...thanks to the latest purchases with my Strasburg money.

When I'm looking for cards on eBay, I always try to give my business to people who ship to Australia, have reasonable shipping rates, and provide discounts. I've bought enough cards to know how much it really costs to ship a couple of singles from the USA to AUS. Don't insult my intelligence by saying in your listing that it costs you $10.76 to mail the cards to me. It costs about three bucks, tops, using USPS International First Class. Besides, I CAN LOOK AT THE STAMPS AND SEE HOW MUCH YOU PAID!

When I find someone who fits my criteria, and has a card that I want, I look at their store and see what else they might have. That's how I ended up with four cards in this purchase instead of just the one.

First, the card I wanted - a Ichiro 2009 Spectrum blue parallel for the rainbow. It was originally listed a 99 cents, but the auction ended without any bids. Sure enough, it was re-listed with a 49-cent start price, and that's what I got it for.


Another 49-cent Ichiro was this '09 Bowman gold parallel of him in his Japan uniform. Now I have to track down the base card. I'm pretty sure I didn't get it in the box of '09 Bowman that I busted. Crap, now I'm not sure - maybe I did. Anyway, I like this card, especially at 49 cents.


Speaking of 49-cents, here's Big Time Timmy Jim's Turkey Red rookie card. This is actually the first Lincecum rookie card that I've acquired, but no doubt will be the first of many. Until then, it's hanging out in a page in my PC with some of my 2008 cards.


Finally, the only card that I ended up paying more than 49 cents for. It's a good thing I put in a higher bid because somebody else actually tried to outbid me for this 2009 Upper Deck Biography card. The nerve of some people! But since this card has two of my favorite people, Ichiro and Barack Obama, I wasn't going to let that happen. $1.25 later, and it's at my house now.

Yeah, the shipping for these four cards ($3.50) cost more than the cards themselves. But when I look at it another way, I could have ended up spending 99 cents each on the cards a week earlier, but my patience saved me $1.25. And that's more Strasburg Money that I can spend on other cards.