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HOW TO START SELLING BASEBALL CARDS ON EBAY

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The first step is to set up your eBay seller account. Go to the eBay website and click on “Register” to create a new account. You will need to provide your name, address, email address, and create a password. Read through eBay’s user agreement and complete the registration process.

Once your account is set up, you will need to collect the baseball cards you want to sell. Go through your existing collection or visit local card shops, card shows, or garage sales to find cards. Make sure any vintage or valuable cards are in good condition without any creases, folds, or damage. Condition is crucial for older cards. You may want to have valuable cards professionally graded by companies like PSA or BGS.

Now it’s time to photograph your cards. Take detailed, high resolution pictures that clearly show the front and back of each card. Make sure the images are clear, in focus, and brightly lit without any glare or shadows. You’ll want buyers to easily see all details of the card. Invest in a lightbox or light stand to take consistent pictures.

When creating your eBay listings, be sure to use accurate titles that describe each card. Include the player name, year, set, card number if applicable. For example: “1994 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. #328.” Write detailed descriptions noting the card condition, any flaws, and include the picture links. You can also mention any relevant details like if a vintage card has been graded.

Pricing your cards correctly is important. Research recently sold listings on eBay to get a sense of fair market value for each card based on condition. You may need to price slightly below recent sales to attract buyers in a competitive market. Consider offering calculated shipping rates or free shipping promotions on multiple card purchases.

List your cards with an appropriate duration, usually 7-10 days for standard auctions or 30 days for fixed-price listings. The standard listing fee on eBay is usually the best option. Make sure to formally end auctions rather than relisting if items don’t sell.

Promote your listings on social media sites frequented by collectors. Encourage friends to share your auctions too. Consider running periodic eBay “bucks” promotions where you offer a partial refund on orders over a certain amount. Interact positively with any questions from potential buyers in your eBay messages.

Package cards securely in penny sleeves, toploaders or magnetic holders before placing in rigid shippers or boxes with bubble wrap lining. Record sender and recipient info directly on packages rather than loose paper inside. Purchase tracking on all shipments through your eBay sales record. Promptly ship within 1-3 business days of sale.

Provide excellent buyer service. Quickly reply to questions, honor refund/return guarantees, and leave positive feedback once transactions are complete. Poor feedback can significantly damage your seller ratings. You may also want to diversify your sales across additional platforms like COMC or auction sites like Heritage Auctions.

As your sales increase, you may need to upgrade your eBay seller limits or explore other inventory and shipment solutions to scale your business. Continually improve your photography, listings and promotions based on buyer analytics and industry trends. With consistency and experience, selling sports cards can become a viable part-time income or even full-fledged business on eBay with the right approach. Starting small and focusing on buyer service is key to long term success in what is a very competitive marketplace.

HOW TO START INVESTING IN BASEBALL CARDS

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Getting started in the hobby of baseball card investing can seem overwhelming due to the huge number of factors involved and learning curve required. By breaking the process down step-by-step and doing thorough research, anyone can successfully start acquiring cards as investments. Here are the key steps to follow to start building a baseball card portfolio:

Research the Market – Before spending any money, take time to research recent sales data for different players, years, sets and graded card conditions to understand overall market trends and value fluctuations. Sites like eBay, PWCCMarketplace.com and 130point.com allow searching “sold” listings to see what certain cards have actually been selling for. Understanding comparable market value is essential for deciding what to purchase.

Focus on Star Players – When first starting out, concentrate on acquiring rookies and star cards of perennial All-Stars and Hall of Famers from the sport’s most popular era from the late 1980s onward. Stars from that modern age like Ken Griffey Jr, Barry Bonds, Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter tend to hold strong investor demand and appeal due to familiarity and popularity among newer collectors. Their fresh rookie cards or early career gems offer high upside.

Consider Graded Cards – Raw, unslabbed cards can be risky for beginners due to uncertainty over their condition and potential counterfeiting. Aim instead for graded cards slabs with tamper-proof cases from the three major graders – PSA, BGS, SGC. Look for mid-range grades of 7-8 to get desirable vintage stars at reasonable prices. Higher 9’s and 10’s often carry larger premiums better left to more advanced collectors.

Buy the Right Edition – Key sets like Topps Flagship, Bowman, Topps Traded and Topps Chrome represent the bulk of card investor demand. Within sets, premium rookies, parallels, autograph and memorabilia cards fetch higher prices. The standard common version alone isn’t usually a worthwhile hold long term. Pick up prized parallel color variations or limited insert sets instead for greater upside.

