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Target not selling cards in stores anymore
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20 posts in this topic

and I imagine Walmart may soon go the same way. Target has announced as of yesterday 5/14/21 they will no longer sell sports cards or pokeman etc.... They have been selling them behind the counter at customer service and allowing 1 pack or 2 packs (depending on type of card) Walmart has them behind the counter also with a 2 box maximum per visit. The customer service rep there tells me they had to do that because the local card shops would send in guys 4-8 at a time to buy the maximum and then they would go out in the lot to their cars and change their clothes and come back in to buy more. They then go and list the card boxes for sale on their website with a slightly jacked up price and actually put (walmart) next to "retail"  Topps, Panini and Leaf are an absolute joke if you try to buy ANYTHING from their sites, all boxes are gone in MINUTES and probably because of these same vulture scumbags. The last time I was able to put a complete set together of any sport by hand was late 2016. Time to walk away from this "hobby" for awhile. If you have similiar stories please post, as I feel I'm not the only one experiencing this.

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On 5/15/2021 at 6:13 PM, Robert Grades said:

and I imagine Walmart may soon go the same way. Target has announced as of yesterday 5/14/21 they will no longer sell sports cards or pokeman etc.... They have been selling them behind the counter at customer service and allowing 1 pack or 2 packs (depending on type of card) Walmart has them behind the counter also with a 2 box maximum per visit. The customer service rep there tells me they had to do that because the local card shops would send in guys 4-8 at a time to buy the maximum and then they would go out in the lot to their cars and change their clothes and come back in to buy more. They then go and list the card boxes for sale on their website with a slightly jacked up price and actually put (walmart) next to "retail"  Topps, Panini and Leaf are an absolute joke if you try to buy ANYTHING from their sites, all boxes are gone in MINUTES and probably because of these same vulture scumbags. The last time I was able to put a complete set together of any sport by hand was late 2016. Time to walk away from this "hobby" for awhile. If you have similiar stories please post, as I feel I'm not the only one experiencing this.

The Topps website will only allow you to put one box in your cart at a time. You have to pay and go back in and add another to your cart if you want multiples. I know the local card shops near me were not getting retail from Target or Walmart. Distributors get retail boxes that they sell to LCS at market prices. The Walmart near me is only selling on Friday. Line starts at 7am and everything is sold out by 7:30am even with their 2 SKU limit. I usually save a search in Marcari for Mega Boxes and wait for prices to drop. The flippers get nervous when they can't move product right away.

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I get that "dealers" and "hardcore" collectors want the "rare" items and want to turn a profit, but they are are pulling the same tactics they use for Hobby boxes and packs and doing it with Retail boxes and packs, I thought that was the reasoning for having "Hobby and Retail". I just want to be able to buy retail packs, fat packs and boxes for their listed price. There is so much duplicate and "commons" in Retail, which is fine, if I'm paying list price, but these "shop guys" are buying them up too, either hoping to get the 1 in 5,000 insert or as I suspect just to be jerks and make a profit. Either way it's BS for collectors like me who just like the enjoyment of putting together a set. I can only hope the market becomes so saturated with over produced cards that they aren't worth anything to the big store guys and then maybe I can start again. Until then, quits for me.

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On 5/17/2021 at 7:19 AM, ModernChris said:

What does panini do with all of this product. Do they sell boxes online direct very often? If so, how do we know when?

I love ripping packs, I'm a collector. But I'm not paying resale prices. 

I heard VP of sales for Panini on a podcast recently.  He said Target isn’t canceling orders so I’m guessing they plan on selling products online or eventually selling in store after changing process.  He also said they are selling retail products to hobby shops now

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On 5/23/2021 at 12:07 PM, rms13 said:

I heard VP of sales for Panini on a podcast recently.  He said Target isn’t canceling orders so I’m guessing they plan on selling products online or eventually selling in store after changing process.  He also said they are selling retail products to hobby shops now

Selling their products online solves nothing, except now the guys that jammed the stores will sit at home and do the same thing online. And Panini selling RETAIL to card shops doesn't do anything either except create a "middleman" who is jacking the prices. The whole thing has me pissed at the hobby shops. I am glad i don't have a son or daughter who wants to collect cards and I have to tell them sorry can't afford a box of 10 packs of cards for $100 + because of this. This "hobby" is saturated right now. The 1st victims are people like me, the second victims will be the flippers when they can't make their $$$ back (especially after the 3-5 month wait for grading) and the best is last, the Hobby Shops, I honestly can't wait for some of them to go out of business, it'll be the best thing for the "Hobby", if you can still call it that. Retail needs to be in stores, period.  

