Buying to Sell

Virtually anytime I purchase Baseball cards, whether I buy packs or individual cards at the show, I'm selecting these cards for my own personal collection. I mean, why else would I dedicate an entire blog to Baseball cards? 

My primary goal is usually to buy cards for my collection, not necessarily to sell them online. Sure, I sometimes list cards from box purchases on eBay in an effort to make back some money, but I don't collect cards to make a profit. 

That's the reason why I've been collecting Baseball cards for most of my life. I grow too attached to many of the cards that I pull from packs which stops me from turning this hobby into a business of sorts where I buy and sell cards predominantly for profit.

With that being said, there are some instances in which I will buy cards as an attempt to profit off a purchase and put the funds towards cards for my personal collection.

I can't think or a better example of this than the Target-exclusive Bowman mega boxes, a product that is absolutely loaded with valuable cards of Baseball's top prospects.

Unlike most other sets, I have no intentions of holding onto expensive cards from the Bowman mega boxes, and I have no qualms about selling them in order to make back the money that I spent on the box itself as well as a profit of some sort.

I actually purchased a 2019 Bowman mega box earlier this year and have since made back the money that I spent, but I never expected to see the product restocked at my local Target roughly 6 weeks later.

After pondering the decision for a while, I realized that purchasing another mega box or 2 was the perfect opportunity to make a reasonable profit and put the money towards upcoming Baseball card expenses, maybe even The National.

The likelihood of making money back from Bowman mega boxes is extraordinarily high, and I hoped that my luck didn't run out as I decided to test my luck with a few more of these incredibly sought after boxes.

In addition to the much-desired mojo packs, each mega box delivers 4 regular packs of 2019 Bowman, but there's no possibility of pulling any inserts or parallels. Otherwise, they would simply have too much value.

While the probability of pulling something valuable out of the Bowman base packs is slim, all the top prospects from the set are included, including Joey Bart and Wander Franco. They may not be worth a fortune, but the chrome Franco comes close to paying for 1 of the boxes, so I can't really complain.

Clearly, the main thing attracting collectors to the 2019 Bowman mega boxes are the 2 exclusive mojo packs. With 5 cards per pack, there's a significant chance of pulling a valuable mojo refractor as well as numbered refractors, autographs, and even image variations.

I've seen some unbelievable pulls from these boxes on Twitter and YouTube, and I've also discovered that it's uncommon for there to be a terrible box. 

Usually, collectors walk away with at least a couple of decent cards, though it's absolutely dependent on luck; the player whose card you pull plays a pivotal role in determining the value of a card.

There are serial numbered insert refractors as well, but I've only seen them listed on eBay, not pulled by any particular collector. The mojo inserts themselves aren't too valuable, but I assume that the numbered versions are rather expensive.

As I've mentioned earlier regarding 2019 Bowman, Wander Franco and Joey Bart are the top prospects across the entire checklist, both in standard Bowman and the mojo refractor checklist. 

In my first Bowman mega box, I pulled a Wander Franco mojo refractor, and I was thrilled and surprised to land another my subsequent box. Soon after listing the 2nd on eBay, a buyer made an offer for both of the Franco refractors, and I accepted.

Thus, I was able to make back the money I spent on 2 of the mega boxes with this one purchase even taking into account that I gave the buyer a very fair price.

Even though, as far as numbered cards are concerned, the mojo refractors are somewhat common, I took a reasonable amount of time before I landed one in one of my mojo packs. Nonetheless, I was quite pleased with the outcome, for I landed a 1st Bowman purple refractor, numbered /250, of Victor Mesa Jr.

As far as the mojo refractor checklist is concerned, I could've done a lot worse than Victor Mesa Jr. He's a respected 1st Bowman prospect with enough upside that this card could certainly sell for a moderate amount of money.

I don't typically obsess over value and profit when it comes to cards, but I'm treating these Bowman mega box purchases as an investment. Thus, it is imperative that, if nothing else, I make back all the money that was spent on these boxes.

In the exact same mojo pack as my 2nd Franco card, I pulled my first ever Bowman mega box autograph of Diamondbacks prospect Alek Thomas. The on-card auto, I must admit, looks gorgeous with the mojo refractor design.

After doing a little bit of research, I learned that Thomas is the #7 prospect in Arizona's organization. While that may not be fantastic, he's only 19 years of age, and he's had a fantastic year so far in single-A. 

Usually, an autograph, especially out of a retail product, is the crown jewel of all the cards that one pulls. However, as I mentioned earlier, the most valuable cards in 2019 Bowman feature the top prospects.

One of those prospects is Wander Franco, a guy who I pulled 2 mojos of. The other is Joey Bart.

I'm not always the biggest fan of image variations and those kinds of SPs, but none of that truly matters to me when it comes to this SP 1st Bowman card of San Francisco Giants prospect Joey Bart. 

Immediately upon pulling this card, I knew it was an SP, for I already pulled his base mojo and knew what it looked like. The largest shock, however, came when I looked up what this card was going for on eBay and discovered that sellers were charging anywhere from $90-$100 for this image variation.

Despite the fact that this card will go down as one of my greatest retail pulls ever, I 100% intend to sell it on eBay. I've already listed the card and obtained numerous views and a watcher, so I feel confident that this sale will come through.

If I'm able to sell the major cards that I pulled, especially the Bart image variation, I'll more than make back the money that I spent on these Bowman mega boxes, and I likely won't have any regrets about making these sales.

Sure, Joey Bart, Wander Franco, Alek Thomas, and Victor Mesa Jr could blossom into the next superstars of Baseball, but I don't have any qualms about listing and selling these prospect cards. 

My primary goal when purchasing these boxes was to make money to spend on cards for my own collection. While I truly appreciate the cards that I pulled, I'd much rather convert these cards into select cards for my PC.