Selling baseball cards can be a lucrative hobby or side business, but it does require some work and strategy to get good results. There are many paths to take when it comes to selling cards, so it’s important to do some research first to determine the best approach for your specific collection. Whether you have a few packs worth of duplicates or a full collection spanning decades, following some tried and true tips can help you maximize your profits.
The first step is to take inventory of your entire card collection. Carefully remove each card from any plastic sleeves or pages and sort them by sport, year, team, player, and condition. Note any valuable rookie cards, rare inserts, autographed cards, or number cards. Use guidebook price references like Beckett, PSA, or eBay’s completed listings to get a baseline value for each card. You’ll want to accurately grade each on a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, Near Mint, or Mint based on the guidelines for edges, corners, and surface. Take clear photos of the front and backs of the higher value ($5+) cards for listing online later.
Once you know exactly what you have, you can determine the best outlets for selling them. Your local comic book or card shop may buy bulks lots but often at lower percentages of guidebook value due to overhead costs. Consignment with a reputable dealer gets you better prices sometimes 25-50% over bulk buyouts but they’ll take a cut, usually around 30-40% plus fees. Online marketplaces like eBay give you the most control but require more work listing, photographing, packing and shipping each order yourself. For a large collection with many lower end cards, consider unloading in bulk lots by sport, year, team or player on sites like SportsCardForum or Craigslist to get them moving.
When listing cards individually online, give each a descriptive title mentioning player, year, set, number in set, and notable attributes in 100 characters or less for searchability. Then in the description, note the graded condition, any flaws, and compare to recent eBay “sold” listing values. Set competitive starting bids at around 75% of median comps and reasonably low or no reserve prices to encourage bidding. It may take several months to sell a rare card so be prepared to relist periodically if it doesn’t meet the reserve. Promote new listings through social media for your collecting networks too.
As for payment, always use services like PayPal Goods & Services which provides buyer/seller protection against disputes. Clearly state return policies such as no returns on “as-is” cards graded lower than EX and only consider returns on significantly misgraded higher end cards. Only ship once payment fully clears and get tracking on all packages over $20. carefully package cards so they don’t shift during transit using hard plastic or fiber board and tamper proof sealing to arrive safely. Always communicate shipping delays up front and leave honest, timely feedback.
For autographed cards, obtain a Certificate of Authenticity from a reputable authenticator like PSA/DNA, Beckett, or JSA if possible to increase demand. Consider grouping signed cards of the same athlete together as a themed lot instead of individually if they don’t have COAs. Accept reasonable offers on pricier inventory, but don’t feel pressured to budge on your researched values for rarer finds no matter how impatient a buyer seems. With some hard work on logistics and marketing, you can potentially earn thousands back on old collections over time from the baseball card resale market. Just be sure fun, not stress, remains the primary motivation.
