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After buying and selling sports cards for 24 years, including nearly 6 years on ebay, I have picked up many tips on what to do and what not to do. I hope you can learn from my successes (and mistakes). As you read through the following tips for selling on ebay, I am sure there will be some that you are already aware of, but hopefully you will pick up enough new tips to make your ebay experience even better and more profitable. Also, check out my other guide for selling sports cards on ebay.
1) Do Your Homework Before Bidding – As a collector, it is very easy to get wrapped up in a bidding war for a card that you want. Often times you will end up paying more for it than you could find it in another auction or ebay store. Before bidding on a card, search for the same card in other current auctions or ebay store listings. Also, search completed items to see what it has sold for recently in other auctions. These things should give you a good idea of what you should expect to pay for the card. Another good way to save money on a card is to wait for a few months after the card has been released. As mentioned earlier, cards from sets that have just been released will generally sell for more money than those from sets that have been out for a few months or more.
2) Beware of Cards from Companies No Longer in Business – Over the past decade, several card companies have found it difficult to survive in the flooded sports card market. Two of the most recent examples are Fleer and Collector’s Edge. When Collector’s Edge went out of business several years back, they liquidated all of their remaining stock at reduced prices to dealers. As a result, you saw a huge influx of unopened Collector’s Edge boxes and packs on ebay. While you could get some pretty decent deals on these boxes and packs, you had no recourse if you received any redemption cards or damaged cards, as the company was no longer in business. With Fleer just recently shutting its doors, you can expect to see the same kind of influx with its products. While Upper Deck has agreed to take over producing some of the Fleer products, it has not determined yet if it will honor Fleer redemption cards, and it is extremely doubtful that they would replace any damaged Fleer cards pulled from packs.
3) Be Aware of Expired Redemption Cards – Pretty much all redemption cards are issued with an expiration date. This means that if you pull a redemption card from a pack/box of cards that is more than 2 years old (even less for some products), you will most likely be out of luck if you attempt to redeem it. With so many different products, card companies are always trying to beat each other by releasing their set first. As a result, they will often pack their cards before all autographs have been returned, and instead will insert a redemption card for the missing players. Before bidding on an older box of cards from a set with high-dollar autographs, be sure you know how many of those autograph cards were redemptions, and thus no longer available.
4) Be Aware of Counterfeit & Illegally Produced Cards – Since you cannot physically examine cards bought through ebay, it is essential that you are a cautious and knowledgeable buyer. First, be aware of illegally produced cards. Often these cards are listed as rookie cards or “first-issue cards” under the product names like Pigskin Futures, OMR Draft Day, and Prospects Ink, to name a few. These cards are not licensed by any of the professional sports leagues and are basically the equivalent of creating and printing out a sports card from your home computer. Unfortunately, novice collectors snatch up these cards thinking they are getting a great deal on a rookie card, and in turn create artificial demand for these otherwise worthless cards. In regard to counterfeit cards, the best way to protect yourself is to only buy high-dollar, ungraded cards from sellers with a feedback rating of at least 500 with 98% or more positive. Regardless of the seller, if you purchase a high-dollar card that is known as a target for counterfeiters, be sure to completely check it out before leaving feedback. One simple way to get an idea of whether a vintage card (pre-1990) may be counterfeit or not is too look at its color. If the colors are rich and show no signs of fading, you may very well have a counterfeit card. You can also look at the edges of the card. If the edges appear completely smooth, rather than a bit rough, there is a good chance the card is counterfeit. If you suspect a card is counterfeit, I suggest you take it to a local card store and ask if they will look at it and give you their opinion. Also, always remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
5) Avoid Buying Unspecific Vintage Packs or Boxes – Do not waste your money bidding on lots of “Vintage Packs/Boxes,” unless the seller lists the exact packs or boxes that are being sold. Many sellers consider cards from the late 80s and early 90s to be vintage, and as any collector knows, the vast majority of products from all four major sports during this era were so overproduced that they are practically worthless. For example, you can easily find boxes of 1990 Score football or baseball, 1990 or 91 Topps football or baseball, and many more products for as little as 25 cents a pack. It is often these packs that are included in lots that are advertised as “Vintage Packs/Boxes.” Since many of the people who purchase these lots are new to ebay, not serious collectors, or parents buying cards for their kids, do not believe that just because a seller has received positive feedback in the past on their lots that you will be guaranteed to receive a quality product. Do a little more homework and look at exactly who has purchased previous lots, and what kind of feedback the seller has received from experienced buyers.
