Two things.
#1 your assessment of unopened wax is wrong. Most huge shops don’t get most of their cards from breaks. And despite increased costs, hits are not as difficult as you make it seem. I never bought a case of any product until 2021 and I’ve been collecting modern since 2012(and a little in the mid 90’s and also early 2000’s. I’ve hit multiple nice cards in the $50-600 range, even just buying 8-10 boxes every year. Allen & Ginter X has been the best product I’ve pulled from with 2018-2020 being years I totally killed it. Best cards were 2020 Ohtani Gold /5 auto, 2020 Trout /20 auto, 2019 Tatis Jr. Gold/5 auto. I’ll note I’ve only bought one box of chrome my entire life. I’ve never ever bought the major expensive boxes with only a few cards per packs. Nearly all my modern purchases have been Heritage, Allen & Ginter, and Archives.
#2 I first went to Burbank Sportscards in the mid 1990’s. No internet presence at the time. Los Angeles area had hundreds of card shops just a few years prior and Frank and Sons had opened up only a few years earlier also with a large Sportscards presence. Burbank had by far the best selection of vintage I had ever seen and also had the ability to fill sets like no one else. It was awesome. By about 2001/2002 I was able to bid on eBay on my ancient cell and Burbank had already established an online presence. Soon thereafter they had employees on eBay nonstop, both selling and looking for buying opportunity. They 100% built that business from the ground up, they still grind away looking for deals everywhere. I assume the same of all similar business. Simply work hard, retain a staff, buy at a discount, sell at retail.
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