Yesterday, I was going through my regular eBay check. I have a handful of saved searches that I look at a couple times a day to see new postings of cards I want. I had an itch to buy something, but none of the new listings jumped out at me. So I flipped over to my Watch Items folder.
As I scanned through it, I realized that a couple cards had been in that folder for a while. A while as in years. These cards, for whatever reason, have never sold and are continuously re-listed. Let's take a look at a couple.
First up is a rookie variation of Yu Darvish from 2012 Topps. I know Cubs fans probably hate him, and a lot of Rangers fans were disappointed by him, but I'm still a Darvish fan. This card features Darvish throwing left-handed - something he's good at. Reports are that he can throw in the low- to mid-80's with his left hand. I've always thought this was a cool shot.
I saved this listing when I first saw it at least three years ago. I'm on a budget, and rarely do I go out of that budget to get a card. I have waited for the price to come down, but it hasn't. A cursory search for the card on eBay now shows the cheapest listing at $12 or best offer, with $4 shipping. Maybe I'll swap out listings.
The next long-tenured card in my Watch List is this dual auto featuring Eric Campbell and my primary PC guy, Matt Harrison. Unlike the Darvish, the reason for not buying this card isn't money. while I think the price could be cheaper, I do think that the asking price here is fair. I just don't like this card. I think it might be one of the ugliest cards I've ever seen. So, since I know that I need this card for the collection, I drag my feet when it comes down to buying it.
Lastly, the longest-watched item in my list. This hails from 2013 Triple Threads, featuring three nice patches from Harrison's All Star uniform. Unlike the last card, I think this card is a beaut! Like the Darvish, my problem here is cost. This card has been listed for $57 and has been for almost five years. I've tried emailing the seller to see if we could work out a deal for it, but I never hear anything back. So, the card will sit in my Watch List until it does get cheaper or I find another copy for less.
This leads me to what I believe is an interesting Blog Bat Around question: Which card(s) have been your Watch List the longest and why have they been there so long?
What a fun post! It doesn't look like I have much in my eBay watch list, but I enjoyed checking out yours.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I always enjoy a peak at what interests others.
DeleteA while ago I created a term called "gray whale", used to refer to cards that weren't exactly super rare or exclusive (ie readily available for purchase), but they were priced JUST high enough (or had stupid expensive shipping fees in respect to the card itself, think $2.99 + $3.99 s/h) that I always passed on them. Most of those gray whales fall under your challenge. They've always been in my watchlist, and will never end up in my cart unless I can take advantage of combined shipping for another few cards I need (which is often never).
ReplyDeleteAddendum, I've since removed a lot of these from the watchlist because I've lived this long without them and probably don't need them. Also because the last thing I want is to make sellers think their prices are justified by people/me looking at their inventory with interest.
DeleteCool idea for a BBA... but I don't really watch any eBay items that aren't reasonably priced. And if they are... and it's something I really want... I just wait for a 10x eBay bucks offer and pick it up, so right now I don't really have anything old on my watch list.
ReplyDeleteNice! I'm sure I've got some like this too. Fun exercise though.
ReplyDelete