If you have a collection of old baseball cards gathering dust in your attic or basement, there is a good chance you could get some money for those cards depending on their condition, age, and which players are featured. As with anything collectible, the value of baseball cards is determined by supply and demand. Older, rarer cards featuring legendary players tend to be worth the most money. Here are the basic steps to potentially earn some cash from your old baseball card collection:
The first step is to carefully inventory your collection to see which cards you have and their overall condition. Look at factors like centering, corners, edges and surface for any creasing, fading, or scratches that could decrease value. Also note the year the card was issued and what sport or league/team logo is featured. Once you have a detailed inventory list, research online to get an idea of what comparable condition cards are selling for on the current market.
Two great resources for determining estimated card values are Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide and BaseballCardPedia.com. Beckett provides a range of recent auction sales along with a 1-10 grading scale for visual condition that buyers and sellers use as a standard. Their website allows you to search by player, team, year, brand and more to get a ballpark value. BaseballCardPedia also has a large searchable database showing recent eBay sales of specific cards to help you accurately price your collection.
With condition and estimated value in mind, you’ll need to decide if you want to sell individual high-value cards yourself or sell the entire collection as a lot. For rare/valuable singles over $100, your best option is usually to have the card professionally graded and encapsulated to verify its condition to potential buyers. The two leading third-party grading services are Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and Beckett Grading Services (BGS), which provide slabs with assigned numerical grades.
This greatly increases buyer confidence, but you’ll need to factor in the $20-50 grading fee per card against its expected return. Ungraded common cards are best sold as part of a full collection. You can either hold a local garage sale and advertise your cards, consign them to a local collectibles shop, or sell the lot online through eBay or on sports collectibles Facebook Marketplace groups which have thousands of members.
If you opt to sell individual cards yourself, first take high quality photos of the front and back against a plain backdrop with good overhead lighting. Be upfront in the item description regarding any flaws and grade conservatively compared to the guides. A common mistake is overgrading cards hoping to get top dollar, which leads to disputes. For mint single cards priced $100+, consider using a secured shipping service like Registered Mail through USPS which provides tracking and $100 of insurance at a low cost.
No matter where or how you sell, be responsive to any questions from potential buyers. Clearly communicate your shipping/handling policies up front as well as your willingness to use eBay’s Money Back Guarantee or other buyer protection programs to give confidence. Although it requires more work, you’ll maximize your earnings by finding the right buyers and platforms that cater to your particular collection. With patience and doing thorough research, it’s very possible to earn hundreds or even thousands from old baseball cards that might otherwise be collecting dust. With some effort, your childhood collection could pay off.
The keys are carefully inventorying and grading your cards, researching comparable market values, deciding to sell singles or lots, using the proper selling platforms, detailed accurate photographs/listings, insured shipping for high value items, and good buyer communication. Following these best practices increases your odds of obtaining the highest prices possible and successfully liquidating your vintage baseball cards for some cash. Just be sure not to get your hopes up on common cards but focus on keys from the sport’s all-time great players from the 1960s-1980s prime era when card collecting really took off. With the right preparations and strategy, you can potentially turn your old childhood pastime into some well-earned spending money!