6) All Graded Cards are Not Equal – Graded cards take all of the guess work out of a card’s condition, and are many times the only kind of cards serious vintage card collectors will buy. As the practice of buying cards without actually seeing them in person has become more popular, the demand for graded cards has increased significantly. As the demand has increased, so has the number of companies who grade cards. If you are going to buy a graded card, be sure to buy only cards graded by a reputable company. The most highly sought after graded cards are graded by Beckett Grading Services (BGS) and Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). Two other reputable and well-known grading companies are Sportscard Guaranty (SGC) and Global Authentication (GAI). Not to say that other grading companies are not legit, but cards graded by the four companies listed above carry the most respect amongst collectors. Also, be sure you understand the difference between BGS and BCCG graded cards. Both types are graded by Beckett, but BGS graded cards are much more valuable than BCCG. BCCG cards do not include subgrades for corners, edges, centering, and surface, and they are not given half-grades (i.e. 9.5, 8.5). BCCG cards are much easier to find than BGS cards, especially with a grade of 10.
7) Read Everything Carefully – When buying sports cards (or anything for that matter) on ebay it is extremely important to read the entire auction description. Most sellers will list all important details within their item description, such as the item’s condition, shipping & handling fees, accepted forms of payment, buyer restrictions, and return policy. If the description is unclear or missing important information, e-mail the seller. If you still can’t get the information you’re looking for – Don’t Bid!
Specifically in regard to sports cards, it is important that the item description specifically states the following information:
- Card Description – Make sure you know exactly what card is up for bid. The description should state the card’s year, manufacturer, insert name (if applicable), and card # (if the player has more than one card in the set). An example of needing to look beyond an auction’s title for this information is the 1984 Topps Dan Marino rookie card. You will often see auctions stating “Dan Marino RC” in the title, but upon reading the description you find out that it is actually a 1984 Topps “Instant Replay” Marino card (#124), which is not considered to be a true rookie card. The book value of this card is $12, compared to his actual RC (#123) in the set, which is valued at $80!
- Card Condition – Any reputable and experienced sports card seller will list the condition of the card he/she is selling. It is important for you to know what the different conditions mean. Generally a card that comes from a pack and has no glaring flaws (i.e. damaged corners or edges, off-center, or printing flaws) is considered to be in NRMT-MT (Near Mint-Mint) condition. When buying modern cards (1976 to present) you should expect any cards you buy to be in NRMT-MT condition. Any lower condition (i.e. NRMT, EX-MT) modern card should only be purchased at a discounted price. In regard to vintage cards (pre-1976), any card NRMT or better is considered to be worth the full book value or more. Always be wary of sellers who describe their cards as MINT or GEM MINT, unless the cards have been graded by a reputable company (see section on grading) and given this condition. The best condition any ungraded card should be considered to be in is NRMT-MT.
- Shipping & Handling Cost – This is an area that can often be overlooked when considering how much you’re actually paying for a card. Where you might feeling like you’re getting a great deal when you win an auction for a card worth $5 for only $1, once you add anywhere from $1.50 to $4 for shipping and handling, you could probably have found that card for cheaper at your local card store. One trend that is becoming more prevalent on ebay is the use of shipping calculators that are specific to your zip code to figure out the shipping cost, rather than having a flat S&H cost. While these calculators are good for larger packages, they often give inflated prices for individual cards. Considering that sellers need the shipping and handling fees to cover postage, shipping materials (i.e. top loaders, bubble mailers), ebay seller fees, and Paypal fees (if applicable), the actual amount needed for S&H on a single card below $20 should not be more than $2. Some sellers may require insurance, which shouldn’t be more than $1.35 for up to $50 of coverage. With this in mind, I have made it a policy not to bid on any single card from a seller who charges more than $2 for S&H without insurance.
