you think people open a 30k box for fun and not for the 30k they make plus fee publicity? Im sure they have a blast as a breaker, but as a consumer people need to think a little more.
If the price is the same live open or ship then fine, but most people buying will probably think “oh I would be dumb to not save 200$ to keep that 10 seconds of opening the pack for myself, so I might as well have him or her open it for me, despite obviously preferring to do that themselves”. Its a thought that should not even have to be made. I guess if we can’t agree that most people would rather open their own 1000$ packs then there isn’t much more to say because I venture to say its an absolute fact and not an opinion at all
It may very well be hence why it is in the unpopular OPINION thread. However if the question becomes simply “would you rather open a pack yourself that you paid above retail for or have someone else do it” I imagine the data would be massively in my favor
I mentioned that its a scam thats normalized because it is common now for most buyers to not even realize whats happening when the breaker “suggests” a cheaper price to subtract the value from your experience
With that premium comes a genuine, guaranteed unweighed pack. I’d rather pay into a break then pay less for one on eBay that says unweighed when we all know it’s a light pack.
I want to make it clear that box breaks are fine, it is the only way left to get unweighed packs
Opening someones pack without the option to ship at the exact same price is in my OPINION, not right. My opinion stems from the overwhelming majority of people who would rather open their own packs than have someone else do it, but who (rationally) decide to save a few bucks and have someone take their 10 seconds of enjoyment from them
I find sealed product boring. I totally get it from an investment standpoint, and how they only get rarer as more are opened, but in terms of as a collector, i’d rather have a few of my favorite cards from that set rather than display the booster box or pack.
I don’t know why people feel the need to call anything that happens the most extreme possible term. It completely detracts from the point; “I don’t like box openings, must be a scam”. Shining fates etb’s are $20 more online, “scalpers ruining the hobby”. Market does anything at this point, “its a bubble”.
No one is being scammed in a box break. It couldn’t be anymore transparent and straight forward. Every person knows exactly what they are willingly getting into. Its one thing to say you don’t like the premium, like the $10 beers at a ballpark. But these aren’t scams.
Im saying that not offering the buyer the option to keep their packs sealed at the same price is not right. Buyers dont question this and in my opinion that is not right. I’m glad everyone else is fine with others opening their packs but to me more people need to realize that it does not have to be the norm. Nobody will be hurt if 10 of 36 packs are not opened live and those people should not be in a worse scenario than those who chose to buy into the standards.
Is this not a place where we can state our opinions that are contrary to the norm?
Saying you like or dislike something is an opinion. Trying to suggest something is a scam is a qualified statement that requires proof. Which no one in this thread has or can do, because box breaks aren’t a scam.
Also buyers are participating in whatever service is offered. Its entirely up to the owner of the packs. If they want to only do breaks, that is their choice. If the buyer doesn’t like that, don’t participate. Its such an obvious answer.
Perhaps scam wasnt the right word then, because I never intended to imply that something fishy is going on (like only selling lights or something). I meant to imply that I dont like the norm and am wondering why nobody else seems to care. If you dont like the norm but still want unweighted packs, its not the clearest answer plus many breaks simply dont allow sealed packs shipped at all cheaper or more expensive
@wisewailmer, That is a much more reasonable take! Yeah I am sure there are plenty of people who don’t value the experiences of openings. But that is the beauty of markets. They are large and diverse. I always use Arby’s as the example. Who still goes to Arby’s today? I can’t remember the last time I even thought of Arby’s. Yet their annual revenue last year was 3.9 billion.
For many people, myself included, opening up a whole box of a certain vintage set is now a once in a lifetime kind of goal. It never gets talked about, everyone is fixated on the value of the box/contents like they’re just traded as commodities. Even if you haven’t opened it and keep it sealed - the potential is always there for you to indulge in that experience one day if you choose to. The experience of opening a fresh box of your favorite vintage set is one of the very best experiences the hobby has to offer.
Based on what you’ve said on this matter before on this forum, I’ll give you the benefit of doubt and assume you mean this in a bit more relative fashion than you outline here.
Personally, I’d like anything below a PSA 9 to be authentic only at a minimum, one is simply cherry picking flaws at that point. Anything below a PSA 7 should be authentic only but marked as damaged, because…well, it’s damaged isn’t it? Are people really going “Oh no, that PSA 5 I bought with a giant crease through it and fifty corner indents is a misgrade because it has a giant speck of bird shit I didn’t see on the scans, should have been a PSA 3, woe is me”. Get the fuck out. This is done to hustle money out of believers, nothing more, nothing less.
As for PSA 10’s, I would gladly resub a 10 to get the authentic only if I didn’t lose 4-6 figures, so there’s that my precious feelz over receiving lower grades than my delusional pregrades out the window…
I mean that’s just how free markets work though. If the only way to buy unweighed packs is through a box breaks, and you don’t like box breaks, then you don’t get unweighed packs. If you only want product B, but the only way to get product B is through venue A, but you don’t want to participate in venue A, then you don’t get the product. They lose a customer by not meeting your demands, and you lose the product for not meeting theirs. The market has no obligation to provide every kind of product for everyone
I like box breaks, but when I go to the arcade I dont walk in and pay the employees to play the games and win the tickets and pick out the prize and hand it to me
What is it more like? A casino? Cause I don’t let other people gamble for me either.
I guess you could say its like a concert but its not much of a performance
No, you’re right, I’d much rather let the arcade manager have $15 dollars worth of fun on my behalf and hand me the pony I’ll give to the cheerleader captain before I’d let anyone fondle my $1000++ piece of preciousness.