When it comes to picking a good item to resell, it’s incredibly important to have a strong grasp of the market so you know which opportunities are most worth your time. Today, trading cards are currently trending as one of the best types of collectibles to resell.
While this niche has always been popular within its market, this opportunity remains as one of the best to pursue today, especially with hit series such as King of Collectibles highlighting the money that can be made in this market.
In this guide, we’ll present a broad overview of the overall trading card market, including which are the best to sell and a step-by-step guide on how to do so.
Understanding the Trading Card market
While you might not be a customer or have any special interest yourself, you may be surprised to hear just how big the trading card market is. For sports cards alone, the market in 2024 is valued at over $12 billion and is expected to grow to over $30 billion by 2031. While sports cards are the most popular and diverse, the trading card market as a whole also includes massive demand for other types like Magic: The Gathering (MTG), Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, so the overall market is even greater than that–perhaps double that previously quoted figure.
Additionally, people spend quite a bit of money on individual cards. It’s not uncommon that single cards go for hundreds or even thousands of dollars–and these sales happen quite often. Most of the time, these cards were purchased for less than they were sold for, making these card trading individuals a profit, or in some cases, a thriving full-time business.
Most of the sales for cards happen on existing platforms, with eBay being one of the largest.
As with most collectibles, you are better off building a good base knowledge before diving into the market head-on - so keep reading to learn all about the trading card market and how you can make money in it.
Why Sell Trading Cards?
Selling trading cards comes with a set of inherent set of qualities that makes the niche particularly favorable for resellers. These qualities include the following:
Wide variety of products
Trading cards come in many forms, and each of these has its own active secondhand market and dedicated fanbase. Top categories include sports, Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and cards that are related to media like Star Wars and Dragon Ball. The most diverse of these categories is sports cards, which are broken down further into sports and different card manufacturers.
All of this diversity presents a huge market of opportunities that can very well overlap with your interests, and the opportunity to hone in and become an expert in a particular niche.
Steady and growing market
One of the hallmarks of a niche that is good to get involved in today is one that has steady current demand and future growth potential.
The aftermarket for trading cards saw a boom during the pandemic, and this interest has remained steady, with many newcomers that continue to provide demand and a forecasted compound annual growth rate of over 7%.
Large profit potential
Due to the vast size of the trading card market, those who develop the expertise to capture even a small piece of the pie can create a business that has the potential to generate a comfortable full-time income.
Additionally, some individual cards are worth hundreds or thousands and can be purchased for far less if you’re lucky enough to score one of these rare cards inside of a pack. You can even buy within the lower range of the market volatility and sell in the higher range with these rare cards to make consistent and large profits.
Easy and cheap to ship
While most high ticket items also have a high shipping cost associated with them due to size or sheer quantity, trading cards are compact and easy to ship, even in large quantities. Their compact nature makes for better profit margins in addition to easy handling and discreet and secure delivery.
Unique money making opportunities
In addition to the highly diverse market for different card categories, dealing with trading cards presents types of money making opportunities that are totally unique to its niche. One example is the fact that any time you buy a pack of cards, which generally only costs a few dollars, you’re essentially entering a lottery where you might have a pack that has a rare card worth many multiples of what the pack cost.
Opening a pack of cards with the hopes of finding a valuable one is known as card breaking, and there’s also a market that is unique to trading cards of livestreaming card breaks. During these streams, participants pay the organizer a profitable amount simply for a chance to score a valuable card by accessing their pack. These streams happen live on popular platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Twitch which also offer an on-platform income source for those who build up an audience there.
What Makes Trading Cards So Valuable?
One of the most valuable skills to have as a card reseller is knowing which cards are valuable and why. While there’s nearly infinite nuance and some subjectivity as to why one card is more valuable than another, here’s a broad overview that covers the most important things that make cards valuable:
Historical significance
Perhaps the most importance factor in the value of a card no matter what its subcategory is its historical significance. Examples on the upper end of the price bracket include a rookie card from a popular NBA player like Lebron James or a First Edition Charizard PSA 10 Pokemon Card, the latter of which has even more historical significance now that Logan Paul is on the record for having paid a large sum of money for.
Type of card
The type of card also dictates how valuable it is. In terms of categories, sports cards have held the most consistently high prices, with NBA and MLB cards coming on top. Additionally, the card manufacturer is important. Topps sports cards generally have the highest value as they were founded in 1938 and have been producing cards since 1951, making them the oldest card brand in existence. Panini sports cards, which was founded in 1961, comes at a close second for market demand and value.
