Is collecting sports cards a good investment?

By Eliud Alano February 05, 2023 20:23

Sports card collecting has been a beloved hobby for many years, but it has recently hit the mainstream of investing. With the booming market and sales and domination headlines, sports card collecting is increasingly getting attention from people who want to know if it is a good investment. For a slightly deeper dive on Set-Value

Trending the Sports Card Area

Wow, how times have changed; fast-forward to today, and the sports card market is BOOMING! Trading card sales were surging +142% for the US eBay alone, and this rapid growth has encouraged some modern portfolio investors to pour AUM into what is now a very considered space.

Sports Cards Investment Pros

1. Potential for High Returns

One or two sports cards are a highway to willing substantial ROI. A couple, like the 1952 Mickey Mantle newbie card sold at closeout this year for over $5.2 million or Michael Jordan's game-worn pullover fix from 1997–98, which just brought in more than $2.7M dollars, themselves are extraordinary power-examples. Yet they show exactly how much upside stays inside the current trading of sports cards across various products and categories, too, which is noticeably profitable to these events as well.

2. A Unique Investment Portfolio

A few buy sports cards as a trendy and useful hobby for their investment fund. The remainder of your investments should be in traditional asset classes, such as stocks and bonds, but the addition of a small percentage may enhance long-term returns.")

3. Passion-Driven Investment

The marriage of your financial situation with an attraction to sports cards for most might be one form or another. Collectible cards are the perfect blend of fun and maybe an investment into your favorite sport or a standout player.

Tips on Sports Card Investing

These are some best practices you need to abide by if you want a good shot at your success in the sports card investing community

1. Establish a Budget

Before getting started with sports card investing, the first topic to cover is how much you are willing to invest. Keep a budget that is financially possible for you.

2. Research the Market

Stay Current with Industry News, Trends, and Market Influences. Read up on industry news, trends, and the goings-on at The National Sports Collectors Convention if you can't attend in person.

3. Create an Investment Strategy

There are multiple strategies to invest in sports cards.

Card flipping - buying cards to sell into profit after a set amount of time.

HODL (Hold On for Dear Life): Keeping cards long-term — typically 10+ years from now to realize your potential profit.

Buy low on players (take cards of your targets or break even).

Choose a plan which you feel is right as per market sense and risk appetite

4. Diversify Your Collection

Avoid Overexposing. Diversify. Buy multiple sports, players, series, and types of sets. The key to managing risk, then, is diversifying your collection of different types of purchases.

5. Quality and Rarity of Cards

Each card has a value attributed based on its state and rarity. On a 1-10 Grading Scale with Top-Grade Companies such as PSA and BAS, some demand is tied to the card Pop Count for rarity detection, putting their values on cards.

6. Timing is Key

Know when to buy and sell. Be up to date with players in all the matches or local/online cups, retirement announcements, and this market trend so that you will not be caught by surprise seeing a card costing more than it should.

Risks and Challenges

Good investment options for sports cards, but be cautious.

Market Volatility: Card values possibly vary according to the current playing form of the player and trends on the market.

Liquidity: Sports cards may be bought and sold quickly if they attract a lot of attention, but other times, the product can sit on a shelf for months.

Authenticity—With the risk of counterfeit cards being passed off as legitimate, there is a great need for them to be authenticated and graded properly.

So, while a rising tide lifts all boats, the boat party could get too big for anyone to wet their feet without someday breaking something rare but not unique.

Sensitivity to wear: Damage is weighted much more heavily vs. other cards in the condition, handle and keep well his card

Conclusion

If you are willing to be patient and wait for a reward — i.e., if it is about long-term returns on investment instead of just having fun collecting sports cards—then know that playing smart naturally opens up various intriguing opportunities. While it provides the opportunity for well-defined monetary returns and portfolio stability(!!), high rewards come with great risks.

If you are a sports fan and enjoy research, perhaps getting involved in the card industry with all its benefits would be best suited to your needs. However, it is important to note that no investment offers guarantees. Like in any investment capacity, only invest what you can afford to lose and consider sports cards as a tiny part of your tax strategy.

Would they be reeling in these fish had the money not been there, or was Brendan closing a gap that his superiors lacked to believe it while Dave Grohl got out of… Those arguments provide an interesting evening congruence between nostalgia, passion, and financial possibility / first.