What's going on, everybody?

Welcome back to Vaulted. This is a series on the stacking slabs main feed brought to you by my good friends at PSA. Appreciate everyone who has been engaged with these episodes, who have been sharing their own experience with me.

It has been fun to learn about how you all are navigating the use of the vault and whether it's with your grading, selling on eBay, which is what we're gonna talk about today, or maybe a combination of them both.

I am really excited to share some of my experience. We talked grading last time. This episode, we're specifically going to be focusing on, selling cards through the PSA vault.

And I'm going to talk through a recent, selling spree, I guess, that I've been on or was on, and just try to make it this as real as, absolutely possible to help you understand, how the use of a vault might enhance, your overall collecting experience.

There's a question I've been thinking a lot about lately.

And that question is, what does it mean to build a collection that actually reflects who you are? For me, collecting has never been about volume. It's not about how many cards I own.

It's about what I own and why I own it. My collection is constantly evolving. Sometimes that evolution is slow and thoughtful. Other times it's fast, emotional, and unexpected. But the key through line here is that it's always moving.

I buy cards because I feel connected to them, a player I root for, a team I grew up with, a parallel or set that just hits me right. I've been going through this on this Pacers run.

I pivot away from my Colts Prism collection in that build. Not that I abandon it, but I pivot the focus away to the excitement I have around this Pacers team and wanting to express that in my collection.

That's change. That's movement. But here's the thing, just because I buy a card doesn't mean it's going to stay in my collection forever.

I've learned that letting go is a part of the process. If I want to chase the next big card, the one that really matters, I usually need to sell something to make it happen.

Not because I'm flipping, not because I'm trying to churn inventory, but because I don't have a bunch of disposable cash just sitting around waiting for the next grail.

I wish I did. I talk about the money tree in the back. I wish I had the money tree in the back. I wouldn't give up anything. My collection funds itself.

That's how I've always done it, especially as I've, become a parent, had more responsibility, more children, new house. It's the way I have to roll. So I think this episode, I really it's meant for collectors like me.

Not exactly like me, but just collectors who embrace movement, embrace change, embrace this idea that maybe a few cards in your collection are cards that when you look at it are the profile of exactly the type of cards that you never will give up, but the surrounding pieces might be up for sale if another card popped up.

This episode is going to be for collectors who are always building but need to make smart moves along the way.

Collectors who want to consolidate without creating a logistical nightmare. I recently sold 14 cards straight from the PSA vault. These were cards that were graded, went to the vault, and then were listed on eBay.

I ran them all, seven day auction starting at 99¢. And I did it all start to finish without touching a single card. No scans, no shipping, no hassle, just a few clicks.

So in this episode, I'm gonna walk you through that full process, how it works, what I learned, and how it's helping me build a collection that feels even more aligned with where I'm headed as a collector.

So let's just get into it. I think context is really important, and I hope if you're a listener of stacking slabs, you appreciate the context that I try to layer in on any topic, any type of episode that I am digging into.

I want you to understand the why, and I wanna you to understand the full picture.

And I think one collector's mentality is a lot different from another collector's mentality, but I think if we're able to offer context, it makes everything else I'm saying make a lot more sense.

And you can apply all of what I'm saying that the way you operate, you can apply some of what I'm saying to how you operate, or you can apply none of what I'm saying to how you operate. It's it's all a choice and a decision.

But here in my role, delivering this episode, I just wanna give you as much context as possible. So the theme here is collecting is an ongoing evolution, and that's how I view the way I approach my PC.

And I consolidate. I understand consolidation is not for everyone. But as a collector who consolidates, the PSA vault is a great resource to help me do it.

I I I I don't know if it's the the the way I'm wired. I don't know if it's the way I'm, view the world, if it's how I viewed my professional career, but I've I I'm nothing's ever static. Like, the movement is excitement.

Site builds excitement. The the change is invigorating. And so while I like to move fast, I like to make decisions, I like to build things, I like to break them down, I like to go build something else, I I like that movement.

And so the way I view my collection is that it's never fixed and it's always evolving.

And I buy cards that reflect my connection to players, teams, and sets that I love. But just because a card because I have a card in my current collection doesn't mean necessarily that I'm gonna keep it forever.

So with conscient consolidation, I know, is a very important and talked about topic. And I view consolidation as my method to be able to create opportunity and build the collection that I'm aspiring to build.

And I I appreciate what it does for me as a collector, but it's also a requirement because of my position. Right? The you know, there's not a lot of disposable income. I'm building a business.

The the money that I do have left over, I'm putting it back into the business. And so I have to use my collection to fund itself. And so selling cards to me equals creating a space and budget for the next card that I'm chasing.

So if you're someone like me and this all sounds familiar and you're trying to level up your collection, I'm hoping that some of what I'm about to share kinda hits you and it resonates.

So let's start with why I think the vault in this process around consolidation matters.