Diversify Your Portfolio – Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Target 15-20 modern stars from the 1980s on and acquire their top rookie cards or early RC cards and a few core parallels rather than just one high-end variation. This spreads out risk across multiple players. It’s also wise starting out to dedicate 10-20% of funds to future Hall of Famers from the pre-1980s to gain exposure to historically significant vintage cards.

Patience is Key – Resist the temptation to flip acquired cards quickly for small profits as many newcomers do. The real gains come from holding cards for several years minimum as scarce supply dwindles and more collectors join the hobby. Let market appreciation naturally occur over the long run rather than trying to hunt short term momentum plays. Patience and time in the hobby are the surest ways to outperform.

Reinvest Profits – As select holdings increase greatly in value, don’t be afraid to periodically sell a small number of your biggest winners to generate liquid cash to pour back into the other remaining cards in your portfolio or to acquire new elite rookies. This allows building an even larger, more valuable collection leverage without continuously putting in new out-of-pocket funds.

Be Selective on Memory Cards – Cards that tie into special MLB moments like rookie debuts, milestones or postseason heroics have potential, but their market is smaller and more volatile due to reliance on one memorable game. Pick such “memory cards” carefully rather than speculating broadly as their values are harder to predict long term. Simple iconic rookie cards usually fare better.

Monitor Grading Trends – Pay attention to whether stricter or looser grading scales get adopted as they directly impact card values. If a major company dramatically lowers population reports for a tier like PSA 10s, it could spike demand. But loosened criteria risk eroding value perception, so stay informed and be ready to re-evaluate specific holdings accordingly over time.

Above all when investing in baseball cards, focus on patiently acquiring desirable rookies and stars for the long haul while continuing to educate yourself on market trends and diamond-in-the-rough players. Stick to that plan and time in the market is sure to reward your research and discipline as baseball card values continue their historical trajectory of strong appreciation over decades. Armed with the right strategy from the start, collecting cards can indeed prove a highly profitable investment Avenue for serious-minded novice or veteran collectors alike.

WHEN DID UPPER DECK BASEBALL CARDS START

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In the late 1980s, the baseball card market was dominated by Topps, which had held the exclusive license from Major League Baseball for decades. The quality of Topps’ cards had declined and they were using cheaper materials and production processes. Two entrepreneurs in Southern California, Richard McWilliam and David Becher, saw an opportunity to launch a new card company with a focus on higher production values and quality control.

They founded Upper Deck Company in 1988 with the goal of creating premium baseball cards unlike anything collectors had seen before. Their big innovation was the introduction of glossy, high-quality card stock and photography. At the time, all other baseball card manufacturers were using a dull, non-coated paper for their cards that showed fingerprints and scuffs easily. Upper Deck’s cards had a bright, polished look that made the photos and graphics really pop.

For their first set in 1989, Upper Deck was able to sign deals with many of the biggest MLB stars to include premium memorabilia and autograph cards. This included the likes of Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken Jr., and Roger Clemens. They included statistical information and bios on the back of the cards that collectors found to be well-designed and easy to read. Right away, their attention to detail and focus on premium aesthetics excited the collector base.

Upper Deck’s 1989 baseball card set was a massive success, vastly outselling Topps Series 1 that same year. They proved there was appetite for a new brand that cared more about quality. This challenged Topps’ monopoly and forced them to respond by improving their own card stock and overall production values going forward. Upper Deck established gold standards in areas like card stock, photography, autograph/memorabilia relic insertion rates, and statistical/biographical information that became widely copied within the industry.

In subsequent years of the late 80s and early 90s, Upper Deck released hugely popular sets annually that featured rookie cards of future superstars like Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, and Derek Jeter. Meanwhile, they continued refining the extras that accompanied their releases such as boxloader preview cards, factory sets, factory-sealed retail & hobby packs/boxes, and parallel/short print/refractor insert card variations that collectors loved chasing.

By the 1990s, Upper Deck was considered the brand that other sports card companies emulated. Alongside producing high-end MLB baseball cards, they ventured into collegiate and NFL football sets that also succeeded based on the premium philosophy they established initially. At their peak in the early 1990s, Upper Deck was the largest sports card manufacturer in the world, with annual revenues exceeding $500 million.

