Some sellers auction packs that are “Hot Packs”
These are the packs that have Jersey and/or Autograph cards in them.
Each box of sports cards will contain aprox. 8 to 36 packs of cards.
Most products contain 1-4 autograph/jersey cards per box.
Hot packs are the packs with the jersey/auto cards. Products containing one jersey card per pack (Sp Game Used) I would consider all these packs hot but you can still search these packs – I will get to that later.
Click Here To See An Example of “Hot Packs” on eBay
How do the sellers find these hot packs?
- Most if not all probably use a quality digital scale. Most packs with a jersey piece or auto (even sticker auto’s) will show up on a high quality digital scale. Compare that with the other packs in the box and you can narrow it down.
- Sometimes the companies make it obvious and you can pick out the jersey packs just by eye. (This is not common any more)
- Some products have 1 jersey card per pack
- You can bend the packs and “feel” the thicker packs.
Should I bid on these packs?
- I open and see countless packs today that contain 1, 2 more or less cards. I am sure auctions have gone on that contain 2 extra base cards and the seller thinks its a jersey card. How would you get your money back?
- Some cards contain PATCHES of logos off NFL, NBA ect..jerseys, shoes, laces…ect. The sports card companies admit that even with “dupe” cards there is no way to hide the “quad patch or bat” card. So even if you buy these packs on eBay
, the seller probably opens the packs that are REALLY thick.
- Products with Jersey cards per pack are somewhat safe to bid on-you will get a jersey card or a “Hit” But realize that sometimes a product like that is broken down to deliver 1-3 PATCH or DUAL Jersey cards Per BOX-My guess is that sometimes sellers pull those packs and sell the “average” jersey card packs-(the weight of a patch card will weigh out more compared to the other Jersey packs)
- Sometimes a product contains jersey AND autograph cards per box. It is possible that the jersey card checklist is not anything great-but the autograph cards are rookies or really nice pulls. More times than not a seller is selling you the packs with the jerseys cards and pulling the rookie autographs or auto card.
Where should I buy packs?
THE Best way to buy packs is go to a honest sports card dealer-where you or people you know have pulled nice cards from the shop. We have a board in our store with big hits-most good hobby stores do. Buying hot packs on eBay is always risky, you should always watch how much you spend-there will be bargins, but there are rip offs everyday.
Or
Purchase SEALED Hobby Boxes of your cards-from an honest eBay or sports card dealer. There are many good sellers of sports cards on eBay-many have websites and are some of the biggest sellers in the country. With a little searching you will find them. If you live in a small town with no hobby store-this is probably one of your best options.
Or
Connect with people-if you cannot afford a full box, there are collectors all around the country. Many websites have message boards (including eBay) where you can find collectors in your area. Go 1/2 on a box with someone. Or better yet, find a friend that you think would like collecting and get him/her to go 1/2 on a sealed box with you.
