What’s the secret to selling cards on a large scale?

[homerunhitter]

I look at all of these big time sellers like Burbank sports cards, deans cards, 2bros collectibles and cardcollector2 and think how did they get so big listing cards on eBay. Seems like they always pull the”big cards” from boxes. I think it comes down to two things.

1. Buying dozens of cases of cards at a time! I say this because every case I ever bought, I only got a $5 autograph or a $5 relic!

2. And maybe the most important step is to hire a team of 20+ people and pay them minimum wage to do the grunt work? I saw this because anyone that has scanned, listed and packed a box of $1 cards knows it’s tough and tedious work that most of us can’t do or dont want to do.

If I had a team of 20 people doing all of the grunt work , I could be a million dollar business too! It’s not that hard if you pay people to do all the hard work.

What do you guys think?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

I look at all of these big time sellers like Burbank sports cards, deans cards, 2bros collectibles and cardcollector2 and think how did they get so big listing cards on eBay. Seems like they always pull the”big cards” from boxes. I think it comes down to two things.

1. Buying dozens of cases of cards at a time! I say this because every case I ever bought, I only got a $5 autograph or a $5 relic!

2. And maybe the most important step is to hire a team of 20+ people and pay them minimum wage to do the grunt work? I saw this because anyone that has scanned, listed and packed a box of $1 cards knows it’s tough and tedious work that most of us can’t do or dont want to do.

If I had a team of 20 people doing all of the grunt work , I could be a million dollar business too! It’s not that hard if you pay people to do all the hard work.

What do you guys think?

I think you should give it a try and let us know how it works out.

[homerunhitter]

I think not!

It’s just a question I always wondered! Thanks anyway Sherlock!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

I think not!

It’s just a question I always wondered! Thanks anyway Sherlock!

Just trying to help.

The businesses you listed use very different business models. It is far from a one size fits all and I am really sure just hiring 20 minimum wage employees is not the way to go unless you are trying to lose a million quickly.

[homerunhitter]

No worries, it came off to me that you were trying to be a funny guy or smarty pants! (Instead of trying to be productive and help/answer the question)

How do you figure? Do you know how many cards 20 people working 8 hours a day can list/process? A ton!

[swarmee]

Some of those large ebay sellers probably are consignment firms, which are selling other people's cards.

COMC already has the model you're talking about. Hiring a staff of workers to scan, identify, store, and pack cards for sale. There are currently 30 million cards for sale on their site.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

No worries, it came off to me that you were trying to be a funny guy or smarty pants! (Instead of trying to be productive and help/answer the question)

How do you figure? Do you know how many cards 20 people working 8 hours a day can list/process? A ton!

Being a business owner of many years. You get what you pay for in product and employees. 10 decent workers getting 1.5X min wage will usually out work 20 minimum wage morons. Your milage may vary but that is my experience.

[homerunhitter]

Very Good point! That makes sense.

My point in hiring 20 employees is, do you think to get that big as a business you need 10,15, 20 employees to do the grunt work versus one guy sitting there all day scanning, listing, sorting, packing. I guess I can’t just see one person becoming a huge company doing the work all by themselves. It’s possible but I think to take a business to the next level (besides being a casual seller) it would take many additional employees to sell alot and make money!

[G1911]

If it was as simple as taking out a loan to cover startup costs and then hiring X people to process and list to make a successful card business, we'd all be doing it and rich. Business is a lot more complicated than people who don't know about it think. If you think you can do it to by doing this, then do it! If you're right it's an easy road to the riches.

Also, some of these named businesses are not exactly high volume crackers of modern material or pulling the big hits. Deans always pulls the big hit cards?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Very Good point! That makes sense.

My point in hiring 20 employees is, do you think to get that big as a business you need 10,15, 20 employees to do the grunt work versus one guy sitting there all day scanning, listing, sorting, packing. I guess I can’t just see one person becoming a huge company doing the work all by themselves. It’s possible but I think to take a business to the next level (besides being a casual seller) it would take many additional employees to sell alot and make money!

I really don't think it would take anywhere near 20 employees. Last I knew Dean's Cards had 9 total employees to cover every aspect of their business.

The hard part is the initial start up. You need to buy a ship load of product to start. Then all the initial listings will take some time. Once going maintaining it would be way easier with less people.

[homerunhitter]

Agree but do you know how long it takes to sit down and list an scan a box of cards to eBay! It’s like watching paint dry on the wall. It’s a tedious very slow process. It’s a lot of work for peanuts! (We are talking about selling modern dollar cards here!)

