My Experience Flipping Cards Using the eBay Vault

Do you enjoy flipping cards on eBay as much as I do?

As a football fan and an entrepreneur, nothing is more fun than having an opinion about a player or a team and being able to turn a profit on it if you’re correct. There are quite a few ways to play it if making a few dollars is your goal.

In fantasy football, an educated and well-studied fan can parlay their research into a dominant team. If you’re lucky enough to survive an entire season through injuries and other variables, you might win your league’s trophy, cash and bragging rights. If you aren’t, there’s a good chance you’ll lose your entire buy-in. 

Flipping cards is a whole lot of fun. For example, if you decide to invest in a young player's cards with the potential of flipping it for profit, the best-case scenario is that they break out and the card shoots up in value. But even on the flip side, where the player doesn’t perform as expected or gets injured, at least you've still added a rad card to your collection. Plus your card still retains value. 

When you're flipping cards, one of the most important considerations is timing. You need to be ready and able to transact at any time, so that if the player snags a huge game-winning touchdown or has a record-breaking game, you’re ready to capitalize on the moment.

The great news is that the eBay vault is here—and it’s a card flipper's best friend. 

With the eBay vault, instant transfer becomes a reality as card collectors, flippers and investors can now transact in real-time—eliminating the need for shipping expenses, taxes and most importantly, the time it takes to send and receive cards. You can transfer ownership immediately, so that when your player catches that game-winning TD, the new owner can purchase and take possession of that card in seconds. 

In this article, I’m going to talk you through how I started flipping the cards of one of my favorite rookies—Garrett Wilson—who just so happens to play for my favorite football team: the New York Jets. Follow along as I send a 2021 Select XRC PSA 10 card to the eBay vault—the premier, 24/7 secure facility and digital marketplace for trading card collectors with no sales tax, storage or selling fees—and then flip it. 

Both the Jets and Garrett Wilson have gotten off to a flying start in 2022. Gang Green is 6-4 and sits just one game behind the Miami Dolphins for first place in the AFC East. Wilson has already been named NFL Rookie of the Week twice, most recently against the Patriots two weeks ago. In that game, he caught 6 passes for 115 yards and became just the second Jets wide receiver to ever have two 100-yard receiving games in their rookie season. 

Wilson currently has 42 catches for 521 yards and 2 touchdowns, putting him on pace for an 80 catch, 1,000 yard rookie season. He has 14 catches for 217 yards in his last two games alone (vs. New England and Buffalo), meaning that he seems to be finding his groove with second-year quarterback Zach Wilson at the perfect time. 

Here’s why I think it’s a great time to buy Garrett Wilson cards: The spotlight will only shine brighter on the Jets as they stay in the playoff race down the stretch. This will give Wilson opportunities to make big plays in huge games. With their 6-4 record, plus some very winnable games remaining on the schedule (at home vs. Chicago, Jacksonville and Detroit), there’s certainly a very realistic path to 10 wins and a wild card at minimum.

Great question. My strategy is to list it with a $399 price tag “or best offer,” hoping that if Wilson has a huge game in the next few weeks, combined with the fact that the population of this card is so low, somebody will decide to just smash the “Buy It Now” button.  

How will it all work out? That remains to be seen… Make sure to come back here next month for an update!

The results of my Garrett Wilson play are in, and while I lost a couple dollars, much of what I said would happen the rest of the season has actually happened. 

When I wrote the original article, the Jets were 6-4 and just one game behind the Miami Dolphins for first place in the AFC East. The Jets have remained extremely competitive, but are 1-3 in their last four games and currently sit at 7-7. That record wouldn't be good enough to make the playoffs if they started today, but there are still three games left. While anything can happen, the odds of the Jets winning all three and sneaking into the playoffs are slim. 

The Jets may have lost three of four, but Garrett Wilson has been absolutely on fire. He was named Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week four times—twice since publishing the original article and purchasing his card. 

Wilson currently has 67 catches for 966 yards and four touchdowns. His 966 yards currently lead the NFL in rookie receiving yards, finally overtaking his former Ohio State teammate Chris Olave for the lead in that category this week. 

With those stats in mind, it comes as no surprise that Wilson is now a big favorite (-150) to win 2022 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, with Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (+400) his closest competition. Interestingly enough, fellow Jets teammate Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner also is the odds leader for 2022 Defensive Rookie of the Year (and somebody whose cards you should also look out for). 

With the Jets not likely to make the playoffs, I decided to sell my 2021 Select XRC PSA 10 that I bought last month and sent to the eBay vault - the premier 24/7 secure facility and digital marketplace for trading card collectors with no sales tax, storage or selling fees - to free up some cash for a new play. Unfortunately, I lost $50 on this transaction, accepting an offer of $200 over the weekend. 

I wouldn't have sold the card if the Jets looked poised for the postseason, but timing is everything (this is why the eBay vault’s instant transfer capabilities are perfectly convenient for collectors like me). There's no way of knowing how the rest of the season will play out, and I can only hope that my squad can pull it together in time to make one final push. If that happens and Garrett Wilson is catching touchdown passes on Wild Card weekend, it's likely that the person I sold the card to will do very well with it. 

That wasn't a risk I wanted to take this time, and with the offseason probably rapidly approaching for the Jets, I felt it was best to take my $50 loss and shift strategy. 

When flipping cards, you'll win some and you'll lose some. Choosing the correct time to cut your losses can be a big win in the long run. I look forward to buying a lot of Garrett Wilson cards on eBay in the offseason, when prices historically go down. I feel great about the direction of the Jets franchise and remain confident that there is a lot of money (and fun) still to be had in the Garrett Wilson card market, as the up-and-coming New York Jets enter 2023 with much greater expectations. Until then, I’ll still be buying and selling cards—with the help of the eBay vault, of course.