|
Listed below are a few questions that
you should ask yourself before beginning your new hobby. These
questions apply to collectors of all ages. Just click on the questions
below to see the Cheap Seats Sports Cards response.
How
much should I spend?
This is a loaded question! Of course, as a sports card
store owner, I would love to have you spend as much as you can,
right? In fact, the truth is we would rather see you spend
what you can afford or what you have budgeted. So to answer
the question, here's what I suggest. For younger collectors,
discuss your situation with your parents. Come to some
agreement on how much you can spend each week or each month.
They'll know what is best for you. Let your parents help you
with your collection and teach them about collecting. Show them you can spend your
money responsibly and take care of your cards. This will pay off
down the road. When you do get the opportunity to buy a few
packs or even a full box, enjoy the moment and then look forward to
your next purchase. Talk to your sports card dealer and see if they
have any special deals or bargains that may help you stretch your
"card allowance". Most dealers will bend over
backwards to help you out.
For you older self-supporting
collectors (those of you with real jobs), the answer is easy.
Spend what you can afford. Your card store will always have
more product so you don't have to clean them out every time you stop
in. Many of the same guidelines for the younger collectors
apply to the adults too. You need to enjoy the hobby
experience. Keep in mind that the sheer joy of visiting your
favorite sports card store is usually worth the wait!! While
I'd love to have you in the store every day, I'd rather see you less
often but ensure you enjoy the trip when you do stop in. So in
a nut shell, know how much you can afford to spend before walking
into the store and stick to your budget.
Back to Top
What should I
collect?
This answer is simple, whatever you want. Almost every
day, we learn of another way to collect sports cards!! I cover
this topic in great detail on our Collecting
Tips - What to Collect page. Just click the link to review
the tips now.
Back to Top
What brand of cards
should I collect?
In our opinion, each of the major sports
card manufacturers produce a wide variety of high quality
products. Each company also produces product in a wide range of price
levels. You need to decide which brand you prefer by viewing
samples or buying a variety of packs at your local card store.
Compare the quality of the cards, the player photos, the card style
and the information presented on the card back. Inspect your
cards for flaws or defects like miss-cutting, poor centering, dings or
bends (view a description of these conditions by clicking here - Collecting
Tips - Card Condition. Does one brand consistently
deliver top quality cards with minimal defects? Is the photography
of a certain brand consistently better than that of the
competitors? Does the overall appearance of one brand's cards
stand out over it's competiters? After answering
these questions and considering your personal tastes, you can decide which brand
is for you. Remember, it is common for collectors to collect
the cards of many brands. As I stated in the what should I
collect section, you should collect what interests you and what
you enjoy. If and when you decide you prefer one brand over
another, then you can change your collecting habits accordingly.
Back to Top
Where should I buy my cards?
This is an easy one, from CHEAP SEATS SPORTS
CARDS!!! All kidding aside, there are several places
collectors can reliably purchase sports cards. I will try and explain
the benefits and drawbacks associated with each of them.
Sports Cards or Hobby Stores
Shopping at your local hobby store has many benefits that you
may not find elsewhere. The hobby store staff has a wealth of
information, experience and knowledge that you can tap to answer
your collecting questions. Your local hobby store can help you
determine the value of your cards, help you locate those hard to
find singles, provide you with an extensive selection of new card
product and single cards, sponsor in-store promotions and events,
trade cards with you and give you the opportunity to sell your
cards. Several hobby shops have been in business for many
years. If you have a problem with one of their products,
it's nice to know that they will be there to help you resolve the
issue. Your local hobby store is also the only place you can
buy certain products. The issue of "hobby only"
products is covered in greater detail in the
advanced
collectors tips section. One possible drawback of buying
from the hobby store is that they may not always be the lowest price
in town. All things considered, the unique benefits the hobby
store provides, should easily offset this factor.
Large Retail Chain Stores
The major retail stores can be a good source for new sports card
product. These stores have the buying power to purchase larger
quantities than most of the smaller hobby shops. This usually
gives the larger stores a slight pricing advantage over the smaller stores.
While the chain stores may sell new sports card product, they don't
sell individual cards and
provide very little help or assistance to the collector. The
chain store employees usually can't answer your collecting
questions, help you price your cards or provide any of the unique
customer services that the local card store specializes in.
So, should I buy my cards from a
large chain store? When it makes good sense, absolutely.
Just be sure you know what services you can expect and not expect
when shopping there. Even if you buy some of your cards from
the larger retailers, it is still important to find a sports card
store that can provide the services not available at the chain
stores.
Additional
information regarding "retail" and "hobby"
product can be found in the
advanced
collectors tips section.