Their success spurred a licensing battle with Topps that went to court. In 1991, Topps sued Upper Deck claiming they still held the exclusive MLB rights, while Upper Deck argued they had individual player agreements that superseded the league-level deal. The two companies fought a long legal battle before eventually settling and establishing a duopoly where Topps and Upper Deck could co-exist producing MLB-licensed cards for over a decade.

After the overproduction and crashing sports memorabilia market bubble of the mid-1990s, Upper Deck shrunk considerably. They lost the MLB license that was bought by Playoff LLC in 2000. In subsequent years, Upper Deck struggled with business issues like lost licensing deals and non-sports related acquisitions that ended poorly. They went private in 2005 and while still producing several sports sets annually today on a smaller scale, they’ve never regained their 1990s dominance since.

Regardless, Upper Deck was truly revolutionary and raised the bar permanently when they debuted in 1989. They proved there was room for quality competition beyond the single all-powerful brand that collectors were hungry for premium roducts. Upper Deck Baseball cards played a huge role in the boom and popularization of sports card collecting through the 1980s and 90s. Their innovations influenced countless other companies and brought baseball memorabilia and player autographs to the masses. For those reasons, Upper Deck remains an iconic brand that reshaped the entire sports cards industry nearly 30 years after those first impressive 1989 Baseball cards.

WHEN DID TOPPS BASEBALL CARDS START

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Prior to Topps entering the baseball card market in the early 1950s, the main competitor was the Bowman Gum Company which had been producing baseball cards since 1950. Bowman was the earliest and most prominent producer of baseball cards in the early post-World War II era. Seeing the growing popularity and potential of baseball cards as a marketing tool, Topps bought the exclusive rights to produce cards featuring Major League Baseball players for the 1952 season and thereafter.

This exclusive license granted by MLB was a huge competitive advantage for Topps that allowed them to dominate the baseball card industry for decades. Bowman was forced to discontinue their baseball card line after 1951 due to the MLB licensing deal held by Topps. In 1952, Topps launched their first complete set ofCards were sold in sealed wax wrapper packs, much like modern trading cards. Each pack contained a piece of gum and either 5 or 6 player cards.

Topps’ early designs featured simple black and white player portraits with factual information like team, position, and batting stats printed on the bottom. These basic designs existed through the 1950s as the company refined their production process. Over the following years, Topps issued complete yearly sets while also experimenting with specialty subsets highlighting rookie players, World Series stars, and more. Color photos were slowly introduced in the late 50s, helping to make the cards more visually appealing.

Throughout the 1960s, Topps thrived as baseball card collecting boomed in popularity among children and adults alike. Major design improvements included action shots replacing basic portraits in the 1960 set. Colorization of the entire card became standard in 1968. Subject matter also expanded beyond players to include team logos, stadium pictures, and manager/coach cards. Mini-posters of star players inserted in wax packs were also an early premium item.

The 1970s saw the heyday of sports card manufacturing, with Topps producing the bulk of the supply to meet voracious demand. Over productions runs resulted in common cards but also created opportunities for error cards and variations that excite collectors. Inspirations from the counterculture era led to innovative design experiments involving embossed cards, oddball photos, and trippy color schemes in the 1970–74 issues.

Annual set checklists grew considerably, up to 660 cards in 1975. New subsets celebrated milestones, All-Star Games, playoff stats, and career achievements. Topps also obtained licenses beyond MLB to make basketball, football, and NHL cards. Rising printing costs and a market crash caused Topps to cut back substantially through the late 1970s into the early 1980s.

Condition sensitive collectors replaced the casual “swappers” of previous eras. In the digital age since the 1990s, Topps has adapted to changing habits but still leads by producing traditional card issues while exploring new frontiers like licensed sports video games. Through its long history, Topps has upheld the nostalgic appeal of baseball cards while evolving the collectible experience for each new generation of fans.

In summary, Topps began producing baseball cards in 1951 and has remained the dominant force in the industry for over 70 years thanks to their exclusive license with Major League Baseball. They have continually improved designs, expanded product lines, and adapted to shifting trends to stay relevant as the leading brand in sports, entertainment, and pop culture collectibles. Topps’ tradition of capturing iconic baseball imagery in cardboard form represents an integral part of both the game’s culture and 20th century nostalgia.

