Do You Think Card Trading Will Ever Be Like It Used To?

[nowicki2013]

Do You Think Card Trading Will Ever Be Like It Used To? It seems like the value of cards is going down every year. I had a lot of cards I was going to take to the store to sell and I really couldn't get any money for them. The value of cards is only as much as someone is willing to pay for them. I don't think buying, selling, and trading cards is hardly as popular as it used to be. Do you guys think it will ever make a comeback?

 

[camaropat]

Selling is hard to do with older stuff now. either it vintage and expensive or its wax junk and worthless. Its a high end adult hobby now-a-days, not too many kids get into it with all the autos, relics, and parallel chases they don't have the money, time, or attention span, LOL!

 

[racinghy]

I think, from my opinion, that it will take a long time for the semi-old cards(like mid 70's to the 90's) to gain some value as they were made in mass quantities. With today's cards, they have made different parallels of the cards, yet some brands(not mentioning names) have made them out of like #/2013 or #/5000 when other companies are doing their cards at like #/500, maybe a little higher. It is defiantly hard to say, but they will get to be more popular if they did a bit more advertising saying they have a chance at finding so-and-so's autograph, game used jersey, etc. on the radio or TV to attract more of the younger generation into this fun hobby!

 

[racinghy]

Selling is hard to do with older stuff now. either it vintage and expensive or its wax junk and worthless. Its a high end adult hobby now-a-days, not too many kids get into it with all the autos, relics, and parallel chases they don't have the money, time, or attention span, LOL!

Attention span problems?! I don't know what you might be talking about.....

 

[Zahadum]

IMO Once a hobby where folks traded or gave cards to help out others complete sets and such without asking for anything in return becomes a hobby for investment and all about $$ it crumbles. Like comics, classic cars, stamps, etc have done. Not saying they do not evolve or adjust but most of the time it turns into a more exclusive club as $$ dictates more than anything else.

 

[ranbethscards]

Trading isn't as simple as it use to be. You use to trade at BV to BV... now it has become SV to SV. The hobby IS NOT about collecting anymore, it is about the $$$.

Don't get me wrong about trading SV to SV. I know it's very hard to trade away a Dale Jr. Firesuit that has a BV of $40.00 for a Juan Pablo Montoya Firesuit with the same BV. The Dale Jr will SELL at $20-$30, while the JPM will sell at $5-$10... and you usually have to throw in a handful of JPM base/inserts cards too!

Selling to another collector is smarter, and sometimes easier, than trying to sell to the local card shop. Our local shop will check eBay to see if "like" cards are selling... and then, at best, they will offer 10 to 15 percent. I can remember going to the LCS and they would look up the current BV and offer 30 percent.

I still have "friends" that will send me my wants... and I will end them their wants... without asking for anything in return... but those days are becoming more and more far-and-in-between.

 

[warre]

Do You Think Card Trading Will Ever Be Like It Used To? It seems like the value of cards is going down every year. I had a lot of cards I was going to take to the store to sell and I really couldn't get any money for them. The value of cards is only as much as someone is willing to pay for them. I don't think buying, selling, and trading cards is hardly as popular as it used to be. Do you guys think it will ever make a comeback?

Trading isn't as simple as it use to be. You use to trade at BV to BV... now it has become SV to SV. The hobby IS NOT about collecting anymore, it is about the $$$.

Don't get me wrong about trading SV to SV. I know it's very hard to trade away a Dale Jr. Firesuit that has a BV of $40.00 for a Juan Pablo Montoya Firesuit with the same BV. The Dale Jr will SELL at $20-$30, while the JPM will sell at $5-$10... and you usually have to throw in a handful of JPM base/inserts cards too!

Selling to another collector is smarter, and sometimes easier, than trying to sell to the local card shop. Our local shop will check eBay to see if "like" cards are selling... and then, at best, they will offer 10 to 15 percent. I can remember going to the LCS and they would look up the current BV and offer 30 percent.

I still have "friends" that will send me my wants... and I will end them their wants... without asking for anything in return... but those days are becoming more and more far-and-in-between.

Trading isn't as simple as it use to be. You use to trade at BV to BV... now it has become SV to SV. The hobby IS NOT about collecting anymore, it is about the $$$.