Rarity
As is true with any other market, especially in reselling, the production quantity of a rare and in-demand card will be proportional to its price on the aftermarket. The most valuable cards are one of ones, where only a single card is produced. A recent example of this was the 2023 Magic: The Gathering “One Ring” card. The lucky finder of this card ended up selling this card to Post Malone for an undisclosed amount that is likely in the seven figures.
Limited production cards that are more within reach for the average buyer, are often produced in the tens of thousands, which is still small compared to quantities that some of the most common cards are produced. The market works the exact same way for sneakers–here’s a list of the top limited shoes in 2024 that you can target to resell.
Valuable Errors
Sometimes the most value comes in the form of perfect imperfection, which in trading cards means a recognizable error that translates to a higher market price. Exact errors that have produced value vary, but include cards that were printed crooked, those that are missing a front or back, and cards with interesting spelling errors. Ironically, these cards are almost always worth more than the correct versions which sometimes aren’t even valuable on their own.
4 Steps to Reselling Trading Cards for Profit
Now that you have a broad overview of the card market, including why you should start and how to identify valuable cards, let’s dive in with a step-by-step guide to getting a card reselling business started.
1. Settle on a card niche
Even though the card market is huge and you can make money selling any type of valuable card in any niche, you’re better of picking a single niche and focusing on that. Ideally, you’ll pick a type of card that you already have interest in, but either way you should pick the type that you have the most curiosity about and can thus build the most expertise around.
The most successful card resellers have a clear brand that allows them to build a loyal target audience. By doing this, you’ll have the potential to sell to directly to your audience without having to pay a platform fee or compete with the many other sellers on popular platforms. While sports and Pokemon cards are the most active and present the most opportunity, you can still settle on a more overlooked niche (like vintage Disney cards) that still have a good audience and market opportunity.
2. Find your cards to sell
Once you’ve picked your area of expertise, it’s time to find your cards to sell. Generally speaking, eBay is the best place to find any type of card as it is the largest and most diverse centralized online marketplace for collectibles of all kinds. You can also try your luck finding cards at a normal thrift store or garage sale.
Every major city will likely have a collectible store that sells rare trading cards of all kinds, and the prices and selection can sometimes be better than what you find online.
3. Get your cards professionally graded
No matter which card you have, authenticity is of utmost importance. Ideally, you’ll be dealing with cards that have already been documented to have been professionally graded, but sometimes you’ll be dealing with cards that are lacking any associated record of professional grading.
In order to get your card graded, you need to go to a professional card grading company. The largest one is the company Professional Sports Authenticator, commonly known as PSA. While other grading services exist, PSA grading is known as the gold standard and is especially necessary if you’re dealing with a card that can potentially have a high value.
To get your cards graded with PSA, follow the instructions on their official website, which require you to pay a fee and pack and ship your cards properly for in-person inspection and verification. The scale of the grading is from 1-10, with 10 being the absolute highest quality a card can be in that is closest to its originally manufactured mint condition.
4. Resell your cards for profit
Once you’ve successfully sourced your cards and had them graded if necessary, it’s time to cash in by selling them.
Here’s a brief overview of the best methods to bringing in money as a card reseller:
In Person
Although this may be intimidating as a beginner, the best environment to gain the most experience and to hone valuable skills such as negotiation and understanding what buyers are looking for is to deal in the flesh. Using Facebook Marketplace or visiting specialized shops are your best bet for learning to successfully deal in person and learn way faster than you can online. Consignment shops are also incredibly convenient to deal with as they’ll handle the entire sales process for a commission and you simply have to supply the goods.
You can also look for card shows and conventions to attend that you can use not only to sell cards, but to network with other collectors or dealers who can be both valuable customers and leads for new inventory.
Online
When it comes to scaling your business and having the largest reach, you’ll need to go online. Platforms like eBay and StockX are great places to find customers for your cards. Make sure to research different price points and overall demand for your cards based on current listings.
However, as we mentioned earlier, all of these platforms come with both fees and competition, so your end goal should be to sell directly through social media. Build up a following on your chosen platform, whether it’s YouTube, Instagram, Twitch or Twitter and advertise your inventory in between entertaining posts or inside of an email list. Another added benefit of using these social media platforms is that they give you the ability to livestream cardbreaks, one of the most profitable opportunities that you can take on as a card reseller.
Which Types of Trading Cards Should I Buy to Resell?
Now that you know how profitable card reselling can be, you're likely wondering which cards you should be searching for. Each type of card has a slightly different optimal sourcing strategy in terms of which ones to look out for.