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Agree but do you know how long it takes to sit down and list an scan a box of cards to eBay! It’s like watching paint dry on the wall. It’s a tedious very slow process. It’s a lot of work for peanuts! (We are talking about selling modern dollar cards here!)

Scanning a whole box of cards takes a couple minutes at most. Not sure about listing them all. I haven't listed a ton of cards on eBay in close to 20 years. I have not used it but there is software that makes it way faster now.

I can't imagine only selling super cheap cards is a money maker no matter how it is done.

Also the biggest rule in selling cards is you make you money buying cards not selling them.

[homerunhitter]

Burbank sports cards sells millions of dollar cards each year so there is definitely money in selling low dollar cards in bulk. Burbank sportscards is a multi million dollar a year business that specializes in selling cards in bulk.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Burbank sports cards sells millions of dollar cards each year so there is definitely money in selling low dollar cards in bulk. Burbank sportscards is a multi million dollar a year business that specializes in selling cards in bulk.

What do you consider low dollar cards? Burbank has many expensive cards for sale.

[G1911]

Burbank uses stock images for their low value stuff, and photo only one card in each grade and then re-use that image.

In fact, for vintage, if you pay more for the VG grade card they will send you the fair grade card used in their fair grade listing stock photo. If you ask them what's up with sending the cards in their fair grade stock cards when you paid more for the VG listing, they will block you.

[homerunhitter]

Ben
I’m not going to keep playing tennis with you (going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth on this thread) kids play that game and i ain’t no kid! I will no longer be responding to your comments!!! And I would appreciate the same from you!! Bye Felicia!

[G1911]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Ben
I’m not going to keep playing tennis with you (going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth on this thread) kids play that game and i ain’t no kid! I will no longer be responding to your comments!!! And I would appreciate the same from you!! Bye Felicia!

Lot of exclamation points for a proclamation of maturity lol

[babraham]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Ben
I’m not going to keep playing tennis with you (going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth on this thread) kids play that game and i ain’t no kid! I will no longer be responding to your comments!!! And I would appreciate the same from you!! Bye Felicia!

From what I can tell, it seems that Ben was attempting to "be productive and answer your questions". But then you get mad at him.

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

No worries, it came off to me that you were trying to be a funny guy or smarty pants! (Instead of trying to be productive and help/answer the question)

[steve B]

Ok, so I was one of those sorting guys pre-factory set.

The local dealer bought vending cases, and "paid" four of us to assemble sets. Piecework and so much in trade per set.
I sorted differently than the other three guys, and had a ton of cards laid out on the desk in number order for groups of 10. Plus a bunch of 10 card complete stacks. Hadn't turned in any sets yet, so I was "way behind" the other sorters...

Then one day they had an order for 20 sets and offered a bonus to whoever got them together the quickest. Half an hour later I was done. Got a nice prewar card for myself with the bonus.


When I was doing Ebay I did pretty well with cheap cards. (well before the fees made it impossible. ) Once the fees got too high, I moved to bulk lots, usually 400 cards for 9.99 or $5. I'd moved along most of the thousands of duplicates I had by the time people stopped buying random boxes of junkwax commons. Including one sale that was 15,000 cards I delivered locally at some really cheap price per thousand. I think it was maybe $50 for the whole batch.

I could have done a lot more volume if I was more organized, or didn't try to give the buyers a good mix and just stuffed the first 400 I grabbed into the box.

To me organization is the key because you can be way more efficient.
Bens point about buying is also key.
There are places that will buy any cards at all, but at insanely low prices. The local guys moved and sold about 2.5 million cards to one of them for I think it was 1000....

If you want to do it, try a bit, and find an angle or way of doing things that works for you. Hopefully it works out and makes you rich.

[bnorth]

How about some simple math fun.

20 minimum wage employees after workers comp, insurance, matching taxes, and several other expenses is around $600K per year. Then add another $100K for rent and utilities. Then easily another $100K start up cost for equipment. we are at a measly $800K without any inventory.

Then lets get crazy and say not including the above expenses we can make $1 profit per card selling only cheap junk. Lets also say someone is in the 1/10 of 1% of people that have all the skills needed to start and run a successful business long term.

They would only have to sell 2,192 cards per day to break even. Seems doable to me.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by bnorth

How about some simple math fun.

20 minimum wage employees after workers comp, insurance, matching taxes, and several other expenses is around $600K per year. Then add another $100K for rent and utilities. Then easily another $100K start up cost for equipment. we are at a measly $800K without any inventory.

Then lets get crazy and say not including the above expenses we can make $1 profit per card selling only cheap junk. Lets also say someone is in the 1/10 of 1% of people that have all the skills needed to start and run a successful business long term.