WHEN DID BOWMAN START MAKING BASEBALL CARDS

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The Bowman Gum Company was founded in Delaware in 1885 by William Bowman. Originally, the company produced chewing gum but did not get involved in the baseball card business until purchasing certain assets of the Goudey Gum Company in late 1933. Goudey had issued highly popular sets of gum and baseball cards from 1933-1936 but experienced financial difficulties during the Great Depression and was forced to close its doors.

Seeing the potential, Bowman acquired Goudey’s card manufacturing equipment and trademarks and decided to continue the concept of including a baseball card with each stick of gum. In 1934, Bowman issued its first set of cards as Goudey had done the prior years. Known as the “1934 Bowman Gum”, the set featured 165 cards highlighting players from the American and National Leagues in a very similar green-bordered design to the previous Goudey issues. This established Bowman as the new leader in the baseball card industry.

Bowman would go on to produce annual sets each year from 1934 through 1939, chronicling the players and teams of Major League Baseball. Each set steadily grew in size, with the 1935 and 1936 issues containing 200 cards, the 1937 release featuring 219 cards, and the late 1930s sets totaling a massive 365 cards each. The photography and production quality continued to improve as well under Bowman’s guidance.

In addition to the base sets, Bowman also experimented with variations like their famous “Diamond Stars” parallel subset cards recognizing some of the game’s biggest stars. They issued special promotional cards, oddball sized cards, and regional variations as interest in card collecting exploded across America during this time period. While tobacco cards had previously been more common, the Bowman Gum cards were the first mass-produced cardboard baseball cards inserted into bubblegum. This format took off and is still used extensively today by card companies.

When the U.S. entered World War II after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Bowman’s resources were diverted towards the war effort. Like many businesses, they suspended civilian card production through 1945 to focus on more essential goods. After the war ended, Bowman rejoined the sportscard scene by releasing sets in 1948 and 1949. The 1948 and 1949 issues paled in comparison to their golden era of the 1930s, containing a mere 60-70 cards each with plain designs. Competition was also increasing.

Bowman sold its baseball card operations after the 1949 season to Philadephia Gum and Chocolate Company, which continued producing Bowman cards for a couple more years before the brand disappeared. By the mid-1950s, Topps Chewing Gum had emerged as the dominant force in baseball cards and monopilized the market for decades. Still, Bowman was instrumental in popularizing the modern format of sports and trading cards inserted in chewing gum from 1933-1939. Their iconic vintage cards remain some of the most collected in the hobby.

In 1995, Upper Deck acquired the Bowman trademark and relaunched it as a high-end baseball card brand. Since then, Bowman cards have been produced annually focusing on prospects, rookie cards, and autographed memorabilia parallel inserts alongside the bigger Topps Series 1, 2, and Update releases each year. Modern Bowman issues like Bowman Chrome, Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects, and international Bowman products provide a second major baseball card organization. So while Bowman’s original golden era faded after WWII, the name is still synonymous with the sport over 80 years after they first sparked the modern baseball card craze by taking over from Goudey in 1933.

In summary, Bowman Gum Company entered the baseball card business in late 1933 after acquiring the remaining assets of the bankrupt Goudey Gum Company, including their card production equipment. From 1934 through 1949, Bowman issued highly popular and collectible annual sets that grew the hobby significantly and established the enduring format of sports cards packaged with gum. They continued Goudey’s tradition before selling their card division after 1949, but the Bowman brand was later revived successfully by Upper Deck in 1995 and remains a prominent name in the industry today focused on prospects, parallels, and high-end products. Bowman’s innovation and cards from their formative 1930s golden era left an indelible mark on the baseball card collecting world.

HOW DID BASEBALL CARDS START

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The origins of modern baseball cards can be traced back to the late 19th century during the rise of professional baseball in America. In the 1850s, professional baseball teams first began to emerge and gain popularity across the United States. Cigarette manufacturers at the time were looking for innovative ways to market and promote their tobacco products. In 1888, the tobacco company American Tobacco Company had the idea to include promotional lithograph cards featuring baseball players inside cigarette packages as an enticement to drive sales.

This idea proved successful and caught on with other tobacco companies. Around 1869-1889, multiple companies such as Goodwin & Company and Allen & Ginter started inserting illustrated individual athletic and various celebrity cards as premiums and prizes into cigarette, tobacco and cigar packaging. These early cards did not feature any substantial statistics or player information on the back, but served more as collectible images and advertisements. Still, this marked the first tangible efforts towards what would evolve into modern baseball cards.

