Are you starting sports cards collecting it’s easy to get overwhelmed or even dive in head-first and buy anything on sight? It’s not a bad idea to be excited, but if you make some mistakes, you could get yourself into some huge dent in your wallet.
In this article, you learn several mistakes you can avoid as a first-time card collector.
Collecting everything
When getting into this hobby, you need to know what you’d want to collect. There’s a vast variety of sports cards sets that you can choose from. For instance, you’ve over 30 products from football alone. Wisdom is you narrow your collection to a specific niche. Think of collecting cards of your favorite player, rookies only, only veterans, or you can choose to build sets. Whatever choice you make, it’s up to you; there’s no wrong answer. You have a limited budget, and therefore you can’t be too broad; you can only afford to collect on a few and then broaden your scope with time.
Assuming you’ll make money quick
This is pretty common with new collectors joining the hobby. Everyone thinks they’ll hop in and begin flipping the cards for huge returns. This is largely due to some influence by some successful entrepreneurs who share success stories on card collections. There has been talking on comparing sports cards collection to trading on the stock market. While cards’ flipping is a thing, and you can make money in the card’s community, it’s not as easy as some influencers would want you to believe. Card pricing takes a while before fluctuating. It’s fun as a side hustle, but if your primary goal of joining the hobby is to make money, you may end up frustrated when your dream doesn’t come to be.
Buying only retail
Resisting the urge to get to your local Wal-Mart and buy blaster boxes can be tricky. You may opt to purchase retail over the hobby, but the hobby boxes are often a better option. The odds are better in this type than in any other. Retail is also limited on the sets you can choose, although there are exclusive retail cards. Therefore if you still insist on finding specific cards in packs, retail is the preferred option. Get the singles you want on eBay instead of blowing money on blasters.
Dealing with rogue companies
Dealing with authentic cards has so many benefits. The first one is that the card is protected and its condition documented by a third party. When you buy a graded card, you’re sure of the condition it will come in, unlike a raw one.
Impulse buying
Planning is the one thing that you must always do when it comes to collecting. You may be a victim of impulse buying, and of course, you know how bad it can be. Card collection is an expensive hobby, and therefore you need to practice impulse control. That will give you ample time to complete the collection you need.
Getting sucked into auctions or blowing money on blasters will only leave you punctured. Plan your purchases. Don’t be overambitious but desire to grow from small and authentic cards as you focus on the big shots.