The business of sports cards which has been for many years considered to be a fierce competitive industry between buyers-sellers of the cardboard material, in which online sites such as eBay currently house some 25 million registered sellers globally with approximately 350,000 sports cards listed on the site on a daily basis, can seem overwhelming for newcomers who want to get involved. However, there is a sigh of relief which card king Brian Cataquet wants to share with this audience.
I have witnessed newborns who love the history of sports, interested in becoming a seller of sports cards enter this industry with a little money to invest but with no direction or reputability, causing them to give up on their dreams of making a living in it. The question that must be asked to yourself as a new seller entering this field is, how can my product draw attention and stand on its own?
One approach that I take when buying cards to resell is having a keen awareness for the “weird” stuff (cards) that are out there in the market looking to be purchased. Now the “weird” stuff which I often like to label them as, the hobby term would be “oddball”, are for example printing errors on cards mistakenly produced by the card companies that have surfaced to the public. It can be anything weird about a particular card such as misspelled player names on the front or reverse of the card. Many have been produced years ago and are definitely out there. One mainly has to pay attention and look carefully when sorting through cards that are being purchased. Or it can be an error as the card pictured here in which the front of the card pictures the player with his correct name/picture on the front but look at the back of the card. Interestingly, the back of the card has a different player’s name on it. Those types of errors draw attention, increasing your chances of selling your item due to its oddball, weird nature. The thrilling part of all of this is that believe it or not, there are consumers who do love to own weird stuff simply because it’s a unique investment.
One of the most fascinating attributes of this business for me is discovering finds like these through my travels at garage sales, flea markets, tag sales. I have said it before on a couple of my TV segments when asked what determines the value of a sports card. The answer is “rarity”. As a dealer of sports cards, what makes the difference between common and scarcity in a card in my view is a “variation” or as it is commonly referred to in our industry, the “oddball”.
As a seeker for the oddball or weird items especially in sports cards, here’s a secret. Look at the back of the card before you go ahead and buy it. The reason is you may be that lucky person to come across an “oddball” type card which can be valuable and one of a kind. Take for instance the card that is pictured here. The card was purchased by me when receiving a phone call from a fellow dealer who came across a collection of cards which he wanted to part with. Going through the collection of cards I had purchased, I immediately turned to the back of the cards to see if there were any variations. Sure enough there was five of them. This 1970 Topps card pictures player Bill Brown on the front of the card. But when turning the card on its reverse there is a print error or oddity with another football player’s name on the card- Steve DeLong. I instantly scored knowing I had yet another find in my hands to add to my resume of card discoveries. To my knowledge, the five I discovered with these printing mistakes are the only ones known to exist.
So the game of sports cards, like any other investment in life, is hit or miss. It’s sports. It’s fun. If you ask me, the main difference between investing in a trading card versus investing in a stock is that a card is a tangible asset. It can be held in my hands in any decade, which I cannot obviously do with a stock.
The lesson to take from this article is to be knowledgeable and alert in your field of investing. It can make all the difference in the world. Plus, it will put you one step ahead of your competitors who ignore what is right beneath their noses.
