Is it possible to be a profitable collector?

[ThePotcher]

Hey everyone,

I used to be an avid collector but have been out of the hobby for 7-8 years. Recently, I have decided to get back into it and I have 2 very simple questions

1) Is it possible to be a profitable collector and if so, how? Everyone knows that the one true way to make a profit in collecting is to buy vintage and then sit on the card for years and let the card rise in value. However, are there any other ways? For instance, to buy rookie cards of players that have yet to explode onto the scene and then sell once they hit it big? For instance, someone like a Sam Bennett who was a top 5 pick and has sky high potential but has sort of fizzled out of the gate. Or is it possible to make $ on someone like Connor Mcdavid? Even though his prices are already ridiculously high... what if I hypothetically kne that he would be just as good or better than Crosby? Could I buy now and then sell for more later knowing this piece of info? Or have his value already reached its ceiling in the marketplace?

2) Does Beckett give historical prices on their online price guide? i.e) can I see what a Crosby rc was worth in 2005 vs what it is worth today? I'm sure they do, but just wanted to double check

Cheers!

[creasecollector]

I think it is possible, but you need to pick your battles. If you want to make a profit on every card, that will be tough. However, if you periodically buy/sell when I player is hot, or a new rookie hits the scene, then you can make it work, and should makes some small-decent sized profits. Just pick your spots when the secondary market is to your advantage :) May take some time, but you can be profitable. It's not the reason I'm in this hobby, but to each their own I guess.

Also, some late night eBay searching may help too. If you can take advantage of some steals and make some money of cards that way, then that is another option too.

[87sluggo]

For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?


There's no money in hockey. Hot rookies start out high and then sink as the season progresses, to a level they stay flat at. OR, they have horrid sophomore years and your investment goes KA-BLOOEY!! And then before ya know it next season's hot rookies are here and everyone's forgotten last year's guys.

High-grade vintage will always sell but it costs to buy it and the prices in Beckett haven't budged for..........ever?



Every now and then I buy a giant bulk lot and do the work and sell them one by one. Sometimes it pans out, most times it doesn't. I still have a full-time job after all ahhahahaaaaaaaaaaacough.

[RGM81]

For modern players your only real hope is to get a diamond in the rough. Guys like Jamie Benn who arrive on the scene with little fanfare but emerge into elite players. But you have to be willing to play the long game for that kind of thing. Even Carey Price, who started his career full of hype and hobby love managed to hit the next level after Sochi and his epic 14-15 year, but his stuff is starting to trail off in a case of "what have you done for me lately?" With McDavid, the only way his stuff goes up now is if he just starts piling up the goals & assists next year and wins some individual awards, maybe carries the Oilers to the promised land.

Vintage guys is your best bet...high grade Gretzky RC's are going for crazy money right now.

[jim bradt]

In my opinion you have to be lucky. Box breaks now days are hit and miss. If you hit a rare card, 1/1 card, or top rookie , you probably need to sell it while it is a hot item. Personally I only collect what I like. If I hit a really big card and I already have a card of that player I will try and trade it or sell it for another player I need. I only collect game used so that makes it a little easier for me to works out deals.

[thegreatgasby]

best way to make money is with cup rc cards..invest in a solid player ( canadien boy) normaly some rich dude will try to buy every card of 1 player..which will make them hard to come by and increase their price..3 colors crosby are selling for over 30k now --4 colors stamkos over 10k etc ...so if you have lot of cash buy mcdavid cup when they come out...wont be cheap but in the long run the profit will be huge.

Also buying under the radar rc stuff can be profitable..i bought ton of fabbri yg on comc at 1.5 each for a while ..around 140 of them before is playoff run..at those price cant go wrong

[odjickfan]

One way to make money is to break early products like OPC and list everything among the first. The retros and little inserts is where you'll make your money. But it is a lot of work for the little money you'll make.

[Sharky94]

As a collector, you cannot make money because collectors keep what they buy. As an investor, that is a different story...

Making money on sports cards CAN be done, just like in the stock market. But it is easier to make money in the stock market because you don't have to worry about injuries/trades/etc that can derail a career and make your investment worthless. So unless you are extremely lucky or omniscient, you will have a hard time doing it. You will always have people come on and say how they made a fortune on so-and-so when they bought 50 of his "X" rookie cards and sold them for four times what they paid. But those people typically don't tell you about the other 50 rookies they did that for that did not explode, and they lost most of that money.

People who make money on cards are those that sell stuff as soon as it comes out, so that they can reasonably expect to sell off most of what they have. If you only sell the big hits and hold on to 80% of the rest, you will always lose money. If you pick and chose certain players, you had better be real good at telling the future because rookie speculation is also a way to lose a lot of money real fast. 99% of all cards will be worth less the year after they come out. So if you are not smart enough to figure out exactly which cards are part of that 1%, you should avoid investing in cards.

You should treat money spent on cards as disposable income. Don't spend it if you can't lose it.

[pwskelly]

IMO sports cards (and hockey cards in particular) are a horrible investment. As others have said however, if you pick your cards wisely and are disciplined enough as a collector, you could probably scratch out a little profit.

If you want to invest, I'd look towards financial investing.

[piper1]

If profit is one of you motivators I would suggest something other than hockey cards. Do you like gold old money or coins?