[skywalkb]

I work at a card shop that has been in business for over 30 years and we never shuffled packs nor did we tamper with a box. A sale is a sale no matter what has gold or doesn't. I think shuffling a box is just nonsense. Who cares who gets the gold pack. Is it fair for everyone else if someone buys it? All your doing is delaying the inevitable of it being bought and surely searching through a box is not illegal nor is it immoral. i would have walked right up to the box and grabbed packs then pulled the gold and handed you the $1.50. Now feeling or weighing packs that's a different story.

We cared that a "pissant thief" wasn't going to get the "cream" and someone else wasn't going to get that chance to get that "special pack". With owning any business, integrity, honesty, trust, and respect must be at the forefront. That was our philosphy and not nonesense.

[beginesj]

Good for you.... I think it is BS that grown men/women take away from the kids hobby. Don't get me wrong I have known a few dads who taught their son the trick of knowing where the "hot" pack is. Most of us do it as a hobby and for the fun but there is always someone wanting to burn it down. When I go into target to get a pack or two I always end up getting a blaster because all the packs are already tossed around and 9/10 times bent/dented/creased/etc....

What is the point of robbing another collector the same thrill of pulling what could be their first GU card. They should lock up all packs and make a clerk just hand it to you. They should also make you pay right away so someone can't walk around with the pack and then decided "I don't want it" after feeling it didn't have a "hit". Some times the RC and insert cards are better than the hits anyway so just leave them alone.

I had a guy ask me awhile back after I confronted him about digging into the packs "If you could only buy a pack with a "hit" in it and it was the same price wouldn't you?" I told him sure I would without a doubt but I am not going to steal from someone else either. He got all snotty and walked away buying his 2-3 packs in his hand.

Seriously, It would be like going to the meat market and cooking all the ribs and tasting them before you decided which to buy. No collector wants your "fingered" left overs.

love the idea!!

[torment]

Makes you wonder what your local card store does. I tend to think mine doesn't pull the hot packs because every time I go in the clerk always pulls off the top. I also believe they don't because 2 days in a row I got auto cards out of the 4-5 packs i bought, so I think they are honest and makes me happy I don't get screwed like some people do.

I also agree to the point where you sell the "hot" pack first then your boned with a box. Bad business if you ask me.

[shezdoni]

I never buy retail loose packs. Only sealed boxes or hangar packs. At one of the LCS here the owner has all the boxes on shelves up high behind the counter so no one can search through and pick out the hot packs. I think that makes it fair to everyone to have a chance at pulling something. And I don't see anyone complain because he has been in business for almost 20 years.

You might be surprised at how man so called "honest" shop owners, when they open the box, pack search and they pull the hit pack out for themselves, let's just say that the ones that " honestly" don't do it, are few and far between.

A lot of shop owners also have scales in their back room to weigh packs, and a I know of quite a few that actually open and reseal the packs, and boxes.

Now, before anyone says that their local LCS does not do that, you have to remember, the LCS's make very little money on the packs and boxes they sell, they have high overhead, and low profits, so they use their pack searching as an excuse to help pay the bills.

[johnxgodfree]

Do you have a bunch of open boxes missing one or two packs rotting on the shelves? Do you wonder why? Take a look and tell me how many 2001-2006 Sweet Spot, 2000 Upper Deck Rookie Update, and any number of other products like these where there was a known pattern or very simple way of finding the hits you have sitting around. You're hurting yourself by allowing a box to go dead immediately. Instead of selling most of or all of the packs by giving everyone an equal chance you cut your own throat by selling one pack. You also hurt your reputation because people do talk and word does spread that you allow people to take advantage.

Why wouldn't you want to delay the inevitable of it being bought? Isn't the point of being in business to make money? Wouldn't it be better to sell through a box of packs than sell only one pack?

I don't really care one way or the other on this issue...but to play devils advocate here... how would a person know if a shop had or hadn't shuffled the packs in a box around when they walk up to it to buy one looking for that "gold pack" or "predictable pack"

or how would they know if someone else got to it first?