A public case study

The $500 Experiment

Can strategy outperform luck? Can patience outperform hype? Can one collector build an extraordinary collection starting with only $500?

Every purchase. Every grading submission. Every trade. Every mistake. Every success — documented publicly, in real time.

It starts with $500 and a single attainable pickup: a card or a sealed product. From there, no more money goes in. The collection grows only through research, timing, and disciplined decisions — and every move is logged here for anyone to learn from.

$500
To start
$0
Added, ever
100%
Documented

The Journey

Week by week


Week 1 · Kickoff

The stake is set

$500 on the table and the rules locked in. The first attainable pickup is chosen — and the clock starts. Full breakdown coming in the first Weekly Read.

Week 2 · Upcoming

First moves

Opening buys, grading candidates, and the reasoning behind each decision.

Week 3 · Upcoming

First results

Grades return, the first sells and trades, and what the numbers say.

Week 4 · Upcoming

One month in

Portfolio value to date, lessons learned, and where the strategy goes next.

The Ledger

Every move, on the record


The public ledger goes live with Week 1’s first transactions. Here’s the format every entry will follow.

DateTypeMoveP/L
Week 1BuyOpening pickup — the $500 stake goes to work
SoonGradeFirst submission sent
SoonSell / TradeFirst exit, documented with reasoning