There’s money to be made, if you know what you’re doing. However, flipping sports cards is just like anything out there with profit—you can’t just jump in and hope to get rich week 1.
There are so many different ways to make money with flipping sports cards. Do you want to rip boxes? Buy and sell singles? Long-term? Short-term?
Let me talk about all the different ways to start flipping sports cards and at the end, I’ll show you exactly what I do!
How Do You Start Flipping Sports Cards?
In general, “flipping sports cards” usually refers to buying a single sports card and then flipping it at a profit sometime in the future.
Today, I’m going to talk about much more than that though.
But before I go much deeper, here’s the real first step:
Hang out in the right places and learn from others!
If you haven’t been in the game for 15 years, then you’ll absolutely want to join some Facebook groups or Reddit threads. There’s no better way to get a feel for what others are doing, how the market is going, which brands are best, and so much more.
I’d then also dip my toe in a little.
Buy a few boxes. Buy a few singles. Join some breaks. Perhaps spend a few hundred bucks.
In theory, it would be great to have all your ducks in a row and jump into the market with the perfect game plan that you stick to at all costs….
But that’s not realistic. It just isn’t. You need to open some packs yourself and experience what else the market has to offer. You need to start small, make some mistakes, and find out what you like.
1. Figure Out What Your Strategy Is
First, ask yourself this:
“Am I in this 100% for profit, or do I want to sprinkle in some fun while I’m at it?”
Some people think the greatest fun is making profit. I know some big-time flippers who only have 200 – 300 card TOTAL and each card is high value. Then they just sell those off as there’s profit and buy new high-value cards.
Others in the hobby want to make some money here and there while collecting cards they like.
Many collectors are in this for the “chase”—meaning they want to open boxes and join breaks even if they hardly return an ROI.
But just like a super-strict diet, sticking to something you don’t really like doing isn’t going to last.
If you absolutely love ripping boxes and find flipping singles a bit tedious, then don’t only flip singles.
I told myself at the beginning I only wanted to make money—screw actually having fun or making it a hobby.
But then I found myself pretty quick opening boxes and doing breaks. There are ways to do this without losing your shirt and I’ll show you how later in this post.
Here are a few other posts I’ve put together that dive deeper into the different ways to flip cards:
=> Better ROI: Should I Buy Raw or Graded Cards?
=> What Are the Best Card Packs to Flip?
=> What is a Card Break? The Ultimate Guide
Short-Term Flips vs Long-Term Holds
Do you want to be someone who’s super active and constantly turning over your inventory?
Or do you want to collect cards you’re planning to hold for years?
Why Choose Short-Term Flipping
- Get your money faster!
- It’s exciting. You feel like you’re in the game. You want to be active.
- Get to have different cards in your collecting frequently
- Often greater ROI on short-term flips
Why Choose Long-Term Flipping?
- Don’t have to stay on top of the day-to-day news and sell in tight windows.
- Generally less risk. The types of players you normally target for short-term flips are likely to be more volatile than the players you target for long-term holds. For long-term flips, I ONLY want to have all-time greats in my collection. Few people care about borderline stars from 40 years ago.
- Steadier gains. Think of long-term flipping like buying a house and holding it for 30 years vs a short-term fix & flip-type project.
- You get to collect and admire all-time greats. I personally enjoy having Kobe and Peyton in my collection more than Darius Garland and Amari Cooper (two players I’ve bought for short-term flips).
I dive MUCH deeper into short-term, medium-term, long-term, and forever holds in my other article How To Pick the Best Sports Cards to Invest In
2. Choose Your Risk/Reward Level
I mentioned this a little bit above, but part of getting started is knowing your personal risk tolerance and how much ROI you’re looking to get.
I know, the answer is always “I want ALL the ROI!” But typically the best ROI is either too risky, or just something that others don’t want to do.
For example, a lot of people say the best return is to buy unopened boxes, stash them, and flip them in a year or three.
However, that’s boring, it takes a while, and you have to fight off the itch to rip open those boxes! I’ve flipped some boxes in my time, but I only get away with it by selling them on eBay before I even have them.
That way I have no choice but to send them off. Otherwise, I’m going to open it.
