One recent search led me to a seller who had recently opened a case of 2006 Bowman Chrome, and had several individual rookies, rookie autos, uncirculated rookies, etc that were of interest to me, and all at reasonable prices.  So I ended up bidding on a whole slew of them.

I didn't win them all, but all told, I won 8 auctions--one uncirculated rookie, one rookie auto, and six individual rookie cards.

Now, they were all listed with $2 shipping, and granted I didn't ask up front about combined shipping or shipping method--but I got the invoice, and the seller had dropped shipping from $16 to $8--which, based on my experience, I thought seemed a little high, but I figured "Eh, could have been worse."

Then, a few days later, an envelope arrived.  Not a padded envelope, just a regular #10 envelope.  Inside, the cards were wrapped securely inside some paper, and taped/stapled into place, so they wouldn't move around the envelope too much--but once I opened that up, I was once again dismayed--the six rookie cards were in penny sleeves only, taped between the rookie auto (in a top loader) and the uncirculated rookie.  That's right, he taped right to the uncirculated case (including the hologram tape seal), with no team bag or anything.

Fortunately, I was able to get the tape off the case with no problems, and all the cards were fine.  But in all, the guy spent $1.34 on postage, and probably less than $0.50 on packaging expenses, for $8 in shipping charges.

I understand I got many of the auctions for very cheap, and the guy was probably just trying to make some additional profit--but even using my shipping methods (all cards in top loader, wrapped in invoice, using padded envelope) and charges (I think I usually at $0.50 per additional auction), there would have been more money made.

And then I wouldn't have made sure to dock him on my review of his shipping charges when I left feedback.

Needless to say, I'm not real likely to buy there again...

Check out my other football related blog, atZoneBlitz.com

How to Not Get Repeat Business on Ebay

In an effort to jump start my refractor set of 2007 Bowman Chrome Football, I've bid on a few auctions of refractor lots over the last week or so, and my first one arrived yesterday.  As it didn't seem as exciting as some of the individual cards I buy, I didn't crack into the team bag full of cards right away when I opened the envelope--so I didn't realize just what a deal I actually got.

At some point last night, I flipped the package over, and noticed that the card on back (Chris Leak) was numbered--and remembered that one of the auctions had included a few of the colored refractors as well.  So, I figured I better open them up, and remember what I got.

Flipping through the 18 regular refractors, there were 9 that I needed for my set--which was kind of making me wonder why I had bid on this particular auction.  When I got to the end, I remembered--there were four colored refractors at the bottom, including:

     * Blue Refractor Marques Colston (#066/150)
     * Blue Refractor John Broussard (#005/150)
     * Blue Refractor Chris Leak (#057/150)
     * Orange Refractor LaMarr Woodley (#17/25)

Now, none of those are super huge names--although I wonder if Chris Leak might not get a chance at the job in Chicago this year, with their QB situation (of course, he might get cut too).  But even without being star cards, those four alone book for about $44 according to Lord Beckett, which is over 3x what I paid for the lot.

Add in the regular refractors, and I got a lot that has a decent chance to turn a little profit (or maybe at least make back what I paid, while crossing 9 more regular refractors off the list).

That, or it's time to start thinking about a Blue Refractor set (let's see, I currently have about seven Blue Refractors, so only 213 to go...yeah, I think I'll pass).

Check out my other football related blog, atZoneBlitz.com

Bowman Chrome Refractors