Card Shows
Card shows are another good source to purchase your sports
cards. Many of the dealers at card shows are collectors just
like yourself and you'll often find your local card store owner
selling there too! Depending on the size of the show, there
may be hundreds of dealers offering 1000's of different single cards
and other collectibles. A card show can be a good place to
find some bargain prices or that hard to find card that you have
been searching for. Many of the card show dealers will also
buy your cards if and when you are looking to sell. The
biggest problem I see that is associated with buying at card shows
is the fact that you may never see that dealer again. This may
not be a problem if you're a smart shopper. Just be sure to
inspect your cards or merchandise before making your purchase.
A good tip when shopping at shows is to carry a price guide with
you. A current Beckett guide or Tuff Stuff magazine will allow
you to verify the price of the cards you want to buy. This
gives you some assurance that you're getting a fair deal.
Remember, while there are many trustworthy card show dealers in
business today, it only takes one dishonest guy to ruin your day.
On-Line Stores
Shopping on-line can be a great source to buy your cards and
collectibles. I look at shopping on-line just as I do shopping
at card shows. In this case, there are 1000's of dealers
selling millions of cards. The world's biggest card
show! The advantages are endless. You can literally find
any card you want to buy somewhere on the internet. The
problems are also very similar to the card shows. Just like
the shows, you'll occasionally find a dishonest dealer who will take
advantage of a collector. But don't let this discourage you
from shopping on-line. Start by surfing as many web sites as
you can and gathering information. A great place to start is
the Beckett.com
Dealer Marketplace. 100's of reputable dealers have
partnered with Beckett.com to list millions of cards for sale to
collectors worldwide. Beckett screens and monitors these
stores (Cheap Seats Sports Cards included) to be sure they are
handling all the transactions satisfactorily. Beckett also
handles all the financial transactions to insure each order is done
securely and safely. Having a company with an excellent
reputation like Beckett provide such a unique and exciting service
is priceless to many collectors. To date, we've sold cards to
collectors from every state in the United States and from at least
10 foreign countries. Without the internet and the Beckett.com
Dealer Marketplace, this
would not have been possible.
If you decide to buy from dealers
outside of the Beckett.com Marketplace, just use caution and do as
much research as possible before buying. Then, when you've made
your decision, start with a small order until you are confident that
the dealer is well intentioned and trust worthy. Wherever
possible, pay the small additional fees for postal insurance.
It's worth the extra couple of pennies to get the backing of the
U.S. Postal Service. Also, use your credit card when
possible. This may sound like bad advice on the surface, but
keep in mind that your credit card company will go to bat for you if
you have any disputes with the dealer. Just be sure you are
using a secure web site to send the credit card information.
Phoning or faxing your credit card information is also a very secure
method of getting the card information to the dealer. But, without
hesitation, use the web as a place to locate cards, as a resource of collecting information and
you may just find a great dealer whom you can establish a good
business relationship with. Click here for additional internet collecting
resources - Collecting Tips - Resources.
On-Line Auctions
There are several on-line auction services on the web
today. Services like the Beckett.com
Auctions, eBay
and Yahoo
are just a few of the 100's of auction sites you can find on the web.
These sites offer services very similar to the on-line card
dealers. The major difference between the two is that you may
be buying from another collector and not a reputable dealer.
While many store dealers do use these auction services to sell their
cards, many of the sellers are collectors like yourself. An on-line
auction is a very inexpensive place for a collector to post a card
for sale. Because of this fact, the chance of having problems
increases. Complaints of not receiving items or receiving the wrong
item are common. The auction services monitor
the bidding activity and try to weed out the dishonest or lazy
participants, but this is not fool-proof. Each of the services
will provide a feedback rating for a bidder or buyer. This
rating will let you review the participant's buying or selling
history and any complaints that were posted about one of their
transactions.
On-line auctions can be a excellent
source to buy or sell your sports cards, but if you decide to use
them, follow these simple rules:
- Always review the feedback rating
of the seller before bidding on their item and only deal with
sellers that have a proven track record
- Read the auction site's rules
before participating
- Never bid on something you don't
intend on paying for
- Treat a seller or buyer like you
would want them to treat you - prompt payment, prompt shipping,
courteous response, etc.
ThePit.com
A new Internet site was recently launched called thePit.com.
This site is intended to mimic the stock market complete with a
current price ticker tape. On the surface, the concept of this
site is very interesting and may turnout to be a revolutionary
method to buy and sell our sports cards. The system works just
like the actual stock market. If you want to buy a specific
card, you pay the market rate. As more people buy the same
card, the price will theoretically rise. If you wish to sell
your card, you list it for sale. As more people opt to sell
the same card, theoretically the price will drop.
ThePit.com
does charge certain fees for the service and
Topps has recently
purchased the web site from the initial developers.