Low Risk | Steady Returns
If you don’t have much of an appetite for risk, then buy a retired all-time great and hold forever!
This is Jordan, Kobe, Brady, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Mantle, Mays, Griffey Jr…those sorts of players.
I look at these players as investing in the S&P 500—you’ll see daily fluctuations, some bigger than others, based on the news.
But in the long run, if you leave it, you’ll generally see steady gains.
It’s not a perfect analogy as cards can be a bit more volatile. For example, if you bought a Jordan rookie in February 2021, you’re down a lot. However, I believe that holding that card for long enough will bring you back to that level and higher.
High Risk (Low Cost) | High Returns
These are the Bitcoin in 2012 investments, the penny stocks, or even buying a scratch-off ticket. This would be buying Bowman 1sts (the pre-rookies) and holding long-term, or buying someone completely off-the-radar that you think will make a big jump.
The chance of it panning out is almost nothing, but so is the cost. This is when you put on your scouting hat and start identifying players in the minors or 7th-round NFL guys that you think could make it (Purdy, anyone?)
There’s an excellent chance you’ll never see a profit, but you could also see 10x your investment!
Medium Risk | Medium Rewards
This is where most investors hang out—players that show promise and have at least some track record of success, but aren’t crazy expensive.
These are players that you can be reasonably sure are going to break out.
You’ve done the research, and this player’s prices have dipped because:
- Missed the playoffs last year
- Seasonal trends (off-season or dog days of the season)
- Injury
- Didn’t get much playing time (but you think they’ll get much more this year)
- Plays in a small market
- Expecting 2nd year bump
For example, I’m looking at guys like Anthony Richardson (2nd year bump + injury), Juan Soto (down year, moved to bigger market), and Jalen Williams (missed playoffs + 2nd year bump)
I’ll show you below how I decide my mix of low/medium/high risk at the end. For now, you need to figure out what you’re comfortable with and what you would enjoy.
3. Study The Market
I can tell you this is the step I failed the most at when I got back in.
It was February 2021, and I had just gotten my old collection back out. Sorting through it all was the most fun I’d had in a while.
I was also active in a few Facebook groups, listened to podcasts almost daily, and downloaded apps on my phone.
Then, I spent about $2k on a variety of graded singles with intent to flip them.
What I didn’t realize was that we were at the absolute height of the market! I hadn’t realized to what extent prices had been driven upwards and I got caught up in the mania.
I still have most of those singles because I bought them at such a high price I haven’t wanted to let go of them yet.
So, take my advice from above and dabble in a few things here and there. However, reserve the bulk of your money for a few months until you really get a feel for things and you’re confident you’re buying at lulls in the market, not highs.
How to Study the Market
First, stay active in those groups I mentioned before. Soak in everything you can to get a feel for what seasoned pros are sayings about the market.
Next, you can download a free app like Sports Card Investor. Their algorithm will show you the cards that are the biggest movers in the market. You can see prices going back 30 days.
I used to scroll through this app at least once a day for a few months and it helped give a feel for what was popular at what times of the year.
And now my FAVORITE way is to use CardLadder. It’s a paid app—that I’m not paid to endorse—but it’s only around $15 per month. You can see big movers in the market, set up watch lists for players you’re targeting, and even input your own collection to track prices.
But the best thing it does is you can select different time frames! Find a few cards for high-level players and look at their 2-year and 6-month pricing histories:
- Note when the lows and highs are. Often prices will go down in the offseason and sometimes during a long MLB or NBA season.
- Check out an injured player. How much did the injury affect them?
- How about last years’ MVP…how much and for how long did their price spike?
- What about a player that came out on fire and then cooled off? How did their pricing reflect that?
- What about different markets? How much is pricing different for two relatively equal players that are in different markets?
This research is worth every second when trying to figure out the market for later flips.
4. What’s Your Budget?
For a lot of people, this is a really tough step!
I’ve heard literally dozens of stories of guys saying things like:
“I have to hurry up and get the mail before my wife sees how many cards I bought!”
“I use a different credit card so she won’t see what I’m spending $$ on.”
And I’ve been known to blow through a budget or two in my day when it comes to sports cards….
So it call comes down to how serious you are. Are you going to run this as a real business, or as an expensive hobby?