They would only have to sell 2,192 cards per day to break even. Seems doable to me.

Pretty good analysis Ben, and I'm not joking or being sarcastic in the least. To try and start up to be a big-time card dealership overnight is virtually impossible, unless you already have more than enough money AND the cards to do it with. Even if you go out and hire a bunch of people to list, sell, handle, and ship cards, who is out there acquiring the cards to start with, and then continuing to acquire them to keep replacing the ones you're selling?

The competition to acquire more and more cards is already out there, and with the recent price surges during the pandemic, more and more people are aware of these cards increased/increasing values, and not as prone to just give them away. And as others had opined, when you buy cards at the right/lowest prices is when you actually make your money. To me, the way to go about becoming a big card seller/dealer is to start out small, maybe just by yourself to begin with. And as others have said, use that trial period to figure out your own system/way of doing things, and see if you can be successful (ie: profitable). And if you succeed to that point, try expanding and going forward and building up the business.

Otherwise, if you insist on being a bit-time seller/dealer right out of the gate, be sure to have a boatload of money (or a hell of a credit line) and be willing to spend it to acquire a big, desirable inventory, pray you can find (and retain) good, honest, qualified people to work with/for you, be sure to also find some good/ qualified support professionals to help set the business up and keep track of things going forward (attorney and accountant/CPA at least), and then hope to God that nothing drastic or bad happens or changes the economy, the hobby, or anything else you could have never reasonably predicted or expected, and that you otherwise have absolutely no control over. Not sure any of this is exactly secret. A lot of effort, desire, hard work, dedication, and especially a lot of luck, is the formula for pretty much every kind of business out there becoming a success.

Possibly the easiest (but certainly not cheapest) way to go about getting into a successful, big-time card selling business is to find one that is already successful and operating, and simply buy it (if you even can). And then just pray you don't do something stupid to screw it up, or have something beyond your control happen to screw it up for you.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by BobC

Pretty good analysis Ben, and I'm not joking or being sarcastic in the least. To try and start up to be a big-time card dealership overnight is virtually impossible, unless you already have more than enough money AND the cards to do it with. Even if you go out and hire a bunch of people to list, sell, handle, and ship cards, who is out there acquiring the cards to start with, and then continuing to acquire them to keep replacing the ones you're selling?

The competition to acquire more and more cards is already out there, and with the recent price surges during the pandemic, more and more people are aware of these cards increased/increasing values, and not as prone to just give them away. And as others had opined, when you buy cards at the right/lowest prices is when you actually make your money. To me, the way to go about becoming a big card seller/dealer is to start out small, maybe just by yourself to begin with. And as others have said, use that trial period to figure out your own system/way of doing things, and see if you can be successful (ie: profitable). And if you succeed to that point, try expanding and going forward and building up the business.

Otherwise, if you insist on being a bit-time seller/dealer right out of the gate, be sure to have a boatload of money (or a hell of a credit line) and be willing to spend it to acquire a big, desirable inventory, pray you can find (and retain) good, honest, qualified people to work with/for you, be sure to also find some good/ qualified support professionals to help set the business up and keep track of things going forward (attorney and accountant/CPA at least), and then hope to God that nothing drastic or bad happens or changes the economy, the hobby, or anything else you could have never reasonably predicted or expected, and that you otherwise have absolutely no control over. Not sure any of this is exactly secret. A lot of effort, desire, hard work, dedication, and especially a lot of luck, is the formula for pretty much every kind of business out there becoming a success.

Possibly the easiest (but certainly not cheapest) way to go about getting into a successful, big-time card selling business is to find one that is already successful and operating, and simply buy it (if you even can). And then just pray you don't do something stupid to screw it up, or have something beyond your control happen to screw it up for you.

I wasn't being sarcastic either. I was actually trying to be helpful. When I am being a smart ass I usually say I am or try to make it obvious.

I just figured I would throw up a few realistic numbers. I understand how businesses work. I run an extremely successful one that let me retire in my early 40s.

I believe the OP is just looking for a get rich quick scheme. He kept being very unrealistic and for some silly reason gave a list of sellers that sell all price ranges of cards and somehow wanted to focus on selling cheap garbage.

You are correct about hiring a CPA. I complained all the time about their beyond silly bills. Then I got audited by everyone in the same year and was very happy I paid those silly fees. Not sure who I pissed off but seriously everyone who could audit me did.

[David W]

There is a local auction house in Northern Indiana selling cards on their own auction website.

When I've gone to pick up cards I've bought, they usually have 3-5 college students sitting at tables taking pics with their phone and writing a basic (often wrong) description.

