Ryan Barone (@ballcardgenius, Card Expert) is a lifelong member of the hobby. He has been quoted in PSA Magazine, and his content has regularly been mentioned in “Quick Rips” (the Topps RIPPED Newsletter) and across other hobby publications. hello@ballcardgenius.com; Last Time Ago LLC dba Ballcard Genius.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As I am a part of the eBay Partner Network and other programs, if you follow these links and make a purchase, I’ll receive commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
What does selling sports cards in “bulk” mean to you?
Do you have boxes and boxes of cards that you want to sell in as few transactions as possible? Or, do you have a lot of cards you’d like to upload in bulk but would be OK with selling separately?
No matter your answer, I’ve got some expert advice, so hang with me for a second.
Now, obviously, selling sports cards in bulk lots is a hassle because the weight of a collection makes shipping incredibly difficult (both in terms of packaging cards so they arrive safely in addition to the expense). And then, of course, selling a lot of cards in bulk as separate listings takes a ton of time and can be incredibly tedious.
As a result, you’re feeling limited. Either your buyer pool is whittled down to a local area where someone can physically pick up and drive home your many cards, or, you are limited by time and don’t have enough of it to upload and list cards for sale.
All of this said, while the tasks might seem insurmountable, there are some tips and tricks that make selling cards in bulk much more manageable.
1. Understand What You Have to Sell
I’m going to assume you’re willing to do this much because if not, then you don’t even have to bother reading the rest of the blog post—just go and list what you have on Facebook Marketplace for $50 and be done with it.
Now, if you’d rather try to earn a bit more in the process, then let’s keep going.
Understanding what you have to sell is the very first step to selling cards in bulk. While I can’t cover every scenario, someone who has thousands of common cards will need to take a different path from someone who has 50 complete sets to get rid of. Similarly, someone who has 50 complete sets of junk wax era cards will need to take a different selling path than someone who has every Topps set from 1960-1980.
Then of course there are some who will have a handful of really great cards in addition to thousands of commons. If that person knows and understands that, their $50 Facebook Marketplace sale can easily turn into hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
So, the question becomes, would you know a good card or player if you saw them? Or, is it all completely unknown to you and you wouldn’t know Mickey Mantle from Mickey Mouse.
I have at least decent sports knowledge and can identify bigger name players and cards
Excellent! My first recommendation to you is to spend time going through your bulk collection. I’ve outlined a number of different factors that can make a card valuable, so I encourage you to get familiar with these things:
- Featured player: star or “common”
- Year/era: vintage, modern, or “junk wax“
- Type of card: base or insert, parallel, short print, etc.
- Scarcity/print run: mass produced or limited
- Trends: current events, record breakers
Whatever you find to be special and different, spearate those out from the rest of whatever you’re selling.
I have no idea what I’m looking for and what a valuable card might be or look like
Of course, this position is going to cause a little more heartache as you’ll be forced to either find someone to help you value your card collection, or, sell them blindly. Again, it comes down to your goals. If you’d rather just get rid of the cards for a fraction of what they might be worth, then that can be done easily. But if you want to try and make say 50% of what they might be worth, you’ll have to enlist some help.
2. Dive Deeper with the Valuable Cards
If after step one you’ve identified a number of cards that you think could have some value, the next move is to confirm or debunk your suspicions. And really, this involves nothing more than using eBay to get a better idea of value (or lack thereof).
So, go to eBay.com or fire up the mobile app. Head to the search bar and enter the player’s name, card brand, and card year. It might also help to add the number on the back of the card. Most of this information is pretty easy to find, but you can always brush up on how to read a baseball card (the trickiest thing might be identifying the year of the card if you aren’t a collector).
I’ve also made this step easy for you with the tool below. Enter the card info as I’ve described above and click the button to be whisked away to eBay’s sold listings.
There are of course many other sports card value and scanner apps, but honestly, most people don’t need those at this point. In fact, they might just overwhelm you more. So, again, my recommendation is to use eBay as your main research tool at this point.
3. Consider Grading Anything Valuable or Rare
I know this is where most people will jump off and throw their hands up because now we are introducing a whole new beast, but trust me, you’ll want to think about this for a second.
For those of you who don’t know about how to get a card graded, it’s the process of sending in your cards to a third party grading company like PSA, SGC, or BGS where your submission is looked over and evaluated and given a number grade from 1 to 10 based on its condition. Doing so comes at a cost, but a card in a high or gem mint grade can command significantly more value than its raw (ungraded) counterpart.