In 1893, one of the true pioneers of baseball card manufacturing emerged when the tobacco manufacturer Old Judge Cigarettes began a massive production run of ballplayer cards as inserts for its products. Known as the Old Judge brand, these early baseball cards featured the player’s name and position, as well as promotion of the Old Judge tobacco products. They were printed with a white border around a color lithograph image of the player. This Old Judge series was considered the first notable attempt to feature individual player cards with consistent formatting and sizing, as opposed to the more scattered athletes and celebrity cards included by other companies at the time.

The Old Judge brand baseball cards generated huge interest and popularity. Seeing this, other tobacco brands also began regularly distributing baseball cards in cigarette packs starting in the mid-1890s to compete. These included Allen & Ginter, Fatima cigars and other manufacturers. They typically included anywhere from 10 to 50 cards in packs and boxes of cigarettes or chewing tobacco. By 1909, dozens of brands were mass producing baseball cards and inserting them in cigarette packages. Players depicted started receiving small additional compensation from the card deals, marking the inception of players profiting from their likenesses and creating a new avenue for celebrity and endorsement deals.

In the early 20th century, the baseball card collecting hobby accelerated greatly thanks to the widespread approach of putting cards in cigarette packages. Kids eagerly looked forward to opening packs hoping for rare or valuable baseball stars of the day. Soon organized card collecting and swapping gained traction in towns and schools. The tobacco companies had ingeniously created a new youth market for their products by pairing them with these coveted baseball cards inserts. At the same time, more accurate stats and bios proliferated on the backs of cards, elevating their level of usefulness beyond simple advertisements.

Technological innovation impacted the baseball card world as well. New lithographic color printing techniques arose and scalable photographic reproduction brought a higher level of picture quality and realism to cards featuring the sports heroes. By 1909, tobacco cards transitioned almost entirely to full-bleed color photographs instead of illustrated images. Soon thereafter, tobacco laws in America changed, prohibiting the marketing of cigarettes toward youth by including non-tobacco promotional items. In response, tobacco companies adjusted by selling pre-packaged sets of cards separate from products starting in the 1920s.

Independent baseball card publishing houses began appearing as the hobby boomed. The most renowned was the Goudey Gum Company, which sold chewing gum accompanied by cards from 1933-1941, capitalizing on the established sports card insertion model. Their colorful, robustly produced cards of legendary players are considered some of the most coveted in collecting today. Additional publishers like Play Ball, Leaf, Bowman and Topps followed suit and produced innovative card designs and concepts over subsequent decades as the industry grew exponentially.

By the 1950s, Topps emerged as the unambiguous market leader in American sports cards following its hugely popular 1952 Bowman baseball card rights buyout. Topps’ marketing acumen and aggressive expansion into other sports helped cement baseball cards and trading cards as a cornerstone of youth pop culture worldwide through the remainder of the 20th century. The lineage of cards originating from the late 19th century tobacco promotional inserts had developed into a multi-billion dollar global collecting phenomenon. Baseball cards had stayed relevant for over a century based on their ability to adapt and shift focus over time, standing as one of the longest continually published forms of popular culture memorabilia in history.

WHAT YEAR DID BASEBALL CARDS START

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Some consider the very first baseball cards to be lithographed cards from the late 1860s featuring individual baseball players. The 1868 and 1869 baseball cards are extremely rare, with only a handful known to still exist today. The first baseball cards that are universally acknowledged as the true beginning of the baseball card collecting craze were produced in the 1870s by tobacco manufacturers.

In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, considered by many to be the first all-professional baseball team, popularized baseball across the nation. This helped fuel growing interest in the sport during the late 1860s and 1870s. During this time, multiple tobacco companies began experimenting with printing baseball card lithographs and inserting them into cigarette and chewing tobacco packs to help promote their brands.

In 1871, the tobacco firm Goodwin & Co. is believed to have been the first to mass-produce and insert baseball cards into tobacco products as a successful marketing tactic. This laid the foundation for what would become an over century-long tradition of tobacco companies and baseball joining forces. The early Goodwin & Co. cards featured individual images of star players with minimal text. This helped spread awareness and interest in baseball superstars across the country, at a time when the sport was still in its infancy.

Other pioneering tobacco companies that issued some of the earliest known baseball cards included Allen & Ginter in 1886 and 1888. What makes these cards especially significant is that they marked a shift towards including more detailed player statistics and stats on the back of the cards, setting the blueprint for modern baseball cards. Allen & Ginter’s brand of cigarette was launched with an innovative marketing campaign involving the mass-production of picture cards. The cards depicted famous personalities from all walks of life at the time, with baseball players mingled among statesmen, authors, and celebrities.

