When buying trading cards, consider whether you want to sell or collect them. For selling, look for undervalued player cards, autographed cards, and memorabilia cards. Buying old cards or packs can also be lucrative. Collectors can buy cards based on budget, favorite players or teams, and can collect complete sets. Auction websites often have lower prices and better selection. Price guides are available for each sport.
Without a doubt, the most important thing to consider when buying trading cards is this: what is the reason for buying trading cards? The two main reasons people buy trading cards are to sell and collect them, but even within those reasons, there are many options and variables to consider.
If you’re buying trading cards with the idea of selling them, there are several ways to do it. You can look for individual player cards that you feel are undervalued and undervalued, then sell them as players become more popular. The most valuable trading cards are starter cards, autographed cards, and memorabilia cards, which include a piece of jersey or other material inside the card. Serial number cards (the lower the better) also incur a surcharge.
You can also purchase trading card packs, boxes, or even crates, hoping to find cards valuable enough to make the investment worthwhile. Buying cases and then selling the boxes inside them can be lucrative, especially if you’re a store that buys cases at wholesale prices, but the initial investment is very high. Buying old trading cards can also be lucrative, as can buying old packs or boxes. Buying old packs and boxes brings uncertainty into the equation, because you don’t know what cards you’re going to get, but since the cards are still protected, there’s a good chance they’re still almost new. Cards can be graded, and old cards with high grades will always sell for more because they’re not easy to find.
Those just looking to collect trading cards also have a number of options. And any budget can be accommodated; you can buy a box of 36 decks of cards from the late 1980s and early 1990s – see 1989 Topps football – and get more than 500 cards for just 10 US dollars (USD), or you can buy an ultra high-end “box” that includes just six cards – see any version of Upper Deck Exquisite – for anything from $500 to thousands. The difference is that the 1989 Topps Football Box will not include trading cards with a value of more than 2 USD, while each card in the Upper Deck Exquisite version is some sort of rookie, jersey, autograph or other low-value card that has a value high.
Many collectors have favorite players or teams that they enjoy collecting, and like anything else, this can be made to fit any budget. A regular card from your favorite player can cost as little as $1, while a numbered and signed starter card can cost hundreds. You can also collect complete sets of certain types of trading cards, and that too can be as cheap or as expensive as you like.
There are also options for where you purchase your cards, especially if you use the internet. Lower prices – and certainly better selection – can often be found on auction websites rather than card shops. There are also price guides available for each sport, so there’s no excuse to make an uninformed purchase.
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