So Long eTopps

Once again Topps has shown their true feelings towards collectors. Last month Topps announced a significant increase in shipping to take delivery of an eTopps card to $12.75 (It was $4.25 and .70 cents for each additional card) for the first card and $1.75 for each additional card to a max of 3 cards per order. Now this week they announced that eTopps will no longer be offering new cards. The announcement was first made through the “Important Announcements” link on the eTopps home page; it was later verified on their Twitter page. Topps has stated that they will continue to maintain trading, selling and shipping services (for now).

I can understand there are business reasons for ending the program, probably a decline in sales and delivery would be my guess, but I think most collectors who have made eTopps purchases are probably more upset about the way it was completed with a serious price rise for shipping and an announcement made on Twitter.

In 2000 I took part of the early beta testing, purchasing a 2000 eTopps Emmitt Smith (that I later sold for $200 when he broke Payton’s rushing record in 2002) so I could report on my experiences. For taking part in the program I was awarded 5 Rookie/Future Prospects Baseball eTopps cards for free; Bobby Bradley, Eric Munson, Josh Hamilton, Luis Montanez and Sean Burroughs. I later bought a Mike Cameron 4 HR Event card in 2002 and nothing since, though I did try but kept missing out. Currently I own 6 cards and besides the Hamilton card none are worth more than .50 cents, the Hamilton card is sitting at $2.75 right now. If the shipping cost was still $4.25 I would take delivery on the Hamilton but no way am I spending $12.75 on any card unless it held some type of value.