What Should I Do With Old Sports Trading Cards?

[Greybeard]

1 hour ago, BillyWhiteShows said:

 

But you are right.  Everyone knew the monetary value of cards.  Companies made more cards.  People bought more.  As a result supply > demand.  And now I’m faced with getting rid of hundreds cards thank to my wife’s obsession with Marie Kondo

           This happened with every item that became a collectable.   It even happened with Hummel.   I was talking to a lady who was in Germany with her Army husband during the 60's.  When they moved back to the states in the 70's she sold most of her Hummel collection and bought a house with it.   Today Hummel is close to worthless.

[Just Jack]

Find a local storage place that regularly does auctions. Get the smallest/cheapest unit you can and just toss the boxes in there. Get in touch with the auctioneer, and tell them you want to include your unit in the next auction, and will split half of whatever they bring in for it. Make sure the boxes say "valuable, do not throw away" on them. 

 

 

 

If anyone has the Peerless Price Stadium Club #81 card and wants to sell, I'll give you 25 cents for each one, looks like this...

 

 

Edited February 2, 2019 by Just Jack

[KD in CA]

23 hours ago, RaoulDuke79 said:

I remember opening wax packs checking for good cards, then heating up a butter knife and using it to reseal the packs.

 

My brother got busted as a kid opening boxes of Wheaties in the supermarket to get the free baseball cards.  ?

[row_33]

44 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

My brother got busted as a kid opening boxes of Wheaties in the supermarket to get the free baseball cards.  ?

 

He would reach down to the bottom of the box?

 

[KD in CA]

19 minutes ago, row_33 said:

 

He would reach down to the bottom of the box?

 

 

Presumably with his arm.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Step 1: select victim 

step 2: accumulate 100’s of prepaid envelopes from unused bills, etc.

step 3: individually mail cards to a single recipient all at once

step 4: take over the world 

[row_33]

49 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

Presumably with his arm.

 

Hey now

 

any way done would be seen at the grocery store

[KD in CA]

9 minutes ago, row_33 said:

 

Hey now

 

any way done would be seen at the grocery store

 

I don’t think it was a long crime spree before he and his buddy were caught!  ?

[That's No Moon]

The reason the old cards were valuable were because so many fewer were made and so many of those were destroyed either in bicycle spokes or by mother's cleaning attics.  The 80's and 90's they printed millions of cards and everybody kept them.  The only way those cards EVER get more value is if enough people Marie Kondo them.  It's not super likely.  I keep some of mine because I like them and they remind me of my childhood.  I have a handful that are decent cards and a couple boxes of commons.

 

Bottom line, if they don't give you any personal joy then you need to get rid of the commons because they will never bring you any financial gain.  The handful of keepers you have?  Nowadays even those aren't worth squat unless they've been graded.  So unless you are willing to pay to send those cards away for grading then don't bother keeping them either.

[PastaJoe]

A couple of free sites to sell things are Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. My wife has sold stuff we wanted to get rid of on both. Set a reasonable price and see what happens.

[row_33]

8 minutes ago, PastaJoe said:

A couple of free sites to sell things are Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. My wife has sold stuff we wanted to get rid of on both. Set a reasonable price and see what happens.

 

For baseball cards from the 80s and 90s?

 

[Just Joshin']

Donate to goodwill or such and take a tax donation if you itemize.  You get the opportunity to set a reasonable value.

[PastaJoe]

1 hour ago, row_33 said:

 

For baseball cards from the 80s and 90s?

 

Somebody will take them. We sold a broken mirror. It’s free, so why not try.

[May Day 10]

That was when they overproduced cards x10000 and saturated the market.  I see them sold by random packs of 50 at the dollar store.  

 

Give them to a little kid who likes sports.  

[row_33]

1 hour ago, PastaJoe said:

Somebody will take them. We sold a broken mirror. It’s free, so why not try.

 

Broken mirror, si

 

80s baseball cards, non

 

[Nextmanup]

 I don't understand the dilemma here.

 

They aren't worth much as $, but they are are still worth something as trading cards to someone who likes trading cards.

I.E., give them to a child.

 

 

[row_33]

6 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

 I don't understand the dilemma here.

 

They aren't worth much as $, but they are are still worth something as trading cards to someone who likes trading cards.

I.E., give them to a child.

 

 

 

Take them please, COD even....

 

LOL

[dpberr]

I've made some DIY art projects with cards for family members who appreciate the historical look of the cards and they are various players across decades from their favorite teams.  The best one I made was a small laqured table top of Milwaukee Bucks basketball cards from the 90s.  Matched the team color with a paint from that era, with the cards underneath a laquer finish.  You might see the idea around in sports bars.  

 

They call it "decoupage" on the internet.  I call it basketball card table.  Truth be told though, you can make pictures, wall clocks, etc. using the cards and some moderate DIY skill.   

 

They make great handmade gifts for Christmas or projects with your kids, especially if they have a favorite team.  It's a cool way to see the different jerseys, hats, team colors, and even the hair styles over the decades.  

[May Day 10]

28 minutes ago, dpberr said:

I've made some DIY art projects with cards for family members who appreciate the historical look of the cards and they are various players across decades from their favorite teams.  The best one I made was a small laqured table top of Milwaukee Bucks basketball cards from the 90s.  Matched the team color with a paint from that era, with the cards underneath a laquer finish.  You might see the idea around in sports bars.  

 

They call it "decoupage" on the internet.  I call it basketball card table.  Truth be told though, you can make pictures, wall clocks, etc. using the cards and some moderate DIY skill.   

 

They make great handmade gifts for Christmas or projects with your kids, especially if they have a favorite team.  It's a cool way to see the different jerseys, hats, team colors, and even the hair styles over the decades.  

 

This is a good idea.  I have made some things with ticket stubs.  Seems like a great use for sports cards.

[Mark80]

On 2/1/2019 at 6:24 PM, BillyWhiteShows said:

I have boxes of old sports cards.  Most from the mid 80’s to mid 90’s.  Everything from baseball, to football and some basketball too.

 

The thing is a few year ago I looked up the prices of the cards I thought were valuable back in the day and each card was worth like .01.  Not even exaggerating.  An entire box set I had was going for $6.00!   I highly doubt anyone would even want to pay for such low value cards.

 

Sowhat am I supposed to do with old trading cards?  I would love to sell them but it doesn’t seem like there’s any market.  

 

Right now they are collecting dust.  Is the only option to throw them away or sell them for pennies on the dollar?

 

The only ones that are going to be worth anything are the PSA (more reputable) or Beckett graded rookies / errors / rares.  Everything else is junk.  And if its from the 80s/90s it better be graded at least a 9 to be worth anything (most likely a 10).  Since it is expensive to get it graded I wouldn't even try with anything damaged on the corners, off center, or bad print quality.  Most likely, you are sitting on a bunch of junk that should be thrown away, burned, given to youngsters, because it ain't going to be worth squat.  Thats what happens when they print millions of copies of the exact same card.