Dealing With The Pulls That Can Make Your Year

One of the biggest questions that I have seen on the boards deals with handling a big pull. Im talking about when you buy that box of Exquisite and hit a top rookie auto or a Michael Jordan. This also applies to those HUGE pulls like logomen, cut autos and 1/1s, though the chase pulls tend to be once in a lifetime unless you work for Beckett. See, I get that we all love to love the cards we pull, but 99.9% of the time you wont have a big pull of your favorite player. So, what do you do with a huge card of a player/team you don’t collect? What would you do if it was a player you collect?

I have stood by the "sell and buy something you want" philosophy for a long time. With huge cards, there are always people out there who would pay through the nose to get it, and most of the time the cards are rare enough that they have to pay or risk losing out. That puts you at a huge advantage, and can help you get more money than normally would be available. Since eBay has become very much a photobucket for people who just want to show off their huge pulls without selling, many people have chosen the "ill but a huge BIN on my card just so people know that its out there" way of auction. This rarely leads to a sale, but every once in a while a card will sell with a good offer. I do not support this way as it takes away time and money from potential sales. Time because you have to wait for that one person to come along, and money because most of the time a card's value decreases after release.

Personally, I say start it at .99 cents and run it for 5-10 days depending on the newness of the product. There is such a small chance that your card will drastically increase in value that you might as well get money while you can. Pulled a Babe Ruth cut 1/1 out of Triple Threads? Sell it, and sell it quick. Use the money to buy a signed baseball which costs about the same and is the dream of many to own. Pull the Michael Jordan Logo out Exquisite or similar? Sell it, as Jordan isnt going to get any greater. Buy some other stuff you need for your collection, or better yet, your life. Pull the 1/1 Adrian Peterson 2007 Exquisite Patch Auto? claim innocence in your magazi...just kidding. These types of cards are not worth keeping when there is thousands to be made on the open market. Even that Sanchez Exquisite that is coming soon, why hold it? There are quite a few people out there who pay you a ton to get it, and then you can buy anything you want!

In fact, if I broke a box of 2009 National Treasures and pulled the Harvin 1/1 logo, I would sell it. I love collecting Vikings cards, but having a 1/1 like that is not something I would like to have over many other cards that I would like in my collection. If I pulled a Peterson, my mind might change depending on the card. More money for more cards is always VERY tempting, and im not sure how I would handle it. If I am willing to sell the Harvin, you can bet a Sanchez or Stafford logo would be out of my hands faster than you can say "Dirty Sanchez."

Lets face it, 500 dollars is a lot of money when you have a card to sell that you pulled and are not attached to. It could buy you a baseball of any player post 1940, it could buy you the top rookie card of every player other than a small handful, or it could get you a nice new blu-ray player or XBOX if that’s your thing. Its one thing if you collect the player, but completely different if the only connection you have is that you pulled it. Save a scan, and look back when you get misty eyed. The prospects of buying something you want or need should always be more tantalizing than letting it collect dust with a high BIN.

Take it from the guy who just sold his Mark Sanchez SP Authentic 1/1 for over 2500 dollars. Im guessing he is pretty pleased consdiering he could buy a small car if he wanted with that money. At the very least, he has money for a great card of his favorite player and a lot more left over to invest in other things. He let his run, where others just let them sit and collect dust. Bad idea, trust me.