Cards

Baseball cards have been around for more than a century and are a great item to collect. Interested in starting a baseball card collection today? This article will give you pertinent information regarding how to collect, purchase, and sell baseball cards, whether for pure enjoyment or for profit motives.

When starting a collection of baseball cards it is important to pick out a particular area first. For instance, you may be interested in collecting rookie baseball cards, rare game-worn jersey cards, autographs, or even basic sets. It is more enjoyable if you have a particular area of focus as opposed to collecting any sort of baseball card. A great starting collection to have is one revolving around your favorite baseball team. You could find cards related to famous players that played for the team, sets of all the current members on the team, and so on. What is great about collecting baseball cards is that there are numerous ways to collect them.

Now, once you have built up a collection of baseball cards it is important to make sure that they are kept in good condition. You would not want to buy all those cards and have their quality degrade to the point of not recognizing them. There are three different options to choose from when it comes to protecting baseball cards, all offering advantages and disadvantages. The first is the plastic sleeve, which is the most inexpensive way to protect baseball cards. However, it does offer the least amount of protection for the card itself. They can actually come in sheets of nine, which are great for gathering cards together in a three ring binder. A step up from a plastic sleeve is a top loader, which is a rigid plastic cover that is somewhat more expensive but provides better protection. Lastly the most expensive option is the screw case, which is a hard plastic casing that has screws around the corner, protecting the card to the maximum. It should be used only for the rarest or most prized cards, as they do not come cheap. Also, don’t forget to get a box to put the baseball card collection in, whether it is a shoe box or a custom made card box.

Where can one buy baseball cards to start a collection? That is a good question, and the answer is that there are in fact many places with which to do so. Many retail stores offer baseball card packages and should be considered as a inexpensive option. Next is the local card/hobby shop, which will have a greater selection of baseball cards to choose from but can be more expensive. Lastly there is the internet, which ranges from online auctions such as ebay to collector forums to trade, sell, and buy baseball cards. All of them are a good option and should be considered when starting a baseball card collection.

Lastly, you may have built up a great collection of baseball cards and want to start selling them off. The best way to sell baseball cards is through a local hobby/card shop or online. Remember that when dealing with a local shop they are interested in making as much money as they can, and thus they will try to lowball you whenever possible. You can counter this by buying a baseball card price guide, which shows the market price of numerous baseball cards. If you are thinking about selling baseball cards online, make sure that you first have an idea of what you are looking to get out of them. Be realistic in your expectations, baseball card markets change constantly and you may not get all of the money you are looking for. If you following this advice I am sure that you will make the most out of baseball card collecting. Enjoy!