In 1890, one of the most renowned early issuers of baseball cards emerged – Old Judge cigarette brand. Their early baseball cards featured vibrant color illustrations of players and included player positions, stats, and biographies on the back. Many regard the Old Judge issues as the first baseball cards that are immediately recognizable as precursors to the modern baseball card in terms of design sense and focus on player stats.

The popularity of tobacco companies inserting baseball cards into their products exploded over the next few decades, as the sport rapidly grew into America’s pastime. Major tobacco brands that issued iconic early 20th century sets included T205 White Border produced between 1909-1911 by the American Tobacco Company, and T206 produced between 1909-1911. These have become extremely valuable to collectors due to their rarity, condition, and importance in baseball card history.

During the 1920s and 1930s, many regional tobacco firms also got into the card-making business, leading to hundreds of local sets featuring small and independent leagues. The 1930s saw a boom in production of cards insert into Cracker Jack popcorn. Topps Chewing Gum emerged as a dominant company in the post-WWII era, and produced some of the most iconic sets in the 1950s like the famous 1952 Topps and iconic black and white designs of the late 1950s.

While tobacco advertising restrictions passed in the 1970s pulled trading cards out of cigarette packages, the baseball card craze ushered in by over a century of tobacco promotion had firmly cemented collecting as a treasured American tradition, especially for baby boomers coming of age. Companies like Topps and Fleer would ensure cards remained popular hobby staples through innovations like color photos, rookie cards of future legends, and oddball parallel issues through the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond.

This long history demonstrates how embedded in American life and our national pastime baseball cards have become, starting from simple marketing premiums in the late 1800s to a cornerstone of both the sport and collecting communities. Their vibrant visuals helped spread the reach of baseball heroes across regions at a time when transportation limitations made following individual players more challenging. In the process, tobacco companies introduced generations to their first sports stars, inadvertently helping to fuel card collecting as both a nostalgic fandom and lifelong passion.

HOW TO START SELLING BASEBALL CARDS

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Inventory. Before starting to sell baseball cards, you need to build up an inventory to have cards available to sell. There are a few ways to acquire cards to sell: purchase lots of random cards, purchase individual high-value cards, or use cards you already have from your personal collection. Purchasing lots of cards is usually the most cost-effective way to build inventory quickly. You can find card lots for sale on eBay, at card shows, local card shops, and retail stores. Make sure to only purchase from reputable sellers.

Pricing Your Cards. It’s important to properly price each card in your inventory for sale. Take the time to look up recently sold prices on platforms like eBay to get a sense of the true market value of each card. Overpricing will result in cards not selling, while underpricing means leaving money on the table. Consider allowing offers on priced cards as well. For high-value cards, doing extensive research is essential to maximize profits. You can use apps like Collector to help track prices.

Listing Your Cards Online. Once priced, you’ll want to list your cards for sale on popular online marketplaces. eBay is generally the largest and best marketplace for sports cards. Create a seller account and start listing your individual cards and card lots for auction or fixed prices. Be sure to include high-quality photos, detailed descriptions of any flaws or grading details, and calculate competitive shipping charges. Other viable selling platforms include Comc, Collector, and Twitter.

Promoting and Marketing. Dont’ just list your cards and wait – you’ll need to promote them to get sales. Create a Instagram page dedicated to your cards for sale and interact with others in the hobby. Follow collectors and teams and like/comment on their posts. Post photos of new listings daily to engage customers. You can also create Facebook ads or promote listings on subreddit forums like r/baseballcards. Consistent marketing is key.

Accepting Payments. On eBay,payments are handled automatically through the platform. But offer other payment options too like PayPal, Venmo, and physical checks/money orders for off-platform sales. Only ship cards once payment is fully cleared to avoid disputes. Consider building a payment system on your own website if sales increase significantly.

Shipping and Fulfillment. Properly package cards for shipping is important to avoid damage. Use penny sleeves, toploaders, and bubble mailers. Weigh out packages and affix correct postage. Print labels from your platform or retailer of choice. Offer lower cost basic shipping and more expensive tracked/insured options. Speedy shipping leads to happy customers and good reviews.