And a big reason for that is because selling used to be, very painful. I would think about the early days of getting back into the hobby and and needing to make a buck because I saw a card that I really wanted.

And then going through the process of, you know, getting a card back from grading that I knew I was gonna sell, having to do the pretend I was a a good photographer and getting the light right in my house and taking a million pictures that were not great, and then going through the process of smashing a bunch of buttons on my iPhone and listing the card manually on eBay.

And then, you know, you'd run auctions or I'd I'd list it on a buy it now price, and someone would get it and win it. And I'd have to do the packing up and shipping it and handling payments and all that stuff.

All the communication too. It's like, remember I just remember when I used to message people on eBay. It's like, you know, hey. Haven't got your payment yet. Like, like, those days.

I think about all those steps, and there's just so much work involved. And, like, I went through that processes, and especially if, like, we're it was, like, an example, like, today where there's 14 cards that I just sold.

Like, I'd have to set aside a whole Friday night to list 14 cards, and then the work wasn't even done. Right? You you know, once it was over, then I'd have to do all the packing and shipping. And and I despise that.

I did not like that. And it reached the point where I was asking myself. It's like, you love the hobby, dude. Like, this is awesome. You appreciate collecting, but all this other stuff, it's taking up way too much time.

And so the the friction, was was not something, you know, I enjoyed. And so I think in this example, like, while I've always been and I said this on the last episode.

I've always been someone that's like, I never viewed myself as a vault guy. I'll never use a vault. But because I use a vault now, it's, helps me remove kind of the all the things around the selling experience that I didn't like.

And I think it's perfect, for people in my position and in many other positions, but, you know, people who have jobs, people who have families, people who have limited time. Like, we have this I say this in every episode I do.

Small sliver of time, the hobbies are an escape. When we have that small sliver of time away from our jobs, our family, or other priorities, the last thing I wanna be doing as a collector is all the stuff I hate.

I want stuff to just happen, and I wanna focus on hunting, appreciating my collection, all those things. So when I learned about the PSA Vault and its integration with eBay, I realized that, okay.

This seems easy, and maybe this might get me into the mode where I use the vault for a little bit and sell and just try to understand the process.

And part of vaulted in the series is, you know, sharing the process. And I wanna walk you through that.

So step by step here. So I sent in a big order. I talked about it during for the in the grading episode. Go check out vaulted episode two. I sent, a bunch of cards in three different service levels, two PSA.

And by the way, like, if you're not already, like, you could you can send even if they're different orders, you can put them all in the same box and send them. You don't have to spend a bunch of money on shipping.

Just make sure you you understand that. You you can send even if there are different service levels all in the same box, and there's great instructions on PSA site to help you be able to do that.

So I sent this big order away, got the grades all pop celebrating. We all love the grades popping.

And, you know, you make the decisions. Right? What's staying? What's going? And after all was said and done, there were 14 cards that I looked at based on my current collection, everything that had shifted and changed.

And I said, you know, these 14 cards are 14 cards that can they don't need to come back to me.

We'll just put them in the vault, and I can maybe even spend some more time thinking. You know? They don't need to get sent back to me. Put them in a vault.

Maybe extra time will make make me think, you know what? Maybe I do want that card, or I can just list them on eBay. So there was probably, like, a two week period between cards pop, me sending to Vault, and me listing.

So I just literally on the app, the PSA app, I just made the decision. Okay. These are in my vault. Let me just start listing these cards. And it like, so easy. Right? The scans are already there. Everything's already there.

So I chose seven day auctions, 99¢ starting bid across the board. You can, if you want, put a buy it now price. I am I'm not an anti buy it now guy, but when I'm selling cards, I try to view them all as a a batch.

And that batch, like, I'm I want a a finish date on when this stuff is selling and me getting the cards, is is the most important part.

And so in this scenario, PSA and eBay are you know, they're handling the listing creation, photo shipping, all of that stuff.

I think about the process and digging into the process, and I'll get into maybe some of the cards that I listed. So one of the cards was a twenty twenty four prism WNBA, Enrique Agambuwale, gold prism, out of 10, PSA eight.

I talked about building an Enrique collection in one of the previous episodes, and the realization that my connection with her as a player came in 2018 when she hit two buzzer beaters in the final four national championship game to win a national championship for Notre Dame.

I love watching her on WNBA League Pass. She's a great scorer. But one of the things that I realized during this process as I I was amassing a bunch of Enrique's gold prisms is, you know what?

Instead of just buying all of these cards, maybe I just want one card. And at the time, her select con or select courtside, PSA ten one of one came up, and I wanted that card.

And so once I got that card, I realized I didn't need all these other cards. So that was a reason to put it in the vault and then list it on eBay.

There were a Jonathan Taylor card that two Jonathan Taylor cards. And I love Jonathan Taylor, but they were cards that I realized based on my focus on my Prism collection that I didn't necessarily need.

They weren't cards that I had to have. I had been more focused on the Prism product as opposed to the Select product, And there were there was a a gold and a one of one black.

