Online Marketplaces – Some of the largest and most popular options for selling cards online include eBay, Mercari, and Certified Collectibles Group (CCG). eBay is the largest marketplace and will have the most potential buyers looking but you’ll pay fees of around 13% plus additional fees. Listing on eBay requires creating an account, taking photos of your cards, writing descriptions, and properly packaging/shipping sold items. Mercari is very similar to eBay but tends to have younger sellers/buyers and lower fees around 10%. CCG is specifically for trading cards and allows you to get professional grading/authentications done which can significantly increase card values. With marketplaces you have the most potential reach but also more competition from other sellers.
Local Card Shops – Calling up the local card shops or comic book stores is an option to sell in-person. You’ll avoid fees but probably won’t get top dollar since shops need to make a profit when reselling. Some shops may offer lesser cash amounts but trade credit worth more if you want to acquire other items. Going in person and dealing with an expert can help identify value in older/rarer cards that online algorithms may miss as well. It’s worth shopping various local shops to see who offers the best rates.
Card Shows/Conventions – Occasionally local areas will host larger card/collector shows where dozens of vendors set up tables. These are great places to sell cards as there will be many serious buyers looking for deals. You’ll need to research upcoming dates, pay for a table rental, transport your inventory, and handle sales/trades yourself on-site. Large national conventions like the National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City sees attendance in the tens of thousands and is basically a sports memorabilia shopping mecca.
Peer-to-Peer – You can try selling directly to other collectors through Facebook groups, reddit forums, online message boards, or local social media buy/sell groups focused on sports cards. This allows cutting out middlemen but requires more work finding interested buyers. It’s best to use secured payment options like PayPal and clearly photograph/describe all items. Meeting in-person may be safest to complete larger cash transactions.
Consignment – Another option is offering your cards to sellers on a consignment basis. This means you leave the cards with the shop/dealer and they display for a certain period trying to make a sale. If they sell you get a percentage (often 50-60%) of the final price while they take the remainder as commission. Consignment avoids upfront costs/work but you miss out on peak timing if a hot item sells right away without you involved. It’s best for oddball/less popular cards that may take time to find a buyer.
Auctions – Platforms like Heritage Auctions and Memory Lane hold numerous sports memorabilia auctions each year, both online and in-person. Here you can either pay to directly consign individual items to an upcoming auction or try to purchase a starter lot/collection someone else is auctioning off in its entirety. For consigning there are also fees but auctions expose items to collectors nationwide. The value of rare game-used bats, jerseys, and signed memorabilia often peaks at major auctions as serious buyers compete.
In summary – online marketplaces offer the largest customer reach but require most work. Local card shops are convenient but may not offer top dollar. Shows put you in front of many collectors directly. Peer-to-peer focuses just on finding motivated buyers. Consignment minimizes upfront effort. And auctions tap into the high-end memorabilia market. Using a combination of these channels typically maximizes chances of getting fair prices for your baseball card collection.