Here is a quick example, and if you’re lucky enough to have a 1976 Walter Payton rookie card that you’re trying to sell, then this one is for you.
If you look at the bottom of the graphic, you’ll see a “raw” Payton with an average sales value of $196. This means, in ungraded condition, that card has been selling at an average of $196 over the last 365 days. Pretty solid.
But, if you look at just one card above it, the PSA 6, you’ll see that card is commanding a sales value of $417. Now, going back to that card grading scale of 1-10, 6 isn’t really considered great condition. Thus, if the card you’re looking at right now isn’t perfect, but isn’t completely bent or torn up, paying for it. tobe graded might work out nicely for you.
Of course, there is a lot more to consider, but this is just one small example of what grading might do for the value of the cards you’re looking to sell.
4. Sell the Bulk Lots in Person
At this point, let’s assume you’ve separated out all of the big value cards or at least anything that has potential, and you’re left with boxes of cards full of everything else.
In order to actually get someone to buy all of those cards, you’re probably going to have to deal with them in person so that, one, they can look through and get a better idea of what you’re selling, and two, they can load up all of the goods and not worry about having them shipped, etc.
In that case, your options are generally:
- Local online marketplaces like OfferUp and Facebook
- Local physical marketplaces like flea markets or garage sales
- Specialized card marketplaces like card shops and shows
- In-person to a shop owner or reseller
Before we move on, this is also a good time to point out that you need to determine the threshold of value; aka what is worth your time to sell separately and on its own. That might be cards worth $5 and up for some, while being $50 and up for others. Why? Again, because it will determine how you sell your cards.
Let’s say you have 100,000 common cards. Nothing but junk, but cards in decent shape that someone might want for their kids or to build sets with. How you go about selling these is going to be much different than someone who has 10,000 cards that range from $5 to $100 in value.
Again, I can’t cover every scenario, so let’s look at a few common cases.
If you’re that person with a garage full of junk wax common cards, your main mode of selling will probably be to someone on a local online or physical marketplace. In other words, this isn’t the type of collection you’d haul to a card show or shop, or is it one that someone would fly into to see.
Now, let’s say the bulk of what you have is junk, but you have a couple boxes of value. In this case, you still might have the best luck with an online or physical marketplace, because again, even if you loaded everything up to take to a card shop or show, potential buyers are only going to want to deal with the valuables.
The primary advantage of these marketplaces is their convenience. With just a few clicks, your collection can be listed and viewed by potential buyers in your vicinity. This eliminates the complexities of shipping and the waiting game associated with online auctions. Moreover, the digital format allows for clear photos and detailed descriptions, ensuring that buyers know exactly what they’re getting.
From there, let’s say you have 50,000 common, semi, and star cards from coveted sets. Meaning, maybe it’s a lot of cool vintage or new modern stuff and minimal junk wax. You also have some boxes of valuables. Now you’re starting to move into the territory of getting a specializt interested, like a card shop owner, etc. You just have to look at it from their point of view—can they realistically resell what they buy from you?
And then last, you have an amazing collection and people should be begging for the chance to look at what you’re selling. In this case, you’ll want to stick more with the specialists and someone who is willing to pay closer to what its worth knowing they’ll be able to mark it up and sell it for even more.
5. Take a Specialized Approach with the Valuable Singles
Circling back to those cards you set aside as having potential value, you’ll want to take a specialized approach in order to maximize your returns.
Again, those that are potentially gradable, does it make sense to do so? When looking at the condition of the card, how realistic is it that the card receives a 10 grade? Getting a PSA 10 isn’t a slam dunk and PSA 9 might not always be that great, not to mention the cost of getting the card graded.
With everything else, does it make sense to sell individually? This is where my initial question comes into play…sure, you have a plan for the bulk “commons” but now what about your bulk valuables?
While most people think about having to painstakingly take pictures of each card and create eBay listings one by one, it doesn’t have to be that way.
One, there is Card Dealer Pro, which is an online tool that assists in scanning, documenting, pricing, and listing your cards in bulk.
And for those who want to try something different, BuySportsCards.com is said to have a really nice and easy bulk upload process. Combine that with 0% sales fees and you have a good bulk single selling option.
