I remember when I first looked into selling my collection. I had this huge mess of stuff that I didn’t have space for so I needed to get rid of it.
But I loved all of it — so I couldn’t just throw it into the trash. I wanted it to go to someone else who would appreciate it like I had. And I wanted to make sure when I sold it that I did well on it.
How Do I Start?
Getting started… this is the main sticking point for most people. The good news is, if you’re here then you already started. And if you have questions, feel free to reach out — I always love talking the hobby with people and making new friends and connections.
That said though, the most common questions I get are, “How much are my cards worth?”, “What are my options for selling my collection?”, and “Should I get it graded?”. That, and more, is below. If you have any more questions, please reach out!
How much are my cards worth?
This is THE QUESTION I get asked all the time — and it’s the most confusing for people that are just getting started or just getting back into collectibles. The standard for how much something is “worth” tends to be what it sells for on eBay. This is pretty easy to look up. Just look for your collectible on eBay then look at “Sold Listings”. This will give you a good idea of what people are willing to pay for it.
If you go this route, be sure you’re looking at “Sold” prices and not what people are asking for it. As we all know, some sellers on eBay ask way too much for their stuff, so the asking prices can be a little misleading. So go to the “Sold” listings to see what people have paid for it to get a good idea of what COLLECTORS think — not what the seller thinks.
What are my options for selling my collection?
There’s three main options when you’re looking into selling your collection. It really depends on how much time you want to spend and if you’re willing to let someone else do the work for you.
The first is to find a local card shop (or of course, you can call us!) and set up a time with them to bring your stuff down and see what they’ll pay. The advantages of this is that it’s fast and you get immediate payout. You will likely get a little less than you would if you sold it yourself on eBay, so if you’re okay with paying someone else to do the work for you, it can be a great option. It can also be a good idea to shop around a bit because different shops will pay different amounts depending on their expertise and how knowledgeable they are.
The second option — the way I got started — is to create an eBay profile and sell it yourself! I went back and forth between the first option (local card store) and setting up on eBay when I first started to sell my collection. You get a little bit less selling to a card store than you do by selling yourself, so that’s a pro. The con is that you’re doing everything yourself which, depending how much you have, can be a lot of work. Some people do this and find out, like I did, that you love it — in which case it’s totally worth your time and a great option! A lot of people don’t like it much though, so if selling cards or setting up things online is a hassle, this probably isn’t a great option.
The third option is consignment. This is when you send your items to an auction house who will sell it for you and take a percentage of the sale. This is a fun option but it’s usually only for people with extremely high priced items (i.e. cards that sell for $500 or $1000 or more). This can sometimes be a good option but is unfortunately fairly limited because consignment houses tend to take only very high priced collectibles.
Know that your time is valuable!!!!
…especially if you’re going to sell on eBay.
This was THE THING I made mistakes on when i was first starting. When I’d look up a card, I’d see that I could get a dollar for it, so I’d list it.
While I’d make a dollar every time, it was taking me 10-15 minutes to photograph, creating the eBay listing, and then ship it. After a while, it dawned on me that for every hour of work, I was only making ~$5.
Everyone has a different idea of what their time is worth — and there’s no right to answer to that. For me, I love trading cards and collectibles, so on the one hand I’d do it for free. On the other, if you’re only getting $5 per hour, you should ask yourself if it’s truly worth your time. Again, there’s no right or wrong answers here, but it is an extremely important consideration that most people don’t think about when they’re just getting started.
Should I get it graded?
This is one of the toughest questions to answer. It’s not the most satisfying answer, but it’s impossible to say without seeing the card in person.
When my friends ask me, I tend to tell them “don’t get it graded” unless they pulled it straight out of a pack RECENTLY. You’d be shocked at how difficult it is to get a GEM MINT 10 grade from a card grading company. When I got started, I sent in over 100 cards from my personal collection and got zero 10s. They were all cards from the 90s and 2000s that I had handled as a kid or teenager, so even though they looked great to me, they weren’t quite as pristine as I hoped.
If it’s a very valuable card (i.e. when I found my Tom Brady RC and Kobe Bryant RC), then maybe it’s worth a shot because the grading fee doesn’t cost a ton and a MINT 9 is still a very good grade. But if it’s a card that’s only going to be worth $100 if you get a 10, I almost always say don’t send it in.