/421
• 2007 Bowman Chrome CHRIS COGHLAN Blue Refractor Auto #/199

STRATEGY:

• The lack of activity over the past couple of months has put me under the gun a bit to generate some cash flow.  I would have been better served if Reimold would have made the O’s roster out of spring training (he earned it in my opinion), but his excellent April numbers at Norfolk has put him on more collectors’ radars.  Currently his refractors are selling for $5.50-6.50 each (shipping excluded) which would leave me with nearly a 100% profit.  I think that I will opt to put them in my store and let them sit for a bit at $10 each.  Store listings are cheap to conduct and allow for the card to be exposed to the market for 30 days at a time.  By that time, he should make his MLB debut and may crack a few homers in the process.  If the price increases above the $10 mark, I will adjust accordingly by opting for the median price level at a Buy it Now price.  If the market really goes crazy for his stuff, I may split the lot up into smaller auctions spread over a one week period.

• As for the Coghlan card, it will go up in my store with a $50 BIN price tag.  At that price, my profit yield will not be that great, considering the high price I paid, but it should move if he continues to produce at the top of Florida’s lineup.  I believe in players who can hit for high averages and have good plate discipline.  Coghlan has both.

Your thoughts?  Expect to see me more active in this arena as I am embarrased that I haven’t done much with it as of yet.

$100 Well Spent Project Update—First Purchase!

Posted by Jeremy on February 22, 2009 under $100 Growth Project | 4 Comments to Read

15 Count NOLAN REIMOLD Lot = $46.05

Good news!  I am happy to report that I have spent the first portion of my $100 on a nice little 15 count 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft refractor lot of Baltimore Orioles OF prospect Nolan Reimold (link here).  Cost breakdown is as follows:

Final eBay Price: $41.05

S & H Fees:           $5.00

Net Price:            $46.05

Reimold was placed on the O’s 40 man roster this spring and has a legitimate shot at makiing the ballclub in possibly a platoon or 4th outfield spot this spring. 

I have liked Reimold for quite a while and last season was the first season in a while that he was able to stay in good health.  He compiled some big numbers with AA Bowie hitting .284 with 25 HR 83 RBI and 87 runs scored.  He has great plate discipline and a tall athletic frame that fits nicely in a corner outfield spot.  I don’t think he will break camp with the big club but his debut is arriving soon.

I figure that $3 a pop for first year chrome refractors are a solid value buy.  Reimold has the power potential and polish to make an impact soon and a $2 per card profit is not an unreasonable expectation.  My hope is that Reimold will make the club this spring in a platoon situation or find himself on the roster after the arbitration deadline in May. 

One purchase down…and who knows how many more to go.  This transaction alters my funds available to $53.95 and my inventory to 15 Nolan Reimold ‘05 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractors.

Your thoughts on the first move?

$100 Growth Project

Posted by Jeremy on February 13, 2009 under $100 Growth Project | 5 Comments to Read

I was chatting with a good friend of mine about the many nuances of prospecting and buying and selling on eBay.  Noticably perplexed, he asked “how much money can you really make doing this?”  Of course I said that it can really vary.  Timing the market, optimizing your buying and selling techniques, making accurate speculations, and keeping good records are just a few of the skills necessary in making it a fiscally worthwhile venture.

It did get me to thinking, though…

How good are you at this really?

Time to put the money where the mouth is.  I am going to take a crisp $100 bill and spend it on an assortment of prospects or other sports card/memorabilia speculations with the sole intent of increasing the net worth of the original investment over a 1-year period.

The rudimentary set of rules are as follows:

• All revenues and expenditures will be accounted for on each transaction
• Purchases will be limited solely to sports cards and memorabilia
• Inventory will be represented in its physical state and not in a dollar amount
• No donations will be accepted to contribute to the inventory
• A detailed record of all transactions will be documented under the $100 Well Spent Project link (likely in an Excel spreadsheet).
• Project will end on February 13, 2010 at 12 PM

My hope in this is to give all of you who read this blog a little more insight into the challenges and thrills  that the online prospecting market offers.  Surely there will be some profitable maneuvers and unprofitble ones along the way, but my ultimate goal is that we all will learn a bit more about how to make the most out of our hard earned dollars.

Your thoughts, tips, and questions are always welcome additions to this blog. 

Let the project begin….