I bought a zip lock bag full of 1973 topps, mistyped as 1983 for $9. Got 2 G-VG Clementes and 2 Ryans, plus 300 other cards.

I Bought a lot of 200 or so 1978's with 2 Murrays, a Trammel/Whitaker in G-VG for $3.

Sometimes they take the time to list each individual junk era common. Since starting price is always $1 they might have 15% of the lots with no bids.

So if you have the wrong people doing the data entry you can lose money pretty easily.

[homerunhitter]

Show me anywhere in my post where I even mentioned that I was looking for advice on how to do it. Not once did I say I wanted to do it I was just asking a basic simple question.

[G1911]

[QUOTE=homerunhitter;2301495]Show me anywhere in my post where I even mentioned that I was looking for advice on how to go it. /QUOTE]

The title of the thread is asking what the secret to large scale selling is. Thus there are answers to the difficulties, because the naive assumption is false.

[homerunhitter]

True,
But I was not asking for myself. Just a very generic curious question that’s all.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

True,
But I was not asking for myself. Just a very generic curious question that’s all.

To which you got answers. You just don't like the answers. That does not make everyone else creepy, obsessive and weird. Message boards are to respond to the topic, not to parrot the OP's assumptions. If you want an echo chamber where only your assumptions are stated, write yourself an email.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I wasn't being sarcastic either. I was actually trying to be helpful. When I am being a smart ass I usually say I am or try to make it obvious.

I just figured I would throw up a few realistic numbers. I understand how businesses work. I run an extremely successful one that let me retire in my early 40s.

I believe the OP is just looking for a get rich quick scheme. He kept being very unrealistic and for some silly reason gave a list of sellers that sell all price ranges of cards and somehow wanted to focus on selling cheap garbage.

You are correct about hiring a CPA. I complained all the time about their beyond silly bills. Then I got audited by everyone in the same year and was very happy I paid those silly fees. Not sure who I pissed off but seriously everyone who could audit me did.

I never thought you were being sarcastic in the least Ben, and not sure why you got jumped like you did for merely trying to be helpful. Sorry about that. In pretty much every kind of business idea/venture, there really is/are no secret(s). As I had said, you either start out small and build up till you can get big, or just buy someone that is big already and go from there. Not sure what other "secrets" there really can be, besides being dedicated and working your ass off, and being lucky as hell! And that is pretty much true for virtually every business someone may ask or think about.

As you pointed out with your analysis, trying to start out from scratch as a big-time seller will not be cheap, or easy. You'll need a ton of money, and even more luck. If you instead decide to start small and build up, you may not need as much money, at least initially up front, but you eventually will start needing a lot more, and you're still going to need a heck of a lot of luck to succeed and grow. And if you're extremely lucky enough to already have tons of money, or a large enough credit line, you can just go out and try to buy a big-time dealer/business that you want to be like. But you again have to be extremely lucky, and also hopefully not dumb enough to screw things up. There's a very good, and relatable, current business example we're all pretty much aware of right now out in the business world, that demonstrates exactly how having all the money in the world and just going out and buying the company you think you want, may not always work out as you originally hoped and planned, and some of the decisions you make after such an acquisition can end up seeming to be really stupid. LOL

Hang in there.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by BobC

I never thought you were being sarcastic in the least Ben, and not sure why you got jumped like you did for merely trying to be helpful. Sorry about that. In pretty much every kind of business idea/venture, there really is/are no secret(s). As I had said, you either start out small and build up till you can get big, or just buy someone that is big already and go from there. Not sure what other "secrets" there really can be, besides being dedicated and working your ass off, and being lucky as hell! And that is pretty much true for virtually every business someone may ask or think about.

As you pointed out with your analysis, trying to start out from scratch as a big-time seller will not be cheap, or easy. You'll need a ton of money, and even more luck. If you instead decide to start small and build up, you may not need as much money, at least initially up front, but you eventually will start needing a lot more, and you're still going to need a heck of a lot of luck to succeed and grow. And if you're extremely lucky enough to already have tons of money, or a large enough credit line, you can just go out and try to buy a big-time dealer/business that you want to be like. But you again have to be extremely lucky, and also hopefully not dumb enough to screw things up. There's a very good, and relatable, current business example we're all pretty much aware of right now out in the business world, that demonstrates exactly how having all the money in the world and just going out and buying the company you think you want, may not always work out as you originally hoped and planned, and some of the decisions you make after such an acquisition can end up seeming to be really stupid. LOL

Hang in there.

Bob, you're spot on.

