Card flipping has grown in popularity ever since the insane sports card boom of late 2019/early 2020! Giant card sales were making headlines left and right, and more people jumped back in.
And while flipping cards for profit has been around forever, it’s definitely become the goal of more collectors than ever before!
Card flipping is buying cards and then reselling them later for a higher price. Usually this is achieved by buying singles rather than buying packs or boxes and looking to hit high value cards.
What is Card Flipping?
In a general sense, card flipping is the same as flipping anything else! Like flipping a house, you buy it cheap and sell it for more (except with cards there’s no renovation process!).
With card flipping it’s all about timing. Making a profit with cards is about patience, timing, and understanding the ebbs and flows of the market.
You’re also waiting for players to break out, win championships, or turn into all-time greats.
Is Card Flipping Profitable?
Card flipping can be extremely profitable for a disciplined flipper. However, the majority of people who jump into sports cards in order to make a profit are also big sports fans. What began as a profit-making venture usually turns into a hobby where money is lost. They may have fun and sell a few cards here and there, but they discover it’s hard to keep boxes sealed or part with favorite cards.
Being successful requires:
- Knowledge of the sport
- An eye for talent
- Knack for predicting future results
- Monitoring the market to discover undervalued players/cards
- Knowledge of the seasonal highs and lows of the market (I wrote a whole post on this called “When Should I Sell My Sports Cards?”)
- The ability to cut losses and move on
- Not getting attached to a card when there’s profit to be made
What are Profitable Card Flipping Activities?
The backbone of card flipping is buying a single of a player poised to see a jump in price.
You buy a single card at a time when you believe prices are low, and wait for them to jump.
This is a popular way to flip cards because you can get in rather cheap (as opposed to buying nice Jordan or Brady cards), and it’s fun to try to project what’s going to happen.
And I know base isn’t that popular anymore, so I have some color variations of his Prizm rookie as well.
Buy an All-Time Great and Then Wait
This is a tried-and-true strategy that I know a lot of collectors swear by. I’ve heard this called your “401(k)” because buying the right all-time greats usually results in steady gains over the years like your 401(k) does (and often with even better returns).
However you’ve got to be careful doing this. Not every all-time great holds up over time.
Take Tim Duncan for example. His cards will certainly never go to zero…but he played in a small market and he’s a big man (big men get no love).
I purchased a Topps Finest PSA 9 rookie of his for $150…they sell for $20 now.
No, you need to look for the all-time greats that have staying power. They should be retired (or almost retired, like LeBron), and need to be people with immense hobby love.
I’m looking at guys like Jim Brown, Tom Brady, Mickey Mantle, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, etc.
Those aren’t the only ones, but getting into cards like those are almost for sure going to result in long-term increases over time.
Buy Raw and Grade
Another popular activity among serious collectors is to buy cards raw and then send them in for grading!
This is certainly a hit-or-miss strategy, and most flippers recommend ONLY buying cards in person for this strategy so that you can take a good look at it.
On eBay you can see the pictures, but it’s nearly impossible to see what the surface looks like.
Often, here’s how I do it:
- I’ll find a card that sees a hefty increase when graded
- It also needs to be a card that I’m fine holding raw
- I’ll scour eBay until I find one with good enough pictures where I can gauge corners, edges, and centering. If I can see some of the surface in a good light, that’s a bonus
- When I get the card, I’ll be happy if I can grade it, but I’m not usually expecting it to be in that type of condition. This is a volume game.
Recently I purchased an Optic My House Purple of LeBron for my PC (personal collection) because I just thought it was a cool card. When it came, I noticed the card was in great shape, so I graded it. Came back an SGC 10!
To me buying that card was a win/win—if it wasn’t gradable, that’s okay because it’s a PC card. But now, I have the option to sell it and have a nice profit!
Unprofitable Activities for Card Flipping
I’ll hit these quick:
- Joining Breaks – Basically gambling. I did an entire breakdown of breaks here: What is a Card Break? The Ultimate Guide
- Opening Packs/Boxes – Again, it’s gambling. It’s super fun to open boxes, which is why most people don’t buy & hold sealed wax. I probably make my money back on 1 out of every 10 boxes.
- PC of a Low-Level Player – Really, PC of any player won’t produce an ROI in the near future, because by nature you’re spending money on a card that you won’t be selling. However, I’ve seen guys collect the most random players. I understand it’s a hobby, but at some point, wouldn’t it be nice to pass on a valuable collection to your kids? That $10k you spent on JJ Redick isn’t going to be worth 1/10 that in 20 years. What if you need the money in 10 years? I’m lucky to be a Lakers fan, so I PC LeBron and Kobe—but I also PC them because they’re virtually guaranteed to hold value.