How I made money buying and selling Collin Chandler autographed cards after he decommitted from BYU for Kentucky

Welcome to my strange and utlimately joyful journey of buying and selling autographed Collin Chandler basketball cards for a profit.

Some background might be helpful. I grew up in West Valley City, Utah, in the 1980s and have been a die-hard BYU fan my entire life. While I was growing up, I also got hooked on collecting sports cards. Most of my childhood lawn mowing money went directly to my local card shop as I ripped packs during the "junk wax" era, chasing Mark McGwire's 1984 Olympics card. I probably put the card shop owner's kids through college instead of saving for my own future BYU tuition.

Fast forward to today and I'm still passionate about my Cougs and card collecting. As an adult my card collecting has focused mostly on autographed cards of BYU players and upcoming NBA rookies. I occasionally flip cards for a profit, but I mostly just keep them in my personal collection. I occasionally write about my collecting habits here at Lawless Republic.

When Collin Chandler committed to BYU in 2021, I began counting down the days until his first basketball cards would come out. Chandler was the highest-rated recruit to every sign with BYU and was the No. 33 prospect in the nation coming out of high school.

I expected him to be the first BYU player to have a multi-year NBA career since Jimmer Fredette. I had visions of Collin Chandler dominating at BYU, being an NBA lottery pick, and becoming a Cougars legend. With the momentum BYU sports had at the time, I knew his autographed cards would be in high demand one day.

Then, in 2023, Topps included autographed Collin Chandler cards in their Bowman U 1st series. Chandler had been out of the news for a while because of his two-year missionary service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While he was a great high school prospect, he wasn't a Top 10, one-and-done guy who was already showing up in NBA mock drafts. That led to low demand for Colling Chandler cards. When they first hit eBay I couldn't believe how cheap some of them were selling for.

I pounced.

Between January and April 2024, I bought a total of 14 autographed Collin Chandler cards. All of them were numbered, meaning they also had scarcity value. I bought five numbered to 499, three numbered to 199, one to 99, one to 75, two numbered to 50, and two beautiful cards numbered to 25.

In total I spent $174.36 on eBay all-in -- cards, taxes, and shipping -- so just over $12 per card on average.

These were investments. I planned to hold these 14 cards for the next couple of years while Collin Chandler excelled at BYU and prepared for the NBA Draft. I would then sell them when Chandler got drafted and demand from BYU fans would go through the roof.

Then, just after building my beautiful Collin Chandler collection, my long-term investment strategy came crashing down. One week after purchasing my 14th and final Collin Chandler autographed card, coach Mark Pope bolted for Kentucky and Chandler, while still finishing out his mission, decommitted from BYU to follow his coach to Lexington.

I was devastated. My long-term strategy of selling Collin Chandler cards when he got drafted into the NBA after a glorious BYU career evaporated. But sometimes even amidst tragedy comes opportunity.

I decided that rather than holding my cards for a couple of years as planned, I would simply sell them immediately to Kentucky fans who were giddy with the hiring of favorite son Mark Pope and more than intrigued with the elite player he would be bringing with him to Lexington in Collin Chandler.

I quickly started posting my cards on eBay, and Kentucky fans did not disappoint. Demand for numbered, autographed Collin Chandler cards was ravenous in Lexington. I was more than happy to feed the beast.

I quickly sold 13 of the 14 cards I had just bought for a net total of $442.81, which represents the total I was paid after shipping, taxes, and eBay fees.

My $174.36 investment generated $442.81 in net sales, so a profit of $268.45. That's a return on investment of 154% in a matter of four months.

That extra cash in my pocket helped take some of the sting away from Collin Chandler's decommitment from BYU, but not fully. I was so excited for him to wear a BYU jersey and thought it would be another generation before BYU signed a Top 50 prospect. Little did I know Kevin Young would succeed Mark Pope and suddenly bring a host of NBA lottery picks to Provo.

I wasn't mad at Collin Chandler. I understood his rationale. I wanted him to succeed at Kentucky, but I also knew the transfer portal was always open. Just in case he ever made his way back to BYU, I kept one numbered, autographed Collin Chandler card in my personal collection:

All is well that ends well, I guess. Collin Chandler is now a BYU Cougar. I have one of his numbered, autographed rookie cards. I pocketed nearly $270 by quickly flipping the other Chandler cards I had purchased, and those funds have gone toward other cards like AJ Dybantsa, Egor Demin, and Richie Saunders.

It was a whirlwind journey investing in Collin Chandler cards then quickly having to pivot.

In the end, it was a journey I'm glad I took.

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