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If you’ve been in the card collection scene long enough, you probably know that certain cards sell for thousands of dollars a piece.
Some sports cards can get you a wad of cash, depending on their condition, print edition and rarity. So, whether you’re looking to thin out your collection or simply make money, selling football cards is always a good idea.
Once you’ve had your sports cards graded, it’s important to know which marketplace will fetch the best value for such cards. Fortunately, there are several such trading circles online and offline where you can sell sports cards for a decent chunk of change.
Let’s take a look at the best places where you can auction or sell sports card collections. Also included in this guide is an overview of finding the true value of a football card, so scroll away to learn it all!
7 Places To Sell Football Cards For A Profit
1. eBay
Auctioning sports cards off on eBay is one of the most popular ways of selling sports cards of any genre, not just football.
The site allows you to choose between auction-style and fixed price listings, giving you plenty of flexibility on how you make money through the sale. Moreover, the listing fees are free for the first 200 listings you create.
After the card has been sold, the processing time for payouts is relatively low. So, you can expect your pay from eBay relatively soon.
eBay is a website trusted by many for putting sports cards up for sale. And by keeping your prices realistic and relative to similar sports cards auctioned in the past, you can maximize the profits earned in the sale.
Moreover, once you’ve had your football card graded, consider taking a high-resolution picture of the card and uploading it to the listing. This will give the buyer a good idea of the condition of the card, as well as its legitimacy.
And lastly, choose whether you would like the buyer to pay for the shipping or if you would do so. If you want the buyer to pay for the shipping, then you will be required to include the shipping charges in the product listing as well.
2. Beckett
Beckett is a well-known online marketplace for trading cards and sports memorabilia, allowing buyers to find specific sports cards. And through its pricing guides and selling price tracker, the website can make the selling process simple for sellers as well.
Suffice to say, the site makes it so that your football card reaches as many eyes as possible. And before long, your card will have a prospective buyer.
Beckett does require a membership to access the specific tools that allow selling on the website. These membership-specific tools include a real-time price guide, selling price tracker, trading platform, collection organization, and wish list creation.
While the membership fee isn’t particularly expensive, being limited to $6.99 per month, it can be a deterrent for individual collectors and first-time sellers.
3. Blowout
Blowout forums are home to dedicated card collectors of various sports, including football. And while it isn’t a formal marketplace, you can connect to ethical and honest traders on the forums.
The website features a “Wanted” list that has listings from other users that gives you an idea of what sports cards are in demand. Once you find a prospective buyer looking for the card you’re about to sell, you can contact them privately.
With feedback from other users, finding buyers or prospective sellers is made easy on the Blowout forums. The only catch with these is that the forum only allows the sale of extremely rare sports cards or card sets that haven’t been opened yet. Otherwise, the listing may not be seen at all.
So, if you have an extremely rare football card that can fetch an extraordinarily high value, Blowout forums can be the way to go.
4. COMC
COMC, also known as Check Out My Collectibles, is a sports card, trading card, and collectible-trading platform that supports the sale of individual sports cards.
As the seller, you can use the platform as an online consignment store, with COMC advertising and shipping the card to the buyer. Each sale will incur a processing fee ranging from 50 cents to $2 and take up to 16 weeks to process completely. And you can receive the payment through store credit, PayPal, or check.
Note that if you’re looking to sell your sports cards in complete sets or unopened card packs, you may have to look elsewhere. COMC doesn’t support the sales of such cards.
5. Card Shows
If card collection communities in your city or state host card shows, they can be a great way of connecting with potential buyers. The buyers can inspect your trading cards in person, getting a better understanding of what they will be purchasing. Moreover, there are no restrictions to the cards that can be sold, meaning that you can sell individual cards or complete sets at card shows.
A benefit of selling through card shows is that you don’t have to pay a fraction of your earnings as platform or processing fees. The only payment you need to make to access a card show is the ticket or the entrance pass, neither of which costs much.
You can track card shows in your city or state by visiting local card shops or visiting the card collection community website.
6. Dave & Adam’s
Dave & Adam’s is an online card trading platform that facilitates the sale of modern and vintage sports cards. As the seller, you can sell cards of both the sports and non-sports variety in sealed packs or complete sets. Individual trading cards can also be sold, no matter the card type.
The selling restrictions are on the declared prices of the football cards. For example, modern cards should either be worth at least $50 or come with a grade from a professional grading service.
Sellers can ship their collections through FedEx or UPS, and once the shipment arrives at the buyer’s doorstep, they receive their payment within two days. And should the sale value exceed $500, the seller receives a $25 gift card from Dave & Adam’s.
You can receive your payment through PayPal, store credit, or check.
7. Facebook Marketplaces And Groups
Facebook is a massive platform that can help you connect to buyers far away through its Marketplace feature. There is virtually no restriction to the kind of sports cards you can sell on Facebook Marketplace.
Marketplace does demand a selling fee that amounts to 5% per shipment. And while this is lower than many other platforms, it’s still a decent amount of money if your card is particularly valuable.
Another way to use Facebook as a place to sell sports cards online is to join football card-collection groups. You can contact specific buyers directly and agree upon sales terms privately. After this, you can ship the product according to the agreed-upon terms without having to pay the selling fees or face a reduced payout.
However, there is a catch to selling your football card through a Facebook group. Payment scams are more likely to occur when dealing with such groups, as Facebook groups are largely regulated by the members. So, you must exercise caution when dealing with valuable football or baseball cards.
Finding Out The Right Sale Value Of Your Football Cards
Doing a little research on the true sale value of your football cards is always for the best. After all, you wouldn’t want to sell a card for a fraction of what it’s worth.
There are a fair few ways to find the right value for your football cards, and most of them require no monetary investment. And the best way to do so is to check previous online auction lists.
You can visit the recently sold section of a site like eBay and look up the amount that a card was sold for. If you own the same card, then looking at the final auction bid can help you price the card accordingly. Of course, the price will vary based on the card condition, grade, rarity, and so on.
Alternatively, you can use tools like the Auction Prices Tool offered by PSA, the card grading service. You can type in the name of a football player card into the search field, which will yield all the relevant sales data. The site can sort its data by card grade, most recent price, and average price, which can help you price your card accordingly.
Final Words
Card trading has seen a massive uptick in the past few years, and football cards are no different. And as the number of collectors willing to buy or sell football cards increases, so does the importance of a good marketplace.
There was a time when the only way to trade rare cards was in-person, with online marketplaces being quite limited. But now, you have plenty to choose from, with each marketplace bringing a unique aspect to the sale of football cards. Platforms like eBay and Beckett are some of the safest picks for trading rare and valuable cards.
Remember that each marketplace abides by a different ruleset, so be sure to double-check the rules before creating a listing.
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