
July 1, 2020
11 Tips on Trading Sports Cards in 2020 | Tea With GaryVee
Key Takeaways
- Athletes who stay relevant after their career ends usually fetch higher prices
- Since sports are such a huge part of American culture, sports cards are becoming an alternative form of investing
- “You have to be very careful, very educated, there’s a lot to learn” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- The sports card market is just like other markets, it has ups and downs
- “You have to be very careful, very educated, there’s a lot to learn” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- If you want to get your sports cards graded, Gary recommends checking out PSA, BGS, or SGC
- Gary is bullish on UFC and eSports cards
- Grading cards is a skill; if you want to make things easier, buy trading cards raw and sell them raw
- “I think raw to raw is the easiest way to build up slowly” – Gary Vaynerchuk
Intro
- Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and internet personality.
- For a throwback, check out the Podcast Notes from his appearance on The James Altucher Show
Is Ebay Evolving?
- Gary says yes and that the company is paying more attention to trading cards
- “When a certain genre gets serious, they get more detailed and they’re already evolving like the search based on the grading and things of that nature” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- Gary expects StockX to also evolve
- Gary transacts most of his cards on Ebay
- Gary expects StockX to also evolve
- “When a certain genre gets serious, they get more detailed and they’re already evolving like the search based on the grading and things of that nature” – Gary Vaynerchuk
Trading Cards & Grading
- Athletes who stay relevant after their career usually fetch higher prices
- Since sports is such a huge part of American culture, sports cards are becoming an alternative form of investing
- “You have to be very careful, very educated, there’s a lot to learn” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- The sports card market is just like other markets, it has ups and downs
- “You have to be very careful, very educated, there’s a lot to learn” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- If you want to get your sports cards graded, Gary recommends checking out PSA, BGS, or SGC
- Soccer cards are increasingly more popular in Europe
- Basketball cards are starting to gain traction in Europe
- Gary is a huge fan of Pokemon cards
- “I think Pokemon and soccer is a great play if you want to enjoy and try it out” – Gary Vaynerchuk
NBA & Hockey Cards
- “I think the NBA is by far the most popular global league” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- Basketball also has a ton of superheroes (e.g: LeBron James, Stephen Curry)
- “They’re just so much more famous to people” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- Football players wear helmets, baseball players don’t have as much exposure, whereas basketball players are everywhere
- “They’re just so much more famous to people” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- Gary looks at hockey like wrestling; it has a small but passionate following
- “I feel like hockey’s got a tougher road but has a small, incredible passionate community” – Gary Vaynerchuk
Advice For Selling Collections
- There are a ton of places to sell your cards: Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Card forums, StockX, event shows
- There’s always Ebay
- “Ebay’s a very fluid and strong market” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- There’s always Ebay
New Trading Cards
- Gary is bullish on UFC and eSports cards
- “I think UFC and eSports card are gonna be in 20 years, very interesting to debate” – Gary Vaynerchuk
Baseball Players To Watch
- Gary believes Ronald Acuña Jr. has all-star talent
- That Francisco Lindor is underpriced
- He’s a big fan of Juan Soto
- “Those are some of the kids that I think are really interesting” – Gary Vaynerchuk
To Grade Or Not To Grade
- Grading cards is a skill, if you want to make things easier, buy trading cards raw and sell them raw
- “I think raw to raw is the easiest way to build up slowly” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- “You grade when you know it’s worth it for you” – Gary Vaynerchuk
- If you’re just starting out, buy established players
- If you buy rookie cards you’re gambling because you don’t know if the player will get hurt or not
Additional Notes
- When starting a marketing agency, the most important thing is to get clients
- Gary loves the hobby of collecting sports cards; it’s not just an investment for him
- If you want to get better at trading cards, educate yourself
- If you can get your hands on a “weird” card, like a Michael Jordan card before his rookie season, that could be worth a ton of money in the future