Unless you’re going after the cheapest brands or overprinted base cards, most cards worth collecting are getting fairly pricey!
Retail famously has skyrocketed in price recently, and that’s been a main driver of singles going up in price as well.
And, I think it’s only going to continue to go up. (You can get my full take on the future market on my article 8 Definitive Reasons Sports Cards Will Go up in Value)
There are still deals to be had, but they’re a bit harder to find…so let’s dive in!
10 Places to Buy Cheap Sports Cards
- Yard Sales
- Estate Sales
- Flea Markets
- Facebook Marketplace
- Local Classifieds
- Facebook Groups
- eBay
- COMC
- StarStock
- Target/Walmart/Meijer/Barnes & Noble/Walgreens/CVS
1. Yard Sales
This is one of the most fun ways to buy sports cards because you’re likely going to find them in bulk. It’s a mother selling off their kid’s whole collection or just someone who’s moving and doesn’t want to take it all with them.
As long as you don’t have a delusional seller—someone who’s heard about the boon in sports cards and thinks they have a gold mine—you can often make out with a bunch of cards for cheap.
2. Estate Sales
Similar to yard sales, except these happen when someone dies and they’re wanting to liquidate everything the deceased person owned.
Estate sales are more “official” than a yard sale. They’re often handled by a company or a professional, and there’s often a little bit of marketing. You can find them in local classifieds, or even on websites like estatesales.net.
3. Flea Markets
The best thing I’ve seen at flea market are older packs of cards. You’ve got someone who held onto some old stuff and it’s not quite worth what they thought it would be…so they figured they’d set up a stand.
You might only find stuff with nostalgic value, but they’ll most likely be dirt cheap and you can have a fun rip.
4. Facebook Marketplace
In truth, most of what I see on here is severely overpriced. I see a lot of people who are selling whole collections for WAY too much (hoping to find a sucker), or singles for much more than eBay comps are going for.
I guess they’re hoping that someone doesn’t trust eBay and would rather do an in-person deal.
However, you CAN still find deals on there—just don’t expect to hop on and find something within 5 minutes that gets you jazzed up.
I have seen people reselling retail boxes on Facebook Marketplace for decent prices. They obviously won’t be retail prices, but often sellers will go cheaper than eBay because they don’t have to pay eBay fees or worry about shipping.
5. Local Classifieds
See Facebook Marketplace.
6. Facebook Groups
There are a TON of Buy/Sell groups on Facebook! These are good places to make deals. I see it all the time where someone is ready to just offload a card immediately and doesn’t want to deal with eBay’s rigid structure and fees.
On Facebook, you can throw something up, and make a deal right away. And deals are expected to be made. I’m a fan of just making lots of offers, even if most are rejected. Once in a while you’ll snag a great deal because someone just wants to free up some cash.
7. eBay
With so many eyes on so many cards, how can you score cheap cards on eBay?
Here are a few ways:
- Constantly check for new Buy It Now offers. Some people (especially guys who are doing quite well in the hobby) care more about moving a card fast than for squeezing every last dollar. Someone like that will often sell a $100 card for $85-$90 just so it moves fast and they can move on. If you have a card in mind, check daily.
- Check for auctions ending at weird times. If you have the ability to surf eBay at 10 am on a Tuesday, you can snipe some nice deals on auctions. Most bids happen right at the very end of an auction, but at non-peak hours, there’s much less competition.
- Make offers and have thick skin. In eBay negotiations, there are often hurt feelings on both sides. One side lowballs, the other side counters with something super high because they’re petty. Then they both go post about it on Facebook. But who cares? If you have a price that you’re willing to pay, put down an offer. As a frequent eBay buyer and seller, I’m not offended by this. It’s a marketplace and no one is forcing anyone to accept an offer!
8. COMC
All in all, this is probably your best source if you’re a low-end collector. You might not necessarily get great deals, but if you’re someone who collects $1-$5 cards, I’d check out COMC.
They’re a fairly large marketplace and will have most cards on there. In fact, for things like random 90s inserts of second-tier players, I can usually find them more often here than on eBay!
COMC will let you buy up a bunch of cards, and then you can either leave them at COMC’s warehouse and you can relist them, or have them all shipped together to you for cheap.
9. StarStock
I’m fairly new to StarStock but I really like their platform! It’s a marketplace that allows for instant transfer of ownership and you can resell immediately.
Here’s how it works:
You type in the card you’re looking for, and you can see every price listed for that card. You can then put in a standing offer for what you’re interested in paying.
For example, I recently bought a 2018-19 Donruss Optic Shai Gilgeous-Alexander PSA 9. The lowest listing I found was for $35, so I put in a standing offer of $25.
That sends an email to everyone selling that card. One person accepted my offer in less than a day, and instantly the card was mine. I then relisted for $40, and now I’ll wait patiently for him to ball out and hopefully have a quick flip.
Originally, someone did have to send that card into StarStock. It’s sitting in their warehouse somewhere. Personally, I’m not interested in having cards I buy on there sent to me—I’m using it purely as a flipping platform.
However, with the cards I’ve purchased, I’ve been able to get a bit cheaper than eBay comps. The fact that I can place one offer and have many people see it increases my chances as opposed to placing offers one at a time on eBay.
10. Target/Walmart/Meijer/Barnes & Noble/Walgreens/CVS
While some brands don’t have much resale value, all the best brands will be much cheaper if you can buy unopened boxes or packs at retail prices.
However, the new releases of quality brands like Prizm or Topps Chrome usually sell out super quick those first few weeks. After that, the secondary market (like eBay) cools down, so fewer people are snagging everything off Walmart shelves or on Target.com.