ThePit.com is at least an interesting
place to visit and can also be a valuable resource for current
pricing information. My tip to collectors is visit the site,
read the rules and policies and stay on the sidelines until you both
are comfortable and understand the system. Then if you feel
this service is for you, give it a try. I'm reviewing how this
service can help our customers and our business as we speak.
TV Shopping Shows
Here's the best tip of the day - Buyer Beware!!!! If you
want to buy sports cards or collectibles from any of the home
shopping networks, you really need to be a sports card expert to
protect yourself. Every week, someone will come into the store
telling me their nightmare story about buying something from a TV
shopping network. Now, I'm not trying to say that you can't
find an occasional good deal on TV, but I am saying that I have
never seen anything on any home shopping
show that I ran to the phone and said that's an unbelievable deal -
I want it! If you listen to the hosts of these shows, every
single offer they make is the most unbelievable deal
on the face of the earth. This is simply false advertising and
misleading to the viewers. Another tactic to be aware of is
the old "this offer MAY contain a Gem Mint-10 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card". Well the fact of the matter, 999
out of 1,000 times it WON'T contain the card. I
could go on discussing the deceiving tactics of these salesmen, but
I won't. I will only tell you, if I tried to use these tactics
in my store, not only wouldn't I be able to sleep at nights, but my
customers would simply stop buying from me. In a nutshell, I recommend not buying
from these networks. I
also know that regardless of what I say, you may still be convinced
that one of the offers is a great deal. I simply suggest to
listen to exactly what they state and buy with extreme
caution. Don't assume anything regardless of what they are
showing on the screen.
Collector to Collector
Trading your cards to another collector is what this hobby is
all about. I encourage you to find collectors in your
community and see how you can help each other. There is no
better way to enhance your collection than collector to collector
trading. How do you meet other collectors? Ask your
local hobby shop, visit the local card shows, surf the web or talk
to your friends. All the same rules mentioned in the above
sections still apply when dealing with your fellow collectors.
You need to be careful to be sure your trade or purchase is fair and
honest. But when dealing with friends, this is much easier
than when dealing with strangers. Also, ask your local card
store if they are a "Topps Trading Center". Stores
across the country hold trading nights on select Wednesdays each
month so collectors can trade with each other (as well as with the
store). This is a great chance to meet new collectors and get
the cards you want or need for your personal collection.
Back to Top
How do I protect my cards?
This is a very important question for all
collectors. Why should you be concerned about protecting your
cards? Because the condition of your cards will determine
their value. Whether it's the trade value to a fellow
collector, the selling value to your sports card store or the total value
of your personal collection, the better condition a card is kept,
the higher value it will have. So, if I get any point across to the
new collectors today, the point is simply to keep your cards in the
best condition possible by protecting them with card holders and
sleeves. Here's an example. A man comes into our store
and asks me what his 1990 Leaf Sammy Sosa rookie card is
worth. After examining his card and seeing it is in near mint
condition, I tell him that the book value is $80. The next
day, a young collector comes into the store with the same card and
asks me what his card is worth. After examining the condition
of the card, I notice it has a small crease and a dinged
corner. I tell him that because of it's condition, the card is
only worth around $15. Unfortunately, no collector will buy
his card for $80 when they have the opportunity to buy one in better
condition for the same price. This example holds true for
trading also. If you were trying to trade for a Sosa rookie,
what customer would you trade with?
OK, now how do I protect my
cards? Every card shop will sell a variety of very inexpensive
collecting supplies that will help you protect your cards.
Card sleeves, also called "penny sleeves" because you can
usually buy 100 of them for around a dollar, are a must for all
collectors. At a very minimum, your select cards should be
placed in penny sleeves. Hard plastic cases also known as
"toploaders" will provide additional protection for your
better cards. We recommend placing your better cards in a
penny sleeve first then into a toploader for maximum
protection. The penny sleeve will prevent scratching the card
surface and will protect the card from the possible negative effects
(long-term deterioration) of the plastic toploader. You should
never put a card into a toploader without a "penny sleeve". There are many other methods of
protecting your cards which include 9-pocket pages and binders,
snap-tites, screwdowns and cardboard card boxes. Take some
time to visit your card store and see what supplies they carry and
the prices of each. The store employees will gladly explain
when and how to use each of the different types of holders. If
you decide to start collecting other collectibles like autographed
baseballs or photos, the same rules apply to them. Keep them
in good condition by placing them in some type of holder or case as
soon as possible.
Additional information regarding all
types of card protectors and holders can be found at the Ultra-Pro
web site by clicking this link. Ultra-Pro is the leading brand
of sports card collecting supplies on the market today.
Back to Top
How much are my cards worth?
Before I can answer this question, I must check to see
what condition the cards are in. If you haven't done so
already, please review the "How
do I protect my cards" section listed above.