And it it came back to, yes, these are cool cards, but I would rather sell these cards in order to fund my next purchase that is going to help me build out the prism wing of my Colt's collection that I really love building.

I've realized through all of this, through consolidation, through the selling, that I can't keep everything.

I wish I could. But as an ambitious collector, an ambitious builder, I need to try to do whatever I can to keep myself in a position that can constantly make decisions that will help me get to the collection that I want to.

And so part of the process and part of using Evolved to sell my cards on eBay is the fact that I I have this instant direct access to this marketplace that I don't need to do anything but click a couple buttons.

And by making all of those moves super easy, seamless, don't put me back into that Friday night where I'm spending the entire Friday evening taking bad photos of cards and listing them on eBay for sale and then having to package them up to ship, like, allowing me to have the free time where I don't have to worry about that is a win.

So I think what's the most important thing when we come to, like, using new tools, technology, all of that is is the money. Right? What's the payout experience like?

And I think transparency is important. Ease is important. And I found that to be seamless through my experience using the PSA vault. In the vault, I can see the real time status of cards post sale, not paid, processing, or paid.

It's good to have some sort of understanding and visibility in in what's going on, and the app affords me to be able to see that. You know, you link your bank account with Stripe, one time setup.

Cash just gets, you know, transferred to your bank account. No guessing kinda when funds land. And so PSA is handling the buyer side payment, and the dashboard that's created is keeping me informed.

And so I'm able to track when the Jonathan Taylor black one of one PSA nine gets paid. And that's not a small sale, but it's knowing it was processed correctly is what matters to me.

So I start with movement. I start with this motion. And so it's always a mindset mentality when I'm selling cards. It's like, what am I gonna use it for? And selling is never the end.

It's always the next move. And so when I'm selling post grading, I'm always trying to make up for that grading invoice. Right? We don't wanna have to pay out of pocket for our cards to be graded if we don't have to.

And I think that's the benefit of this subject in collectibles is that we get our cards graded and it helps them increase in value, and then we sell a few and we can fund the grading, the submission.

So that's one piece. I think having the ability to free up funds to pay off a card I've already bought can be another one.

It was not in this instance. However, it certainly can be. It can help create liquidity for the next auction cycle or pickup that I might have. And vault selling made the turnaround possible without any delay.

And so I think about the sale of a Hanna Hidalgo gold shimmer at a 50 PSA 10. It was a card, you know, as a Notre Dame fan that I bought, but I realized right now, I just don't need it.

And it ended up helping me fund another card down the road, and to me, that's a win. I think this experience is built for the collector who is grading and selling, who wants to save a little time and energy.

You don't need to be a dealer, just someone who grades and occasionally moves cards. You're you're getting back time, avoiding shipping errors, and staying focused on collecting.

I think your cards remain protected and insured during the I don't think I know. Your cards remain protected and insured during the entire process, which is, which is awesome.

So let's maybe do a quick recap here. I find this to be very quick, efficient, clean, trustworthy, having to send one box to PSA for grading, and that's it. The box gets so sent to PSA. The grading happens. Grades pop.

I make the decision. What comes home? What what gets sent to the vault? Once it's in the vault, it can chill in your vault. There's cars that are chilling in my vault right now because I I'm not I I don't know what I wanna do with them.

Maybe they come back home. Maybe they eventually get sold. I think you as a collector can use this experience to stay liquid if you need to, stay organized, or scale your own personal collecting in a smart way.

If you're trying to chase your grails and want your collection to work for you, I think this path is worth worth trying.

This won't be the last time I use the vault, and I'll continue to find ways and opportunities to build it into what I'm doing because I believe in the efficiency of it.

And it's really fun to get paid out and to make decisions on how, as a collector, those funds get applied to building out my collection and moving on and using those funds to land a card that I deeply appreciate and love.

And isn't that what we're trying to do? We're trying to build a collection of cards that serve as time capsules for incredible moments that we have as not only collectors, but fans of sports.

And that's why I have appreciated this new feature, and I'm excited to continue to dig in and hope by the next time we do one of these, it won't just be me. We're gonna be taking vaulted, to PSA.

We're going to be talking to individuals with inside their organization to talk about this topic, to talk about other topics that apply to what is being built, what is going on to help make collectors' lives like mine and yours easier and more efficient.

So next episode, we'll have an interview with someone from the PSA team, and we'll get deeper a deeper look at what's coming for Vault users, whether it's enhancements, features, functionality.

We're just we're gonna talk about cards. Right? That's what we do here on Stacking Slabs.

We we love talking about cards, and we, love talking about ways that we can better enhance, the process processes and strategies that we implement to build out collections that are significant to us.

Really appreciate you checking out vaulted in this series. We'd love to hear from you. How are you using the vault?

What's going on with your own personal collection? Wanna thank PSA for supporting stacking slabs and making this series possible. Looking forward to more of these conversations. Thanks so much. Talk to you soon.