Here’s a quick guide on which types of cards to look for based on their category:
Sports Cards
Focus primarily on cards of legendary players, including those who are still playing and those who have retired. Their rookie cards will be especially valuable in addition to misprints. Look mainly for Topps and Panini cards and NBA and MLB cards, paying attention to the card condition and if they have been formally graded.
Pokemon Cards
The most valuable Pokemon cards are those that were produced in the 1990s and early 2000s and those that belong to the original 151 Pokemon. Holographics, First Editions, and rare promotional cards like the Ancient Mew are worth the most.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards
In terms of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, the most valuable are those that are limited or first edition, tournament prize cards, promotional cards and error cards. As with other cards, the production quantity and condition are significant contributing factors.
Magic: The Gathering Cards
One of the most important things to understand about MTG is that it has an incredibly large cult following of active players that enter tournaments worldwide, many of which offer real prize money in amounts that are sometimes quite significant. Therefore, the most important thing to look out for when targeting MTG cards is their utility and power in game play, which is basically directly correlated with the card’s rarity. Refer to forums and threads that talk about specific rare cards like the Power Nine collection which is actually so powerful that they are banned in some competitive settings.
Other themed cards
The market for other collectible cards is big, with the largest being associated with media franchises like Disney, Star Wars and Marvel. For these cards, historical significance in terms of the character on the card or the situation being depicted in addition to how limited the card is are the most generally applicable traits to look out for in this area.
Where is the Best Place to Find and Sell Trading Cards?
While we’ve already gone over several different options in terms of where to buy and sell cards, we wanted to wrap up this guide with the best places that you can buy and sell trading cards for profit:
EBay
If you had to pick just one platform for selling trading cards of any kind, it would have to be eBay. The platform is best known as the top place to find the rarest collectibles, and many of those buyers are coming specifically for trading cards no matter what category they’re in. You can sell cards in any condition, just be sure to upload quality photos with an accurate description and price your cards according to the market value as dictated by competing listings and historical sold prices.
TCGPlayer
TCGPlayer is the most well known online marketplace for buying and selling rare trading cards, primarily those that are associated with games such as Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!. In addition to reaching millions of passionate trading card customers directly, the platform is also known for its Direct program which is similar to Amazon’s FBA in that the company will store your inventory until it is sold, in which case they will also handle fulfillment.
The platform is not the most beginner friendly as it is a bit complex to understand at first, as they have many different selling programs and tiers that you’ll have to familiarize yourself with before using them. Still, they’re a great place to get top dollar from rare trading cards.
Social Media
The power of social media in terms of dictating shopping behavior in today’s era of ecommerce can’t be understated, so you should always start a social media account to showcase your trading card store. Focus primarily on making content that is relatable and shareable to your target audience, and only sell to them during highly anticipated and scheduled livestreams as your focus in mainly to grow your followers and view count so you have a larger platform to launch to when you want to offload inventory.
You can also use social media to source inventory profitably and directly from other sellers who you can build mutually beneficial relationships with. You can basically pick any popular platform to gain an audience, including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
Whatnot
When it comes to holding livestreams, the best dedicated platform is Whatnot. Built as a livestream-first platform, the brand’s popularity exploded during the pandemic and remains strong. It’s well known as a goldmine for both buyers looking to score a rare deal and for sellers who want a place to get rid of inventory fast. The livestreaming process with Whatnot is fun and easy for both buyers and sellers, and while you can buy and sell anything with it, trading card sales and card breaking are still some of the platform’s most popular activities.
Auction Houses
If you’re lucky enough to have come across an extremely valuable rare card, you’re best bet to get top dollar is to get it professionally graded and then submit it for sale with a reputable auction house. While you’ll have to adhere to a schedule and likely have to wait for a relevant auction, you’ll likely get the highest price from a serious buyer in this environment.
Reselling Goods for Profit? Find Expert Advice on Whop
Starting a reselling business is perhaps your best entry point into entrepreneurship as it offers a fairly quick path to success with very little needed up front in terms of investment, commitment, or even knowledge compared to most other ecommerce business models.
Whether you’re reselling trading cards or getting into the exciting world of flipping tickets, sneakers, watches or everything in between, there’s not only a strong demand but the opportunity for anyone to join and get started.
However, settling on a reselling niche can be incredibly overwhelming, as can choosing the exact best items to resell anywhere.
In addition to browsing more of our free guides right here on this blog, you can join our thoroughly vetted, expert-led private groups that are dedicated to a huge spectrum of money-making methods, including reselling.
Reselling can be an overwhelming business. You need to know what products to look for, where you can source from, and how you can flip them for maximum profit. You also need to be on top of market trends. It is almost impossible to be on top of all of this by yourself - so why not get help from the experts?
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