OK, let's assume you ask me this question and I know your cards are in mint
condition. I will now refer to a price guide to determine how much
your cards are worth. Each card must be looked up individually to
determine their values. Since we look up cards on a daily basis, the
card shop staff can sometimes give you a "ballpark" estimate by looking at a
group of cards. In our store, we sell and use 3 different price
guides. The Beckett monthly price guides are the bibles of the sports
card industry. Beckett
publishes these monthly price guides for each of the major
sports. These monthly guides, list prices for all of the
current year cards and a cross-section of the previous year cards.
Beckett also publishes a quarterly price guide titled "Baseball Card Plus"
(or Football, Basketball, Hockey Plus). These quarterly price guides include
listings of all the previous year cards and a photo of most cards and insert
sets. Also available is another well-known price guide, Tuff Stuff
magazine. Tuff Stuff has fewer cards
listed but include all the major sports in one guide. Using a
Tuff Stuff price guide published by Krause
Publications, is a good choice for the new or young collector. OK,
now what does the price guide tell me? After you locate your
card in the price guide, the guide will usually indicate 2 specific
prices, a high book value and a low book value. The high book
value will indicate the "retail" price of a card in mint
(out of the pack) condition. The low book value will list the
price of a card that has a minor flaw or problem. Remember
what I said about the importance of keeping your cards in mint
condition. This low book price is typically half of what the
high book value is. If you are new to collecting cards,
"booking" cards (looking up their value in the price
guides) will seem difficult at first. After a bit of practice,
this will get easier and easier. If you can't find a card in
the price guides by yourself, drop in to your local card shop and
they'll be more than glad to help you out. Sometimes you may have
a card that is not listed in the Beckett yet. This usually
happens when it is a new release. Beckett can only list the
prices so fast but almost certainly will add the card to next
month's issue. Occasionally, you'll find a card or set that is no
longer listed in the Beckett monthly price guides. These sets
are usually lesser known or special sets that have been moved from
the monthly guides to the quarterly or annual guides. Any sports card store
worth his weight in bubble gum, will have the quarterly and annual price guides
for each sport available for their customers to review. These
annuals, which both Beckett and Krause publish, cost between $10 and
$30 each and are also available for collector's to purchase..
Each of them have an unbelievable amount of card pricing and
information in them. If you haven't seen these quarterly or annual price
guides yet, stop in a card shop and ask the staff to look them
over. These annuals are the best place to find the value on
your odd-ball sets and cards. While the
price guides will give us the "retail" price of our cards,
the actual market conditions will dictate what the selling price of
each card is. Here's what we do in our store. If a card
has a high book value of $10, we would normally sell that card in
our store for $7.50. That's a 25% discount off the price guide
high book value. Now, if the card is of a very promising
rookie or an extremely hot player, we may price that card at the
high book value of $10. This is done because of the customer demand
for that player. If a player is hot, we will have a difficult
time buying his cards because everyone wants them. On the
other hand, if the card is of a player that is in a bad slump, we
may price the same card at $5. Our customers aren't really
looking to buy these cards, so we're forced to lower the
price. This should give you an idea of how we use the price
guides to price our cards. The
same guidelines apply when we purchase that card from one of our
customers. We would normally offer between $2 and $5 to
purchase that same $10 card if you offered to sell it to our store.
Remember, for us to stay in business, I need to make a profit so we
can pay our bills and afford to buy more cards. As I mentioned
above, I will normally price that card at $7.50. I now hope to
sell it to make a profit of $2.50. Let's now say that the
player is hot and I can sell him for the high book value of
$10. I can now afford to perhaps pay you $6 for the card since
I have less risk and stand to make a slightly higher profit.
If the player is cold or in a slump, I may only be able to offer you
$2 or $3 because I will have to sell the card at a lower price.
The prices of these hot and cold cards will be adjusted in next month's
price guides. I
used these examples as a way to try and explain a simple version of
the law or supply and demand to you. I hope this gives you a
basic idea on how the market will work if and when you want to sell
your cards. Remember, the primary reason that a sports card is
collectible is that it has value. To maintain it's value, you
must be able to sell it or trade it for something that has
value. The market, the card's condition and the player will
determine each card's value at the time you wish to sell it.
Back to Top
How
and where can I trade my cards?
As far as trading goes, the best place to start is your local
card shop. Many of them are Topps Trading Centers and will
steer you in the right direction on how and when to trade your
cards. Also, don't forget what I mentioned above about trading
with other collectors and friends. Trading with fellow
collectors is really the main reason the sports cards hobby is so
popular and has been so popular for so many years. Your card
shop should be able to introduce you to other collectors of the same
interest. Don't hesitate to ask them to do so. Additional
information for new collectors and parents of collectors can be
found at:
Back to Top
|
