Hobbies And Interests
Instructions
Look at each card for important identifying information, such as the name of the player, the card manufacturer, the year it was made and the set the card belongs to.
Determine the condition of each baseball card. Creases, smudges, worn edges and even how the image is centered on a card can affect its condition. The condition of your card will be assessed as: gem mint, mint, near mint, excellent, very good, good, fair or poor.
Visit an online baseball card price guide. Some baseball card price guides are free, others charge a fee. Beckett.com is generally considered the authority when valuing baseball cards. Other popular pricing guides are portasite.com and tuffstuff.com.
Find your card on the list and look at its value. Some price guides give a range of values, others only give you one value. If there is only one value, that is the value of the card if it is in mint condition. If there is a high and a low value listed, the condition of your card will determine where it falls within the range.
Check the price guide information or FAQ section to learn what criteria were used to determine card values. Price guides get their information from different sources and assign card values in different ways.
Compare your baseball card with the criteria used in the price guide. For example, if the value listed in the price guide is for a card in mint condition and your card is in good condition, the value of your card would be less than the value listed in the price guide.
Check more than one source to get the best estimate of your baseball card's value. The values listed in baseball card pricing guides vary and not all of them are updated regularly.
Once you have an estimated value, check live auction sites and baseball card trading forums to see what the cards are selling for in real time. If possible, check recent sales as well as sales over time to determine if the value of your card is rising, falling or holding steady.