Repeating the Process. As cards sell, reinvest the profits into acquiring more inventory to continue the cycle. Attend local card shows and conferences to network, move inventory, and stay knowledgeable in the hobby. Consider expanding to vintage cards, memorabilia, and other sports as your business grows over time. Offer buying and consignment services too to bring in extra revenue streams. With dedication and savvy operations, selling sports cards can become a successful small business.

With strategic planning and execution of the key steps above, anyone can start a business reselling baseball cards online and in-person. Building a consistent inventory, properly pricing and promote listings, focusing on the customer experience, and continual learning are essential practices for long term success selling sports cards. With a blend of hustle, hobby passion, and strong fundamentals, reselling cards presents an exciting entrepreneurial opportunity.

HOW TO START COLLECTING BASEBALL CARDS REDDIT

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Getting started with a baseball card collection can seem like an intimidating task, but it’s actually fairly straightforward if you keep a few things in mind. The most important thing is to collect cards that you personally enjoy rather than viewing it as an investment. Focus on players, teams, or sets that you connect with rather than what may hold value down the road. Here are some tips for starting your baseball card collection:

To begin, you’ll need to decide on a budget. Collecting baseball cards can range from inexpensive to very expensive depending on how deep you want to go. A reasonable starter budget would be $20-50 per month to slowly build up your collection. Resist the urge to overspend at first as the value is in enjoying the hobby long-term. You’ll also want supplies like sleeves, toploaders, binders, or boxes to safely store your cards.

Next, determine what type of players, teams, or sets you want to focus on. This could be modern stars, old school legends, your favorite MLB franchise, or complete vintage sets from the past. Zeroing in on an theme or niche will prevent you from acquiring too many random cards early on. You can always branch out genres later once your primary collection grows.

Visit local card shops, comic book stores, toy stores, and sometimes even grocery/drug stores for wax packs and boxes containing random assorted cards to rip open. This is a fun way to start collecting specific players and build sets more organically. Be sure to carefully look through each card for condition, valuable short prints, and autographs/relics which could hold significant value someday.

Check trading apps like Reddit’s r/baseballcards or Facebook Marketplace where hobby enthusiasts regularly trade, sell, and buy individual cards they’re looking to add to their collections. This is a great resource for finding needed cards to complete sets or acquire players you specifically want for your PC (personal collection). Just be mindful of potential scams.

Hit up local card shows and conventions in your area on weekends. Vendors will have all sorts of vintage and modern cards available including entire complete sets priced to sell quickly. It’s an fun experience browsing hundreds of vendor tables to scout out deal. Be prepared to haggle a bit on bigger purchases.

Subscribe to a monthly trading card subscription service like Loot Locker, Quarter Box, or Blowout Cards Box which delivers curated surprise packs and boxes to your doorstep each month on a budget. It’s a laidback way to build your collection with new releases each month.

Consider purchasing complete factory sets from recent or past years on auction sites like eBay. Things like Topps Flagship, Allen & Ginter, Stadium Club, and more can usually be found as a singular lot. This organizes your collection and checklist all at once. Just inspect sets thoroughly for issues before bidding.

Always store your baseball cards in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight which can damage the cardboard and ink over time. invest in sleeves, toploaders, binder pages and boxes for proper protection. Higher end vintage cards may require acid-free supplies to preserve longer.

Most importantly, have fun with the process of collection baseball cards! Enjoy hunting for PC players, reminiscing about childhood heroes, discovering new stats/facts and building complete vintage sets. Connecting with the card collecting community can also enhance the hobby experience. There’s no right or wrong way to build your collection as long as you’re enjoying reliving America’s pastime through the world of trading cards.

That covers the basics of how to start your baseball card collection on a reasonable budget and have a good time exploring a very accessible yet storied hobby. The key is collecting smart based on personal interests rather than strictly monetary value. Building organically over time focusing on specific sets, players or teams will ultimately lead to a more robust and enjoyable collection to cherish for years to come.

WHEN DID FLEER START MAKING BASEBALL CARDS

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Fleer Corporation began producing baseball cards in 1956, becoming the first successful competitor to gain market share against industry leader Topps Chewing Gum. Fleer was founded in 1881 by brothers Frank and William Fleer in Philadelphia as a manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum. Through most of the 20th century, Fleer primarily produced gum while also experimenting with other confectionery products like candy and bubble gum.

