This guide will help sort you into groups of collectors whom love collecting or collectors who want to make money at your hobby.I will give insight into how to become a proficient purchaser for both purposes based on my near 30 years experience of doing both.

    I started collecting in the 4th grade because the kids in my new school were all into it and I wanted to fit in quickly.My parents took me to a dairy store which sold packs and bought me three or four packs of 1979 Topps cards which I took to school the next day to trade.My first ever trade netted me a 79 topps Schmidt and a 78 Bake McBride for Vida Blue and Gaylord Perry.Seems insugnificant now ,but it laid a foundation for payment of college tuitions and even bought me a car at one point.

   I wasn't very smart as a child with my cards putting them into rubberbands and flipping them against the wall to try to cover someone elses cards to win them,but it sure was alot of fun.So the first kind of collector I want to address is the person who loves the art of collecting or has the fever for sports collecting.

   Above all else this is a HOBBY for most of our collectors.Some collectors sell cards out of need for space.Here are some tips to avoid having to do this.As a young and avid collector of baseball cards in particular ,I was without the use of e-bay for collecting.I bought cards for sets and for stars so I would end up with a huge surplus of doubles and triples and nowhere to store them.First you should set parameters for spending for yourself as so not to impulse buy.Next you should decide if you are a set builder or not which is an important step in collecting.

   For our set builders try to stay away from pack buying and just get a box.This will offset the breakdown costs of buying and net the best cost per card.Also buy early while there is plenty of product.You can read reviews in Beckett guides on new product to see which cards you will be collecting.In these guides there is a section for how much of the set by percentage you can obtain in each box purchased.The reason to buy early is two fold.Demand drives up costs and so does scarcity which will lead to higher costs.After you get a good deal of you set together ,go to shows to obtain some of the other cards or get your mouse ready and make set specific searches to try to get the rest of your numbers.After your set is complete try not to handle them much more and box for storage with a label on the box to tell you what you have.At shows some dealers are willing to trade for your stack of doubles the numbers you may need.This will help you thin out the extra load.Trade nights at local card shops are also places where you can delete some extras.

   For older sets from the 50's and 60's you should first decide the grade of your set and stick to it.If you want midgrade try to stay away from lots that offer lower grade or winner take all type lots and buy lots with better descriptions .In the long run you will end up with less cards to upgrade and much fewer doubles .Actually you will spend less also.Yuo may also need descriptions or pictures not offered in the listing.Contact you sellers and ask for these important peices of information.If not reciprocated by the seller,don't buy the item.With larger stores read the money back guarantee so if you buy an item and it isn't quite what you wanted you can send it back.

   If stars is your thing ,try to zero in on twenty or less of your favorites or a specific team to collect.Only buy large ticket items that you really want.Use e-bay as your tool to tell you what the market bears.You can make a search and then look at ended completed sales to see what other people have spent on this same item. Take particular notice of the grade of the item and price after shipping if it is in the listing. It can give you a barometer on how high you should bid an item out before letting an uninformed buyer pay too much for a particular thing.Remember ,new items go on sale every minute of every day and you can always bid another.You may buy less ,but you will happier with what you are getting.

   Now for you buisness nuts .... cards are an investment and the values of the cards go up and down with the market.You have to dissolve some of your attachments with your cards to make good descisions about the value of your cards.Price guides are good tools,but NOT bibles of prices.The price of your cards is literally what someone else is willing to pay you for them and nothing else.Hey ,its a powerful statement that needs some absorbing.

   For the smaller sellers start small .Use items of a lesser value to bolster you "reputation" as a seller.It will help you to realize larger gains on larger sales.The reason is trust, simply put, others can see your trustworthyness by reading your positive feedback.Larger and more in depth descriptions can help along with pictures and the more optimal scans of your items can read volumes in to your final values.

   E-bay gets money and stays in buisness because of its sellers.It gives in return the largest market in the world and the perfect plateau for your sales.Putting more into your listings should be based on the amount of money you think you should get for your items.If your item should fetch five dollars it may not be wise to spend two dollars to list it.For a higher ticket items however you may spend five dollars to list it because the more people that look at it the more people will bid on it.

   For our smaller sellers of cards ,please pay attention to your costs of shipping materials and please make sure your items are secure. Mailers,penny sleeve ,toploaders,snap downs ,and even labels cost you money along with actual shipping ,so please make sure you are in the ballpark to cover your casts and still make your item affordable with shipping.

   Keeping your cards in the best condition possible from the door is the best way you can see the best return.The condition of your cards is the sign of how much others will pay for them.Less actual handling is better for the surface ,penny sleeves are better for corner and edge wear and top loaders from heavy wear and creasing.I personally put top loaders in team bags to stop the top loader from scratching for better pictures.

   Larger amounts to sell will lead to different venues within e-bay.If you need to list more than 30 items ,you should consider a store to cut listing costs.You pay a set fee every month and way less for each "buy it now" listing.Difference is you will need to figure your price for the item and you'll need slightly more patience waiting for them to sell.The main thing is the comfort level with the money you'll be getting for the item.The best thing to do with an item you can't price yourself is either not to sell it or sell it in auction format and take your chances.

   Now to purchase to make money is the key thing.I personally buy lots with the intention to break them down for resale.Some times condition comes into play ,but most times ,try to buy lots where every card looks sellable.It may take a few purchases to find a comfort zone like it did for me ,but now I can generally make 50 to 100 percent more than I purchase for.Other ways to get this done is buy new lots of important cards ,namely rookies and alow for the cards to mature in value and then resell.With the exception of a few individual cards ,insert cards give the seller something to sell quickly.Most inserts die with the popularity of the set itself so it is good to strike while the iron is hot.For lower case inserts ,putting them in lots or even lots of a particular player is the way to move them.

    For people with $$$ who want to invest in cards,well conditioned major stars especially older ones is the ticket.Items like t-206 and Mickey Mantle seem to give return in short or long hauls.The shorter the supply the greater the demand, so be careful and act fast on prices that are what you expected.Then watch  guides and current sales to make your move.

I hope if you've read this you can take away at least one tip to help you collect or sell something just a little better.                                Thanks ,Tim