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How to Maintain a Valuable Sports Card Collection

Although baseball-card collecting has held a prominence above other sports for decades, nearly every sport, and even politicians and celebrities, are represented in the vast world of sports-card collecting. Developing a collection that is an investment, and not merely a hobby, entails treating cards as commodities, taking care of them, and buying or selling with a purpose. Sports cards are not likely to make many people into millionaires, but investing wisely can turn a profit on what seemed like nostalgia.

Instructions

- 1
  Avoid sentiment. Any sports card may be worth a fortune to the owner, yet be almost worthless on the market. Also, holding on to a card that has peaked in value is never wise investing. Beckett Media and TuffStuff magazine -- thought to be the most prominent card evaluators -- have lists that produce a low and high book value. Those numbers should be checked against actual auction sites. Commonly, auction values end up being around half of the high book value.
- 2
  Invest for the future. Sports card collectible values began to skyrocket in the 1980s, when many people began to realize that if they had only saved that Mickey Mantle rookie card from their youth, they might strike it rich. Cards from prior to the 1970s are worth the most. They are more rare, in some cases extremely rare, and if their condition remains pristine, many older cards can be worth a lot of money. The most famous rare card might be the 1909 Honus Wagner T206, which sold in 2007 for $2.35 million. This leads to principle of patience when collecting. Often a rookie card for an established star will be worth more and more as time goes on.
- 3
  Seize opportunities. If the instinct to "wait it out" seems essential, so is the instinct to strike while the iron, or player, is "hot." Cody Ross, 2010 outfielder for the champion San Francisco Giants, saw the value of his card skyrocket to more than 200 times the book value. his did not equate to a fortune, but the inflated value could be the best opportunity for an investor to get rid of a card that might be peaking in value.

Sports Cards Collecting