Cyber Monday has become one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, rivaling even Black Friday in terms of sales volume for many retailers. With more and more people doing their holiday shopping online, Cyber Monday presents a major opportunity for discounts on many products – and that certainly includes baseball cards.

The baseball card industry has undergone some major changes in recent decades. Once primarily a hobby enjoyed by children looking to collect their favorite players, baseball cards are now sought after by serious collectors and investors. Modern printing and grading technologies have allowed for mint condition vintage cards to fetch six and even seven figure prices at auction. This increasing value of rare and coveted cards has attracted many new collectors to the hobby.

At the same time, annual baseball card sets released by the major companies like Topps, Panini, and Leaf have continued to introduce the hobby to new generations. These mainstream releases are frequently found in retail stores like Walmart and Target and provide an accessible entry point. As more people purchase these annual sets around the holidays each year, Cyber Monday deals on new releases are highly anticipated.

Some of the deepest discounts can be found online through the official websites of the major card manufacturers. For Cyber Monday 2020, Topps slashed prices on many of its most popular new releases, including 20-30% off entire case breaks of sets like Topps Chrome Baseball and Topps Finest. Individual hobby boxes and blaster/retail boxes were discounted 15-25% sitewide. Similarly, Panini offered bundle packs and team box discounts up to 40% off for Cyber Monday shoppers looking to start PC (personal collection) builds of rookies and stars.

While the newest releases tend to get the biggest advertised price cuts, savvy collectors also look to Cyber Monday as a chance to fill in gaps in their collections at discount prices. Online card shops and auction sites frequently offer flash sales and end-of-day clearances on vintage and modern singles and lots. Sites like eBay will also offer site-wide coupons that can take additional percentages off card purchases during Cyber Week.

For investors and flippers, Cyber Monday also provides an opportunity to purchase entire collection at steep discounts to hold and resell later. Entire long-term collections are frequently auctioned off on sites like eBay with deep “Buy It Now” price cuts just for Cyber Monday/Week. Buying an entire collection at 30-50% below estimated resale value allows savvy collectors to essentially get paid to sort and sell duplicates at a later date.

Graded card values are also influenced by seasonal demand cycles. Slabbed vintage rookies and stars from the 1970s/80s that are considered modern in the hobby often see slight dips in eBay sold prices leading up to and during the winter holidays as fewer collectors are actively looking to make big purchases. This provides a potential buying opportunity for collectors looking to acquire high-end vintage cards to hold for the long-term.

While the largest and most well-known online card shops and auction sites receive the majority of traffic on Cyber Monday itself, the entire week following Thanksgiving (dubbed “Cyber Week”) also sees continued discounts across the industry. Many smaller independent online dealers and blogs will promote additional Cyber Week-long sales and specials on vintage and modern inventory to capitalize on the increased online shopping traffic. Areas like vintage wax break lots, autographed memorabilia, and complete rainbow set builds are among the specialty product areas that frequently see deals extended throughout the post-Thanksgiving online shopping surge.

Whether browsing for deals on the latest 2021 releases, hunting for bargains on desired singles and lots to complete collections, or even looking for potential flips to make a profit, Cyber Monday/Week presents a fun time for baseball card collectors to save money while feeding their hobby. With more retailers participating each year as online shopping increases, savvy collectors learn to use price tracking tools and comparison shop to ensure they find the deepest discounts. While Black Friday weekend is known for doorbuster in-store door deals, Cyber Monday has truly become the biggest shopping day of the year for baseball card collectors to save online.