Remember those sports trading cards you had growing up? Did you keep them? If so, you might want to find them, dust them off, and start looking for gold. I’ve been into it now for about 4 months. It’s an awesome hobby for anyone interested in sports or if you want to have a fun side hustle. So, what’s creating this boom?
Sports Cards have been collectable for almost 100 years. They used to be in bubble gum packs and have always created a way to connect with your favorite players. Like any collectable, there are various characteristics that make them valuable. This ranges from condition, rareness, brand, and the player’s performance.
Sports Cards started becoming popular again a few years ago, and just like most new hobbies, I would give the Covid environment credit for creating the current craze. As the industry boomed, people started dusting off their old cards and the nostalgia kicked in as card auctions were making front page news for record sales. This is a link to some of the top sales of the most expensive cards. Yep, it’s absolutely crazy. If that isn’t enough to dust off those cards, I don’t know what is.
You might be thinking, how do I become a collector? Well, here are a few ways to start:
Retail Cards
I wish you luck with this method because if you go to any Target, Walmart, or Meijer the cards will likely be sold out. The reason for this is because the boxes are sold at retail which is usually 1/4th of the price. The chaos has gotten so bad that these stores have restricted purchasing. People will camp out all night to get their hands on a box of cards.
Card Shops
This is an easy way to buy cards and packs. The good news is that they usually have whatever you want, but the bad news is that they are going to be sold at prices that will make your head spin. If you are looking for a specific card or want to make trades this is probably the best method.
Box Break
These are extremely popular because how expensive cards have become. A box break is where you buy into the box so the cost is shared between multiple people. There are different ways to break the box (which is the seller’s choice), but the most popular is a random team. This means everyone who bought into the box is added to a randomizer and gets assigned a team. Then they will get all the cards from that team. The box breaks are broadcasted on YouTube. Yes, I watch a random person open packs of cards. Yes, it’s weird, but when they pull a big card for your team it feels like winning the lottery.
eBay
eBay is king for sports cards. You can purchase and sell all your cards on eBay. If you find something in your old collection, look it up here – that’s where you will figure out if you have gold. I recommend selling your cards here because a card store is likely to give you half the value. If you buy on eBay, you’ll find any card you want.
To button this up, let’s talk grading. The grading industry is a complete madhouse right now. When a card is graded, it becomes more valuable. Because of the rise in interest, most grading companies are not operational as they have too large of a backlog. PSA, the leader in Sports Cards grading, shut down and won’t accept cards until July because the backlog is over 10 million cards. Many collectors have been waiting a year for their cards to be returned graded.
That’s basically the Sports Cards 101. Are you ready to hunt for gold? I’m sure you won’t regret it. This has become one of my favorite things to do, and I don’t think it’s going to slow down anytime soon.