Just remember, everyone, what the best thing is about owning your own business:

You get to choose which seventy hours you work every week.

[Exhibitman]

Burbank Sportscards is my LCS; been going there for over 20 years. They started out as a small family enterprise in a small space. Family was the initial labor pool. As they got bigger, they bought out other dealers and expanded their holdings, moved to a mixed space that was primarily warehouse with a showroom front. They now have a warehouse that handles fulfillment, and the retail storefront down the block (very nice place, BTW, if you are in town). In other words, it grew organically as their business grew. They got the inventory then built the infrastructure to turn it out, not the other way around.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Bob, you're spot on.

Just remember, everyone, what the best thing is about owning your own business:

You get to choose which seventy hours you work every week.

Eric, only 70 hours a week?!?!?!? LOL

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by BobC

Eric, only 70 hours a week?!?!?!? LOL

I turned 50 recently. Guess my stamina isn't what it used to be...

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Bob, you're spot on.

Just remember, everyone, what the best thing is about owning your own business:

You get to choose which seventy hours you work every week.

LOL, I wish I could have chosen which 70+ hours a week I worked. I would get calls from 6am till 11pm every day of the week. The real early ones and the really late ones got a slightly higher bid/bill than the others usually.

[Bcwcardz]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Burbank Sportscards is my LCS; been going there for over 20 years. They started out as a small family enterprise in a small space. Family was the initial labor pool. As they got bigger, they bought out other dealers and expanded their holdings, moved to a mixed space that was primarily warehouse with a showroom front. They now have a warehouse that handles fulfillment, and the retail storefront down the block (very nice place, BTW, if you are in town). In other words, it grew organically as their business grew. They got the inventory then built the infrastructure to turn it out, not the other way around.

I’ve been there a few times. They are ok. Years ago I had to sit on a computer select the cards I needed for a set I was working on then they went and pulled from somewhere else. The cards weren’t exactly as described but they spent the time and I already paid. But they did GROW into the business they are now. You just don’t start out as a gigantic card business. You build and find what works for you. Even on EBay over the years you can see how they have gotten larger. It just comes with time and success.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bigdaddy]

There's a LCS near me that has been in business since the 1980s and just recently changed ownership for the first time. I thought they had a lot of cards in their store (you would have to turn sideways to pass someone in the walkways they were so narrow) and then I found out that there were two more storage units full of product. And I believe they had a very small online footprint and never really got into the graded card business.

Will be interesting to see how the new ownership tackles this. They've moved the store across the street into a new storefront. A much different feel than the previous store. Will be interesting to see how they tackle the huge inventory.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Show me anywhere in my post where I even mentioned that I was looking for advice on how to do it. Not once did I say I wanted to do it I was just asking a basic simple question.

Yeah, I never thought you were actually interested in doing anything.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[lowpopper]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

I look at all of these big time sellers like Burbank sports cards, deans cards, 2bros collectibles and cardcollector2 and think how did they get so big listing cards on eBay. Seems like they always pull the”big cards” from boxes. I think it comes down to two things.

1. Buying dozens of cases of cards at a time! I say this because every case I ever bought, I only got a $5 autograph or a $5 relic!

2. And maybe the most important step is to hire a team of 20+ people and pay them minimum wage to do the grunt work? I saw this because anyone that has scanned, listed and packed a box of $1 cards knows it’s tough and tedious work that most of us can’t do or dont want to do.

If I had a team of 20 people doing all of the grunt work , I could be a million dollar business too! It’s not that hard if you pay people to do all the hard work.

What do you guys think?

you're on crack if you think training non card people to do card work (correctly) is easy

[Mike D.]

Just from my personal experience, I bet you could list a lot of cards in not a lot of time. I have an eBay store. But I have a full time job, and this is just a hobby. It's not even my primary hobby side hustle. Yet I have over 2,500 listings.

If you owned a card shop, in just the time you were sitting around between customers I bet one person could list hundreds of cards a day. Granted, that's not going to make you rich, but if you keep doing that every day, it adds up.

[dodgerfanjohn]

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.

[homerunderby]

Originally Posted by dodgerfanjohn

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.

I remember Rob writing articles for SCD's dealer publication in the early-90's. It was clear to me that he had vision where the other dealers of the time, thousands of them, didn't. Most dealers then (and now for that matter) want the easy money, are undercapitalized, and don't know how to build a collector (as opposed to a flipper) clientele.

Amazingly, he's avoided the scandals of other prominent dealers. Maybe not so amazing, since all you have to do is not be smarmy and not defraud collectors. I'm sure he has a few disgruntled customers in his 35 years, but overall he gives collectors what they pay for.