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I love the fact they quit carrying cards, I wish Meijers would join them. Target has also set up limits on Target.com and will cancel any orders that go over the limit. I have been able to buy retail online the last 3 weeks without even leaving my house and driving around to 5 different stores. Thanks to all the jobless flippers that kept fighting in the stores !!

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On 6/3/2021 at 8:44 AM, Benny Harris said:

I love the fact they quit carrying cards, I wish Meijers would join them. Target has also set up limits on Target.com and will cancel any orders that go over the limit. I have been able to buy retail online the last 3 weeks without even leaving my house and driving around to 5 different stores. Thanks to all the jobless flippers that kept fighting in the stores !!

Meijer is the best and most reliable store around me to get them local.  They hold all cards to a specific time and date each week, strictly limit purchases, and they keep them under a glass case so the shelves can't be cleared out.   I'd rather every store take the care that they do.

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Wow this was an enjoyable topic and glad to see I’m not the only one in this boat. Our local card shops have runners who line up at Walmart on restock day for sports and Pokémon. 
If you take them retail product and a receipt, they give you cost + 10% cash or 20% in store credit on very over priced boxes. 
Sometimes it pays off. A friend took in $200 worth of Contenders draft the first day it hit our shelves, Earned some in store credit and payed $150 for a NFL optic mega - total rip off in the numbers, but he hit a base & silver Herbert and two base Hurts with a bunch of other parallels. Profited about $300. 
Point is the card shops are doing a lot more than jacking the price up.

I’ve had great luck searching different retail stores across the country. When I’m ready to buy I check every store in about 20 city’s. It’s not easy, but it works. 
P.S. - Target Kroger and Walgreens seems to carry a much better product than Walmart. It’s not hard to imagine Walmart saying give me all boxes that failed quality inspection! I’ve got some huge hits from Walmart, but I’ll get 3 hits in 1 Target box, then 1 hit in 3 of the same Walmart boxes. 
Same with Walgreens - hit a serial # /99 and a auto in one pack Vs. 1 auto in 20 packs at Walmart. 

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59 minutes ago, SportCardsSpot/eBay said:

Wow this was an enjoyable topic and glad to see I’m not the only one in this boat. Our local card shops have runners who line up at Walmart on restock day for sports and Pokémon. 
If you take them retail product and a receipt, they give you cost + 10% cash or 20% in store credit on very over priced boxes. 
Sometimes it pays off. A friend took in $200 worth of Contenders draft the first day it hit our shelves, Earned some in store credit and payed $150 for a NFL optic mega - total rip off in the numbers, but he hit a base & silver Herbert and two base Hurts with a bunch of other parallels. Profited about $300. 
Point is the card shops are doing a lot more than jacking the price up.

I’ve had great luck searching different retail stores across the country. When I’m ready to buy I check every store in about 20 city’s. It’s not easy, but it works. 
P.S. - Target Kroger and Walgreens seems to carry a much better product than Walmart. It’s not hard to imagine Walmart saying give me all boxes that failed quality inspection! I’ve got some huge hits from Walmart, but I’ll get 3 hits in 1 Target box, then 1 hit in 3 of the same Walmart boxes. 
Same with Walgreens - hit a serial # /99 and a auto in one pack Vs. 1 auto in 20 packs at Walmart. 

Interesting your Krogers have cards.  I've never seen any at the stores near me. 

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6 hours ago, SportCardsSpot/eBay said:

Wow this was an enjoyable topic and glad to see I’m not the only one in this boat. Our local card shops have runners who line up at Walmart on restock day for sports and Pokémon. 
If you take them retail product and a receipt, they give you cost + 10% cash or 20% in store credit on very over priced boxes. 
Sometimes it pays off. A friend took in $200 worth of Contenders draft the first day it hit our shelves, Earned some in store credit and payed $150 for a NFL optic mega - total rip off in the numbers, but he hit a base & silver Herbert and two base Hurts with a bunch of other parallels. Profited about $300. 
Point is the card shops are doing a lot more than jacking the price up.

I’ve had great luck searching different retail stores across the country. When I’m ready to buy I check every store in about 20 city’s. It’s not easy, but it works. 
P.S. - Target Kroger and Walgreens seems to carry a much better product than Walmart. It’s not hard to imagine Walmart saying give me all boxes that failed quality inspection! I’ve got some huge hits from Walmart, but I’ll get 3 hits in 1 Target box, then 1 hit in 3 of the same Walmart boxes. 
Same with Walgreens - hit a serial # /99 and a auto in one pack Vs. 1 auto in 20 packs at Walmart. 

