I've been spoiled when it comes to getting most of my Cubs cards. For the past several years I've been buying almost everything directly from eBay seller Brentandbecca. Brent made a full-time career of busting cases.
Unfortunately, that has come to an end. Last week Brent announced that he wasn't able to get the number of cases he needs to make a profit. In fact, he wasn't able to get anything at a reasonable price. Last year he busted over 100 cards of each Topps series, and now he's been cut off.
Brent has always given me good service at a decent price. Buying from just one source was also a big help on my budget. I will miss buying from him.
You can blame Brent's woes on Covid. The pandemic brought collectors out of the woodworks and has driven up prices. It has also caused problems for Topps' production. Increased demand and decreased supply are not a good combination for buyers.
Now I'm back to buying my older way, thought Sportlots and Ebay. I try to use the fewest number of sellers as possible to keep down the shipping prices. But that is difficult to do, especially if I want the cards soon after release.
My Topps Series 2 cards are on the way. It took me a total of ten sellers to get all the Cubs cards and inserts. Ten is a lot more than one, isn't it!
I saw Brent was putting an end to his case busting ways on a series of Twitter posts. He was very transparent and when it's all said and done it's just disappointing. I understand Topps is a business, but sometimes I wonder if they are concerned with the future of their business at all. Eventually this bubble will burst (and I believe we're already starting to see some signs of it doing so) and many of the flippers will no longer be around. The true collectors are here to stay for the long haul and Brent served the collectors. It's sad that we, the true collectors, have lost such a great collecting resource and Brent has been priced out of the market.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right. If you aren't loyal to your longtime customers, it's going to come back and bite you at some point.
DeleteDang. I've purchased stuff from B&B a few times over the years. They were definitely an asset to team collectors and our hobby in general.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Card Barrel, too. They might be able to help you out from time to time. I really like their selection.
ReplyDeleteI don't like blaming Topps (or anybody, really) for their actions during a once-every-100-years pandemic, but if they hadn't restricted sales to mostly big-box stores, this wouldn't have happened.
ReplyDeleteI bought my Series 2 Dodgers needs from one seller yesterday. It doesn't include inserts but I'm now operating on the "inserts-must-prove-to-me-they're-worth-my-money" philosophy.