- Accepted Forms of Payment – This is extremely important to find out before bidding. The majority of transactions made on ebay now are paid for using Paypal. Personally, I will only bid on items where the seller accepts Paypal. Not only is the payment made immediately, and therefore, the item is shipped sooner, but Paypal allows you to pay with a credit card, and you can request a refund through Paypal for items not received. Other things to look for in this category are whether or not a seller accepts personal checks, and if so, whether they will wait to ship your item until after the check clears.
8) Buyer Beware (of Presale Items) – You can go on ebay on pretty much any day and find at least one person selling unopened boxes/packs of cards that have not been released yet. These are referred to as presales. While many of them are legit, you should be cautious when bidding upon them. All of them will list the scheduled release date of the product, and most of them promise to ship within one week of this date. These presale auctions often close a month or more before the item will actually ship. Because of this, if the seller does not follow through with your item, you are basically left with no recourse to try and get a refund. As mentioned earlier, if you pay via Paypal, you automatically get buyer’s protection (with limitations), which allows you to get a refund if the seller does not send your item. However, you must file a complaint within 30 days of the close of the auction. This means that with a normal presale auction, by the time you realize that you are not going to get your item, you have no options left to get your money back. I would strongly suggest only bidding on presale auctions by sellers with a feedback rating of at least 500 (and at least 98% positive) and a history of following through on presale auctions.
9) ALWAYS Try to Resolve Issues with a Seller Before Leaving Feedback – Perhaps nothing frustrates an honest seller more than to have a buyer leave him/her negative feedback without ever being contacted about there being a problem with the item. If you purchase something, and there is a problem with it, always contact the seller before leaving negative feedback. Good sellers will often offer to work with you to resolve the problem, which will result in a positive transaction for both the buyer and seller. Additionally, as soon as you leave negative feedback, you can pretty much forget about receiving a refund or replacement item. By leaving negative feedback, you also run the risk of having the seller leave you retaliatory negative feedback.
I hope you found these tips helpful and good luck with your future endeavors on ebay!
ebay username: jdshuskers
ebay store web address: stores.ebay.com/Sports-Card-Collector
1) Do Your Homework Before Bidding – As a collector, it is very easy to get wrapped up in a bidding war for a card that you want. Often times you will end up paying more for it than you could find it in another auction or ebay store. Before bidding on a card, search for the same card in other current auctions or ebay store listings. Also, search completed items to see what it has sold for recently in other auctions. These things should give you a good idea of what you should expect to pay for the card. Another good way to save money on a card is to wait for a few months after the card has been released. As mentioned earlier, cards from sets that have just been released will generally sell for more money than those from sets that have been out for a few months or more.
2) Beware of Cards from Companies No Longer in Business – Over the past decade, several card companies have found it difficult to survive in the flooded sports card market. Two of the most recent examples are Fleer and Collector’s Edge. When Collector’s Edge went out of business several years back, they liquidated all of their remaining stock at reduced prices to dealers. As a result, you saw a huge influx of unopened Collector’s Edge boxes and packs on ebay. While you could get some pretty decent deals on these boxes and packs, you had no recourse if you received any redemption cards or damaged cards, as the company was no longer in business. With Fleer just recently shutting its doors, you can expect to see the same kind of influx with its products. While Upper Deck has agreed to take over producing some of the Fleer products, it has not determined yet if it will honor Fleer redemption cards, and it is extremely doubtful that they would replace any damaged Fleer cards pulled from packs.
3) Be Aware of Expired Redemption Cards – Pretty much all redemption cards are issued with an expiration date. This means that if you pull a redemption card from a pack/box of cards that is more than 2 years old (even less for some products), you will most likely be out of luck if you attempt to redeem it. With so many different products, card companies are always trying to beat each other by releasing their set first. As a result, they will often pack their cards before all autographs have been returned, and instead will insert a redemption card for the missing players. Before bidding on an older box of cards from a set with high-dollar autographs, be sure you know how many of those autograph cards were redemptions, and thus no longer available.