Sometimes it helps if you're there when they stock at Walmart and can see how many boxes were put out. If it's the entire case, it's worth buying for the case hit. If it's like 1/4 of a case that's been broken down to ship to different stores it may not be worth it because the hit may not be in there.

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1 hour ago, SportCardsSpot/eBay said:

I don't actually find them in the Kroger stores, but they may get them online. It's usually low level Topps like opening or heritage hangers similar to Target.

Kroger's cards are on their marketplace. They are usually sold by a 3rd party who got them from Walmart.

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On 7/22/2021 at 10:23 PM, SportCardsSpot/eBay said:

Wow this was an enjoyable topic and glad to see I’m not the only one in this boat. Our local card shops have runners who line up at Walmart on restock day for sports and Pokémon. 
If you take them retail product and a receipt, they give you cost + 10% cash or 20% in store credit on very over priced boxes. 
Sometimes it pays off. A friend took in $200 worth of Contenders draft the first day it hit our shelves, Earned some in store credit and payed $150 for a NFL optic mega - total rip off in the numbers, but he hit a base & silver Herbert and two base Hurts with a bunch of other parallels. Profited about $300. 
Point is the card shops are doing a lot more than jacking the price up.

I’ve had great luck searching different retail stores across the country. When I’m ready to buy I check every store in about 20 city’s. It’s not easy, but it works. 
P.S. - Target Kroger and Walgreens seems to carry a much better product than Walmart. It’s not hard to imagine Walmart saying give me all boxes that failed quality inspection! I’ve got some huge hits from Walmart, but I’ll get 3 hits in 1 Target box, then 1 hit in 3 of the same Walmart boxes. 
Same with Walgreens - hit a serial # /99 and a auto in one pack Vs. 1 auto in 20 packs at Walmart. 

Discreetly take pics of the retail boxes marked up in price at the card shop and send it to the manufacturer.  They love to see that stuff.  Many of the boxes say right on them that they can only be sold at specific stores (like the Bowman mega boxes that recently came out).

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Yea, my original post was from back in May. OBVIOUSLY things have changed. But I really don't care anymore and only returned to stop notifications from posts and thought I'd chime in. Card market is gonna be dead for a few years now after the over-saturation of the last 3-4 years culminating with the pandemic shortage year last year (which brought out my original post). Sports are dying and no one really cares anymore for over paid political sports players. Hopefully the end of "professional" sports is near, it can't get here soon enough. Hang on to what you got, it may be the last of it.

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On 5/24/2021 at 1:03 PM, Robert Grades said:

Selling their products online solves nothing, except now the guys that jammed the stores will sit at home and do the same thing online. And Panini selling RETAIL to card shops doesn't do anything either except create a "middleman" who is jacking the prices. The whole thing has me pissed at the hobby shops. I am glad i don't have a son or daughter who wants to collect cards and I have to tell them sorry can't afford a box of 10 packs of cards for $100 + because of this. This "hobby" is saturated right now. The 1st victims are people like me, the second victims will be the flippers when they can't make their $$$ back (especially after the 3-5 month wait for grading) and the best is last, the Hobby Shops, I honestly can't wait for some of them to go out of business, it'll be the best thing for the "Hobby", if you can still call it that. Retail needs to be in stores, period.  

Bro it's not the hobby shops' fault that they are taking advantage of Panini offering them retail products. 

As much as I hate it, this is capitalism in a nutshell. No one wants to seem to say that out loud, but we are witnessing the 3rd phase of capitalism in this hobby right now, where there is huge consolidating at the top (Fanatics etc) and everyone is in a race to buy out everyone else. This is literally what capitalism does. It affected almost every consumable market around the world during the pandemic and just hasn't stopped bc capitalists have figured out there is a lot of money to be made in this hobby IF you come in with money to begin with.

You and I are going to get priced out of this hobby bc of capitalism, plain and simple. It's the same reason that everything else in this country isn't affordable - bc some hot sh*t, sociopathic wacko decides he's the best at something so he sets out to make his company the only game in town. When every resource has been squeezed out of their employees' paychecks, the only way to keep shareholders happy is to increase prices, and with increased prices come opportunities for others. It's the way the system is designed to work. People like you and me, every day people, we're only supposed to be in the system as a way to prop up rich douchebags who wouldn't know empathy if it came up and caressed their face. 

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