In the early 1950s, Fleer began exploring opportunities to expand beyond gum production as worldwide gum sales leveled off following a post-World War 2 boom. Company executives noticed the growing popularity of baseball cards among American children and saw an opening to break into the trading card market which was still in its infancy but growing rapidly thanks to Topps’ success with their 1951 and 1952 sets featuring players’ photos on the front for the first time. Fleer saw trading cards as a way to recruit new young customers to potentially buy their gum as well.

In 1954, Fleer produced their first non-sport related trading cards as a trial run. Called “Funny Valentines”, the cards featured humorous drawings on the front instead of photos. Despite little promotion, they sold reasonably well and gave Fleer confidence they could compete with Topps in the baseball card space. However, Topps had already solidified deals with both major baseball leagues as the exclusive gum and candy maker so Fleer would need to find another way in.

After failed negotiations with minor leagues, Fleer came up with a creative workaround. In 1955, they decided to produce cards featuring current major leaguers but without licensing deals. Instead, Fleer paid players individually for rights to their names and photos, sourcing pictures from newspapers, magazines and team publicity photos instead of original photographer shoots. This stratagem allowed Fleer to release their first baseball card set in spring 1956 featuring over 350 major league players without breaching Topps’ exclusive deals.

The 106-card 1956 Fleer set debuted to widespread attention but mixed reviews. While praised for vibrant color photo reproduction, errors with some player stats and team affiliations drew criticism. The set still sold well thanks to aggressive Fleer promotion and novelty as the first competitor to Topps in the nascent but booming baseball card boom. An estimated 9-10 million Fleer packs were sold that first year, netting around $750,000 in profit.

In 1957, Fleer improved on their formula with a hugely popular 212-card release. Featuring cleaned-up design and accurate stats, the set was a critical and commercial success that really established Fleer as a legitimate threat to Topps. Meanwhile, legal challenges from Topps seeking to block Fleer’s access to players due to their exclusive deals wound through the courts without any definitive rulings. Undaunted, Fleer pressed forward with innovative releases like 1959’s Cel-O-Paks which featured cards sealed in waxy cellophane pockets.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Fleer and Topps waged an intense behind-the-scenes trade war as the only two major baseball card producers. Both companies aggressively signed players to exclusive contracts and filed numerous lawsuits against each other for alleged contract tampering, antitrust violations and intellectual property infringements. Despite legal battles and Topps’ greater distribution muscle, Fleer managed to maintain around 25-30% market share during this era through dynamic product design, shrewd contracts and relentless innovation in sizes, sets and specialty subsets.

A key advantage Fleer developed was their status as an independent, family-owned corporation compared to Topps’ position as a public company beholden to shareholders. This allowed Fleer more flexibility to take risks, stay nimble and focus first on the collector experience rather than quarterly earnings reports. They became famous for experimental non-sport sets on topics like monsters, space and American history that helped diversify beyond baseball while keeping the brand fresh. It was this risk-taking creative spirit that defined Fleer as “The Pepsi to Topps’ Coca-Cola” in the trading card world.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Fleer maintained their position as the clear #2 player in baseball cards behind Topps but developed a loyal following among collectors. Major innovations included 1967’s tremendous success with the first football cards in decades as well as blockbuster annual “Million Card Sets” topping 1,000 cards each during the late 1960s/early 1970s boom. Escalating costs and production Complexities made it increasingly difficult for the small, family-owned Fleer to compete financially with the mighty Topps behemoth controlling over 70% of the market.

After nearly being acquired in the mid-1970s, Fleer underwent a restructuring that saw them shift from primary focus on trading cards to other toy and game products through the 1980s. They never fully exited baseball cards and remained a respected secondary producer behind Topps with popular annual sets. In 1992, Fleer was purchased outright by card manufacturer SkyBox International (later acquired by The Upper Deck Company). Under new ownership, Fleer experienced a revival in the 1990s alongside baseball’s resurgence by pioneering innovative inserts, parallels and short prints that reinvigorated the high-end hobby market.

Throughout its pioneering six decade history, Fleer established itself as the David to Topps’ Goliath in American baseball cards. Despite perpetual legal harassment from the incumbent, Fleer’s perseverance, creativity and nimbleness fighting above their weight class made them synonymous with innovation, risk-taking and the underdog spirit in the hobby. While Fleer has changed ownership hands since and seen annual disruptions, their legacy of fun, accessible sets from the pioneering 1950s through experimental 1980s ensured they remained “America’s second card company” who helped shape baseball cards into the beloved modern collectible we know today.