4) Be Aware of Counterfeit & Illegally Produced Cards – Since you cannot physically examine cards bought through ebay, it is essential that you are a cautious and knowledgeable buyer. First, be aware of illegally produced cards. Often these cards are listed as rookie cards or “first-issue cards” under the product names like Pigskin Futures, OMR Draft Day, and Prospects Ink, to name a few. These cards are not licensed by any of the professional sports leagues and are basically the equivalent of creating and printing out a sports card from your home computer. Unfortunately, novice collectors snatch up these cards thinking they are getting a great deal on a rookie card, and in turn create artificial demand for these otherwise worthless cards. In regard to counterfeit cards, the best way to protect yourself is to only buy high-dollar, ungraded cards from sellers with a feedback rating of at least 500 with 98% or more positive. Regardless of the seller, if you purchase a high-dollar card that is known as a target for counterfeiters, be sure to completely check it out before leaving feedback. One simple way to get an idea of whether a vintage card (pre-1990) may be counterfeit or not is too look at its color. If the colors are rich and show no signs of fading, you may very well have a counterfeit card. You can also look at the edges of the card. If the edges appear completely smooth, rather than a bit rough, there is a good chance the card is counterfeit. If you suspect a card is counterfeit, I suggest you take it to a local card store and ask if they will look at it and give you their opinion. Also, always remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
5) Avoid Buying Unspecific Vintage Packs or Boxes – Do not waste your money bidding on lots of “Vintage Packs/Boxes,” unless the seller lists the exact packs or boxes that are being sold. Many sellers consider cards from the late 80s and early 90s to be vintage, and as any collector knows, the vast majority of products from all four major sports during this era were so overproduced that they are practically worthless. For example, you can easily find boxes of 1990 Score football or baseball, 1990 or 91 Topps football or baseball, and many more products for as little as 25 cents a pack. It is often these packs that are included in lots that are advertised as “Vintage Packs/Boxes.” Since many of the people who purchase these lots are new to ebay, not serious collectors, or parents buying cards for their kids, do not believe that just because a seller has received positive feedback in the past on their lots that you will be guaranteed to receive a quality product. Do a little more homework and look at exactly who has purchased previous lots, and what kind of feedback the seller has received from experienced buyers.
6) All Graded Cards are Not Equal – Graded cards take all of the guess work out of a card’s condition, and are many times the only kind of cards serious vintage card collectors will buy. As the practice of buying cards without actually seeing them in person has become more popular, the demand for graded cards has increased significantly. As the demand has increased, so has the number of companies who grade cards. If you are going to buy a graded card, be sure to buy only cards graded by a reputable company. The most highly sought after graded cards are graded by Beckett Grading Services (BGS) and Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). Two other reputable and well-known grading companies are Sportscard Guaranty (SGC) and Global Authentication (GAI). Not to say that other grading companies are not legit, but cards graded by the four companies listed above carry the most respect amongst collectors. Also, be sure you understand the difference between BGS and BCCG graded cards. Both types are graded by Beckett, but BGS graded cards are much more valuable than BCCG. BCCG cards do not include subgrades for corners, edges, centering, and surface, and they are not given half-grades (i.e. 9.5, 8.5). BCCG cards are much easier to find than BGS cards, especially with a grade of 10.
7) Read Everything Carefully – When buying sports cards (or anything for that matter) on ebay it is extremely important to read the entire auction description. Most sellers will list all important details within their item description, such as the item’s condition, shipping & handling fees, accepted forms of payment, buyer restrictions, and return policy. If the description is unclear or missing important information, e-mail the seller. If you still can’t get the information you’re looking for – Don’t Bid!
Specifically in regard to sports cards, it is important that the item description specifically states the following information:
- Card Description – Make sure you know exactly what card is up for bid. The description should state the card’s year, manufacturer, insert name (if applicable), and card # (if the player has more than one card in the set). An example of needing to look beyond an auction’s title for this information is the 1984 Topps Dan Marino rookie card. You will often see auctions stating “Dan Marino RC” in the title, but upon reading the description you find out that it is actually a 1984 Topps “Instant Replay” Marino card (#124), which is not considered to be a true rookie card. The book value of this card is $12, compared to his actual RC (#123) in the set, which is valued at $80!
