So I was sitting down and making some trade packages tonight and I wondered how everybody else did their trade packages.
I'm really cheap and I reuse my bubble mailers. Peel off the stickers and mark out the name's and addresses and kaboom I've got my trade package.
I'm so cheap once that I got a TTM back once and the post office forgot to cancel the stamp. So being the cheap self I am I went ahead and tried to peel the stamp off. I completely failed, but still it just shows you how cheap I am.
I was wondering how cheap you are in this hobby. For example, I try to always stay away from the $3 pack ripoffs. I usually just go and buy crap loads of $1 stuff like Opening Day.
Sometimes it sucks being a penny pincher because I can't get myself to pull the trigger on some cards that I do really want.
For example, the last card shop I went to was in Birmingham Alabama and the guy had a 2012 Bowman Joe Kelly Autograph for $5. Being the idiotic teenager I am, I just couldn't buy it because I didn't think it was worth that much. So yeah it does kind of suck getting into the habit of always trying to find the cheapest deal on things.
But the real question at the end of the day is. Are you a penny pincher? Because I know I am. Feel free to join the bandwagon. And don't forget to have a happy time blogging everybody! :)
I'm a little bit of both. I've spent as much as 90 bucks on a card (not lately) but I love a bargain. I do like Opening Day and for the same reason, Score hockey. I do look to reuse envelopes as well. Maybe you might want to look to slurge once in a while on something special, maybe for your birthday or to reward yourself for an accomplishment assuming you have the discretionary funds. Nothing wrong with being careful with your money though.
ReplyDeleteJust about everyone, including myself, recycles bubble mailers. I always make sure they are basically still solid and tape the open end securely.I always buy at least one of every pack of baseball cards, so I have a sample wrapper, after that I usually buy rack packs or blasters.I especially like the discounted blasters from previous years.I think the most I ever spent on one card was about $7.00. My real weakness is card lots at yard sales, flea markets and Good Will. I usually end up with a lot of junk wax!
ReplyDeleteYep, another bubble mailer recycler here as well! I like Topps flagship, but can't bring myself to try to build the set. Why should I when Opening Day is just a stripped down version for a fraction of the cost. Plus, I love those mascot cards! There are even mascot autos this year! Lol! I don't care much for relics/autos/hit so it works out well for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's a hobby to me. I'm not trying to flip a profit. So I collect what I like at the prices I like.
I'm cheap most of the time. I too recycle bubble mailers and supplies, as long as they are in decent condition. And most of the time, I wait for a good deal. But every now and then (maybe 2 to 4% of the time), I'll splurge and pay the going rate or even overpay, if I'm in that "gotta have it now" mode.
ReplyDeleteI recycle bubble mailers, too, mainly because it's good for the environment. I won't get into the most I've spent on one single card (Virgil Trucks 1948 Leaf RC or Stan Musial 1948 Bowman RC, etc), but I do tend to stay away from the high end packs. It's much easier to just buy the cards you want from it instead of buying the packs and ending up with Mark Prior relics...
ReplyDeleteThe most I spent on a card was a manupatch of Anthony Gose. I think it ran me around $23. When JP Arencibia's red 1/1 Turkey Red auto came up for sale n ebay last week, I let it go. For $36. A one-of-one!
ReplyDeleteI also reuse bubble mailers. Chris from Nachos Grande and I have sent the same bubble mailer back and forth five times so far. Still sturdy. I also reuse the top loaders that ebay sellers send me with tape on them, or try and peel the tape off and strip the glue with non-acetone polish remover.
I also have three blasters full of foil wrappers - which I use to protect cards in shipment.
My overhead for collecting, other than buying packs and singles, it basically just packing tape, about 3-4 rolls per year.
I do basically all the mailing methods described above at one time or another. Flaunt the cheap!
ReplyDeleteHmmm maybe I should start reusing bubble mailers. I've never done that.
ReplyDeleteI don't recycle bubble mailers, since I usually slice 'em open or rip them too badly. I make up for it by only buying cheap cards. :-)
ReplyDeleteI have yet to buy a hobby box of any baseball product, although I did buy one of 2011 Topps Football that I opened gradually over the course of the season.
The most I've ever spent on one card was $6 for a Joakim Soria autograph. This was a few years ago when I randomly found myself in a card shop after not collecting for many years, and asked the guy if he had any Soria cards. It just looked SO COOL I had to pull the trigger.