In my time in the baseball card industry, I have made many mistakes that I look back on and regret. My goal with this article is to help you avoid these same mistakes I made, saving you time and money. Here are the five biggest mistakes in card collecting.
1. Not Understanding Cards
The most important part of card collecting is knowing about cards. About which cards should command value, which are on the low end, and which are on the high end.
This is surprisingly complex, and when I first approached buying cards, I questioned “Why are some seemingly the same cards so much cheaper than others?”. I would see a bowman gold auto of a player be $1500, then a bowman heritage of that same player’s auto /50 go for $300.
This confused me and left me wondering which cards I should buy. Understanding the difference between cards relics and parallels takes time. To help you understand it, I have made a series on card basics here (Baseball Cards 101). Once you understand cards, you can approach the card market in a completely new way.
2. Buying Without a Plan
The second mistake I made in my collecting journey was that I would find cards I liked and buy them, without a plan or budget.
When you are looking to buy cards, you should always make a plan. How much money should you spend? Is now the right time to buy? What cards should you buy?
Whenever I look at cards for my PC, I consider one thing: If I could buy one card from this player (around this price range) would I consider buying this card? If the answer is no, I would wait until I could buy a card that solved that question.
3. Hype Buying
The one buy I most regret making is a Wander Franco Leaf auto /5. A nice card, but not for the price I paid for it. I bought it during the Wander craze, in early 2022. Even before Wander Franco’s current situation, I would have lost 50% on that card. But why did I buy it?
The answer is simple: I got caught in the hype. This is a common mistake, as the reason a card is so valuable during hype is because so many people are buying it. So, do not buy it.
Wait for an un-hype moment. For example, after someone is in a slump is a perfect time to buy cards. But never when a lot of people are hyping a player up.
4. Not Grading Your Cards
The next mistake I luckily caught early on and was able to fix. But, I still lost out on value by not grading my cards earlier. Grading cards increases their value and also makes them sell much faster than they would otherwise.
5. Not Having Grading Tools
The last mistake goes hand in hand with the previous one. When you grade your cards, you need to be selective with the cards you submit. But, it is impossible to judge a card with raw eyesight.
This is why you need tools. I recommend this Amazon bundle, including a magnifying glass to check corners, a centering tool, and a microfiber cloth to clean your cards which will in turn improve their grade.
I bought this bundle, and it has helped me very much, with a roughly 50% grade ten rate on my last order.
Takeaways
All in all, whether you are a beginner or an experienced collector, I hope this article helps you with your collecting journey. Thank you for reading my top 5 card collecting mistakes.