- Card Condition – Any reputable and experienced sports card seller will list the condition of the card he/she is selling. It is important for you to know what the different conditions mean. Generally a card that comes from a pack and has no glaring flaws (i.e. damaged corners or edges, off-center, or printing flaws) is considered to be in NRMT-MT (Near Mint-Mint) condition. When buying modern cards (1976 to present) you should expect any cards you buy to be in NRMT-MT condition. Any lower condition (i.e. NRMT, EX-MT) modern card should only be purchased at a discounted price. In regard to vintage cards (pre-1976), any card NRMT or better is considered to be worth the full book value or more. Always be wary of sellers who describe their cards as MINT or GEM MINT, unless the cards have been graded by a reputable company (see section on grading) and given this condition. The best condition any ungraded card should be considered to be in is NRMT-MT.
- Shipping & Handling Cost – This is an area that can often be overlooked when considering how much you’re actually paying for a card. Where you might feeling like you’re getting a great deal when you win an auction for a card worth $5 for only $1, once you add anywhere from $1.50 to $4 for shipping and handling, you could probably have found that card for cheaper at your local card store. One trend that is becoming more prevalent on ebay is the use of shipping calculators that are specific to your zip code to figure out the shipping cost, rather than having a flat S&H cost. While these calculators are good for larger packages, they often give inflated prices for individual cards. Considering that sellers need the shipping and handling fees to cover postage, shipping materials (i.e. top loaders, bubble mailers), ebay seller fees, and Paypal fees (if applicable), the actual amount needed for S&H on a single card below $20 should not be more than $2. Some sellers may require insurance, which shouldn’t be more than $1.35 for up to $50 of coverage. With this in mind, I have made it a policy not to bid on any single card from a seller who charges more than $2 for S&H without insurance.
- Accepted Forms of Payment – This is extremely important to find out before bidding. The majority of transactions made on ebay now are paid for using Paypal. Personally, I will only bid on items where the seller accepts Paypal. Not only is the payment made immediately, and therefore, the item is shipped sooner, but Paypal allows you to pay with a credit card, and you can request a refund through Paypal for items not received. Other things to look for in this category are whether or not a seller accepts personal checks, and if so, whether they will wait to ship your item until after the check clears.
8) Buyer Beware (of Presale Items) – You can go on ebay on pretty much any day and find at least one person selling unopened boxes/packs of cards that have not been released yet. These are referred to as presales. While many of them are legit, you should be cautious when bidding upon them. All of them will list the scheduled release date of the product, and most of them promise to ship within one week of this date. These presale auctions often close a month or more before the item will actually ship. Because of this, if the seller does not follow through with your item, you are basically left with no recourse to try and get a refund. As mentioned earlier, if you pay via Paypal, you automatically get buyer’s protection (with limitations), which allows you to get a refund if the seller does not send your item. However, you must file a complaint within 30 days of the close of the auction. This means that with a normal presale auction, by the time you realize that you are not going to get your item, you have no options left to get your money back. I would strongly suggest only bidding on presale auctions by sellers with a feedback rating of at least 500 (and at least 98% positive) and a history of following through on presale auctions.
9) ALWAYS Try to Resolve Issues with a Seller Before Leaving Feedback – Perhaps nothing frustrates an honest seller more than to have a buyer leave him/her negative feedback without ever being contacted about there being a problem with the item. If you purchase something, and there is a problem with it, always contact the seller before leaving negative feedback. Good sellers will often offer to work with you to resolve the problem, which will result in a positive transaction for both the buyer and seller. Additionally, as soon as you leave negative feedback, you can pretty much forget about receiving a refund or replacement item. By leaving negative feedback, you also run the risk of having the seller leave you retaliatory negative feedback.
I hope you found these tips helpful and good luck with your future endeavors on ebay!
ebay username: jdshuskers
ebay store web address: stores.ebay.com/Sports-Card-Collector
Guide created: 01/01/07 (updated 07/20/08)
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