For me i have no shame in collecting a no name scrub. When I started collecting tyreke Evans I soon found out that people wanted some outrageous $$$$ for his high end stuff. $$$$ that I just didn't want to spend on card's.
I found a Andy rautins 1/1 auto on ebay and snapped it up for $80 (probably considered high by some)
It all snowballed from there and some of his best looking/higher end cards I have in my collection.
I can't find anyone else that collects him which pretty much gives me a free run in the marketplace.
The art of trading directly for pc cards seems to be gone unless you collect afl and are between the ages of 9-16.
For me i bust boxes every now and then most of the time looking for a big hit to sell to fund my pc. Don't get me wrong if I snagged an mj auto I would probably keep it. But I also enjoy the thrill of opening boxes and packs..... The feeling of not knowing what you are going to find gets me every time.
It was lucky that I also collected other things before I came across bball cards. Things that I collected for fun that I didn't mind selling to fund cards.
The thing that I notice with collecting is people like current products. Like when retro came out and people started seeing the cards most people wanted them and them alone. That to me seems to be a reason why people don't want to buy other cards at the moment.
I think the best thing to do is just branch out to as many places as possible..... Different forums, try to find as many people as possible to trade and sell to.
You would have experienced the generosity of this Site AJ so just remember how that makes you feel and use it as a reason to soilder on