When to stop ripping?

jdip9

Anyone else have a lot of trouble getting themselves to stop ripping through a box you feel has limited potential?

Last night I was ripping a box of 85 Leaf. The cards are coming out in nm-mt condition, decently centered with pretty good edges/corners but the 98% of the surfaces were not good, as the sides were a slightly lighter shade of black than the tops/bottoms. About 10 packs deep, I find my Clemens RC. 55/45 LR but 70/30 TB, sharp edges/corners but same surface problems - probably an 8.

So I paused to evaluate whether I should continue ripping, or cut bait and try to recoup some of my investment, since it was pretty obvious there are no 10's to be found in this box. I had noticed that in the packs ripped so far I had already gotten a lot of dupes, and convinced myself to rip 6 more packs in hopes of getting a better Clemens. 26 packs later.... no more Clemens and not even a Puckett in the whole box. With the Clemens pull, I could have maybe broken even stopping after 16 packs...now - not so even.

I've got 2 more boxes arriving later this week - 83 and 85 Topps...let's see if I can show some restraint if the situation calls for it!

hotmush

From experience, I can tell you that faded surfaces on Leaf 85s are par for the course. Even as a kid in 85, buying packs, I put together sets that were two different shades. It's just the way it goes, I'm afraid. I've gone one Clemens Rookie from when I first opened it that is almost grey!

CDsNuts

Yes, all the time. But what can you do with a half box of 1985 Leaf? I've got a half box of 1978 Topps football with the same issues. No idea what I'm gonna do with it.

Lee

Lothar52

SWEEP THE LEG!!

handyman

You could dump your junk on someone else. But does that feel wrong? It seems to be on the line of searching. Would you tell your buyer that you opened the box untill you pulled the best cards and also tell him you stoped bc all the cards were in bad condition. Or just sell it as an unopened box? Seems wrong. throw it away and dont worry about taking a 10.00 loss

jdip9

There are plenty of listings for "box fresh" packs all over Ebay. I don't buy many of these, but they move all the time...a lot of times the seller doesn't disclose any information other than "I've bought this box (or case) directly from my local card shop" etc. etc....who really knows where they got them from? I wouldn't compare it at all to searching, it's entirely possible there were mulitple stars cards yet to pull. Maybe it's different shades of grey, but I don't think it's wrong.

handyman

Well good luck with your auctions and try not to rip of any family members. Seems like an honest person. He said it best others are doing it so why cant he.

handyman

Searching? Well lets see you busted the packs until you pulled the best possible card. Then you said hmm I dont think there is anything worth going for at this point. So what should I do sell this and make some money? Knowing nothing good will be pulled or else you would have opened them yourself. You said it yourself.

jdip9

whoa...handyman, easy. Why do you find it impossible that there weren't more key cards left in the remaining packs (2/3 of the box)? If I never mentioned anything about the condition of the cards I already opened, and said I was satisfied with pulling the card I was looking for (even as an 8), would you still find my hypothetical question bothersome? (since, after all, I DID end up busting everything - and for the record, I've never NOT ripped the entire box).

But, despite the heavy sarcasm, you make a valid point. After thinking about it some more over the last 20 minutes, I wouldn't go so far as to call it flat-out wrong, but you've convinced me it probably IS morally questionable. Sorry to get you riled up.

SidePocket

jdip, you've reached the right conclusion. Rip the rest and sleep well.