Don't get me wrong about trading SV to SV. I know it's very hard to trade away a Dale Jr. Firesuit that has a BV of $40.00 for a Juan Pablo Montoya Firesuit with the same BV. The Dale Jr will SELL at $20-$30, while the JPM will sell at $5-$10... and you usually have to throw in a handful of JPM base/inserts cards too!

Selling to another collector is smarter, and sometimes easier, than trying to sell to the local card shop. Our local shop will check eBay to see if "like" cards are selling... and then, at best, they will offer 10 to 15 percent. I can remember going to the LCS and they would look up the current BV and offer 30 percent.

I still have "friends" that will send me my wants... and I will end them their wants... without asking for anything in return... but those days are becoming more and more far-and-in-between.

Do You Think Card Trading Will Ever Be Like It Used To? It seems like the value of cards is going down every year. I had a lot of cards I was going to take to the store to sell and I really couldn't get any money for them. The value of cards is only as much as someone is willing to pay for them. I don't think buying, selling, and trading cards is hardly as popular as it used to be. Do you guys think it will ever make a comeback?

 

[warre]

I don't know, they still print alot of cards sets, dropoff in people collecting, the autograph card has helped alot, but if you look at the thing the right sort of ways just buy the stuff you think will do well longterm and who cares about the rest, because they are not going to shortprint products to make those rookie cards and autographs worth a gazillion dollars, they don't care about speculators at all for anything and hope to make a billion dollars a year.

 

[chase88]

I hope it comes back like it was when I was a kid. I admittedly didn't do much trading with my friends, but never passed up a good opportunity to get a card I was looking for. I just don't see where card collecting and trading will ever be as popular as it was 10-15 years ago. I come across my collection every once in a while and wonder what it might be worth.

I have never tried to sell my collection just because I really doubt it is worth anything. Plus I would be afraid if I was offered a decent amount that I would accept it. Part of me just wants to hold into it because that is my childhood and I remember how fun it was to collect them all and talk about them at school. I hope my kids will one day find card collecting as a fun hobby!

 

[IQless1]

I have never tried to sell my collection just because I really doubt it is worth anything.

I hear that! There have been a few times I thought, and said, the same thing.

Plus I would be afraid if I was offered a decent amount that I would accept it.

Depends on what we think "decent" is, $$$-wise. If you're like me, you know you wouldn't get anything near what the actual value is...maybe 10 to 20% (or less). That said, it's a tough call sometimes, especially when $$$ is tight, or non-existent, and you have a need this or that.

Eh, I'm inclined to keep mine, for that reason alone, but another good reason to hold on to 'em is handing it off to someone in the family later in life. My kid isn't into cards, but maybe he'll have kids of his own someday, and he can give 'em to them, if I'm not around to do it myself. I basically told them to do just that, that if something happens to me, don't bother trying to sell 'em, unless they really really really need the $$$...and I warned them they likely were not going to be offered much $$$, in any case.

One final reason to keep them is the historical value, family-wise. When I post images of my cards here, those images are highly likely going to be easy to find, even after decades. Kids, grand-kids, nieces, nephews, etc. will very likely be able to find images of the card I once had. Better yet, if they have the card themselves, they can look-it-up and in that way have a connection with me, even hundreds of years from now.

I really really really like that thought.

 

[david]

i was thinking about some of the times that i traded cards many years ago. i can remember that in 1982 i traded a nm/mt 1956 topps mickey mantle for a nm/mt 1967 topps tom seaver rookie. i traded through the mail with a baseball card dealer. i remember that the 1967 seaver card arrived by ups on a day that i had skipped school. i put the card in my dresser drawer and when my mom got home she took the card away from me and said that i would not get it back until she said so. i got the card back about 2 weeks later.

 

[Manny]

I don't think so. I believe the trading card enthusiast is a dying breed. Fewer and fewer children seem to be getting into it compared to when I was young. It's really too bad, but video games seem to have largely replaced other hobbies in youngsters.

 

[Entrepreneur Cure]

I think the newer generations have lost the art of understanding the joy of card collecting. A few of the companies that used to manufacture the cards themselves have found the interest has decreased and a few have folded. I think the art of card collecting is something to be appreciated. I know that I want to get my son into collecting cards, he would appreciate it more when he gets a bit older but it's hard to gain his interest in collecting anything other than these crazy anime cards that will have no value in a few years.