Making money with sports cards is exciting, exhilarating…and nervewracking.
You’re probably worried about:
How much money you need to start
How to know when to buy/sell
Which types of cards to invest in (among literally tens of thousands)
Which players to invest in
I can’t answer all of that here in a single newsletter, but I want to give you my actual checklist that I use to find cards to buy for flipping.
Flipping Checklist
While there are plenty of ways to make money, I have an “ideal” process that a perfect card purchase follows.
The main strategy is this:
I buy raw cards for players that I think will go up in value. My ultimate goal is to send that card in to get graded. If I receive the card and I doubt it’s going to get a PSA 10, then at least I’ve got a card that I think will still increase in value significantly.
If it does gem (grade a 10), I make big profit.
Here’s my checklist:
1. Identify players primed to increase in value.
That’s a massive topic by itself! A few easy rules of thumb:
Don’t buy when hype is strong, and everyone is talking about them.
Don’t buy a player expecting an “awards bump.”
Don’t buy recently released players.
Don’t buy mid-career or later non-superstars.
Do buy players in the offseason.
Do buy players who are slumping, but there are legitimate reasons for a bounce-back.
I use Card Ladder to check that I’m buying at a low point. I also like to see they’ve hit semi-recent highs that would result in good profit.
2. Find popular / high quality cards of that player
In other words, I want cards that are liquid. Go for popular parallels, inserts, autos, and numbered cards from popular sets. I try to stay away from base, but there’s still money to be made there as long PSA 10s hold good value.
3. Check the “gem rate” of the card
In other words, what percentage of the time does that exact card grade out as a PSA 10 when submitted? Some sets are prone to bad grades, others to good ones.
Use gemrate.com and their Universal Search to check this out in seconds. I like to see 50% or higher.
4. Ensure PSA 10s are worth it
I like to go to Card Ladder or eBay to see values for raw, PSA 9, and PSA 10. I want to buy a card that will at least double my investment if it comes out as a PSA 10, but I also won’t get hosed if it’s a PSA 9.
5. Buy a clean copy
Honestly, it’s tricky to find super clean copies of cards on eBay because pictures aren’t always great. It’s worth spending more on a card with good pictures.
Worst case, you get the card, wait for a spike, and sell raw.
6. Grade the card
If you get the card and it’s in great condition, send off to PSA. If you’ve chosen well, the card will increase two ways:
The player rises in value naturally due to strong play or season hype.
The card grades a 10.
That’s the quick-and-dirty checklist for how I grade cards! Each of those points could have a whole book written about it.
If you’re looking for more info about getting started flipping, check out my well-reviewed book, Cards to Cash, on Amazon.
(Or, if you have any quick questions about flipping cards, hit reply to this email and ask!)
