How does eBay seller guarantee hot packs?

[michael3322]

There is a seller on eBay that is offering guaranteed hot packs, including Ginter Hair cards and superfractors.

For example:
• 2016 Bowman Chrome Guaranteed (1/1 Superfractor Auto) Hot Pack - Fernando Tatis?
• 2002 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball Guaranteed (Cut Auto) Hot Pack - Babe Ruth?
• 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter Guaranteed (Hair Relic) Hot Pack - George Washington?

The seller's rating is above 99%.

Just curious, how does this work? Using a scale? Opening and re-sealing?

[steve B]

I'm not sure about the superfractor stuff, but some sets they don't pack a decoy in place of a thick card, so those can be felt through the pack.
How many cards are there can probably be felt too, so if a pack with a superfractor is 14 instead of 15 they can probably tell.

Or, if you have new boxes sometimes the "special" packs are always in the same place in the box.

[bnorth]

When this topic has come up before it was mainly resealed packs.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Weight

[swarmee]

X-Ray vision from specs in the back of a comic book or Bazooka gum wrapper.



Or...
Resealed packs.

[G1911]

Presumably resealed in this case, but you can do this by weighing the packs and picking out the ones that weigh more. A relic weighs more than a decoy thick card (for most sets, at least). A plate weighs more than a base card. A legit hot pack won't be any more likely to produce a superfractor or autograph, but careful weighing can pick out 'good packs'. Some scummy people bring scales to the card aisle for this reason, I've seen them do it at Target.

Alternatively, one can sometimes pick the good pack by simply opening a box because the hit is always in the same spot. A surprising number of sets are like this, where if you opened the hobby box you know which pack it's going to be that has the hit.

[michael3322]

Thanks for the insights.

Looking through the seller's feedback (which is >99%), it appears that buyers are satisfied, but I imagine if someone actually did pull a huge card, they would have noted it in the feedback.

Even if it is re-sealing, I wonder how one procures these 1/1 cards only to slip them in a pack and sell them on eBay. I guess you look for the cheapest ones and use those as the bait?

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by michael3322

Even if it is re-sealing, I wonder how one procures these 1/1 cards only to slip them in a pack and sell them on eBay. I guess you look for the cheapest ones and use those as the bait?

Yep, don't be shocked if you find the same card pulled and sold on eBay/COMC/youtube breaks, etc. There aren't superfractors (or gold refractor autos) in every box. They're plants.