I’ve definitely cut back on spending money on breaks and opening cheap boxes of cards, leaving me more budget for cards to flip (as well as having a happy wife).
Determining your budget also helps you know what cards to target.
If you’ve got $1k to spend, then you can afford to go after those short-printed rookies or RPAs.
If you’ve got $50, that’s okay…you can still target base cards perhaps of a lower grade.
5. Figure Out How You’re Going to Sell Cards
The next step is that you should know how you’re planning to sell your cards!
What happens when that Zion Williamson really takes off after he wins MVP (lol)…but you’re not sure what to do with it?
You might miss out on a nice bump there!
Here are some of the most common ways to sell cards:
- List on eBay yourself
- Consignment (have someone else with more experience/feedback sell on eBay)
- Facebook Groups
- MySlabs
- StarStock
- Whatnot
- Local LCS
- Local Classifieds
I’m not going to go into more detail, because I already put together everything you need to know in this article:
The Complete Guide to Sell Cards for the Most Money
Start Building Up Your eBay Feedback
One more point about selling because it’s important and not often talked about…
In my opinion eBay should be the foundation of selling your cards.
It gets the most eyes. It’s easy. There are protections in place. You get discounted shipping.
Yes, you pay higher fees for it, but it’s worth it to have many more people looking at your cards.
When I first started on eBay, my cards didn’t sell for anywhere near comps! Trust me, that’s exceptionally frustrating.
Turns out, buyers don’t like buying from sellers with low feedback. In fact, as soon as I hit around 95 feedback, my cards started selling like hotcakes!
I had 4-5 cards that had been sitting for months sell in a 2-day span. I noticed repeat buyers. I noticed cards selling for higher prices!
So I say start right now working to get your feedback up so that when you’re neck-deep in flipping cards you’re not selling under comps because no one trusts your account!
I did this by going through my old cards and selling tons of $1-$5 cards. Another common way to do this is to buy lots of $1 cards on eBay. Feedback doesn’t differentiate between buying and selling, so it’s easy to buy your way to that magical 90-100 feedback!
What Does My Flipping Strategy Look Like?
1. Profit + Fun
I can’t just buy & flip cards. I have too much fun doing other stuff!
One of my favorite things in the world is ripping boxes. I can’t get enough. However, I am a little smarter about it these days.
I try to get boxes for birthdays, Christmas presents, with tax refunds, or when I get an extra bonus at work. In other words, when I can get them without dipping into my regular “life” budget.
Another option is when I can buy them at retail prices on Target.com. I focus on boxes that have a nice resell on eBay (though top brands go SUPER fast on the website and often I don’t get any). I’ll then sell enough of them to pay for the last box or two. That way there’s no risk and it’s less of a gut punch when I pull junk.
2. Diversify Risk/Reward Mix
The basis of my collecting is medium risk with medium reward. That’s the risk level I’m comfortable with, and I can see nice returns without waiting for years. (Plus, buying a Tom Brady rookie ain’t exactly in the budget!)
However, I definitely add in low risk and high risk as well. Here’s what that looks like:
My ultimate goal is that one day I have only super expensive cards of all-time greats. This I would consider my retirement, and would be at a point when I don’t want to be quite so active with my flips.
I will also admit that from time to time, I’ll buy the high-risk cards as well looking for a home run. But honestly that’s more for fun than anything else. Sometimes they hit, but most of the time they just sit in a box somewhere.
3. $100/Month Budget
This doesn’t mean I only spend $100 on cards for the month. This is what I can spend that comes out of my “life” budget.
But anything I make from cards gets added to my card budget.
For example, if I sell a card for $200, I now have $300 I can spend that month!
At first, I spent a lot more to get started (about $2k in 2 months), but $100 is my ongoing budget for cards.
4. Focus on Players That Will Break Out
For the most part, my favorite players to invest in (and I’ve had the most success with), are players in their 2nd – 4th year. Here’s why:
- Rookies usually carry too much hype and too much risk. I usually only get rookies during their rookie year by ripping boxes.
- I think a player breaking out is easier to predict than an MVP award or postseason success.
- Players past their 4th year who haven’t broken out yet are very unlikely to become hobby relevant.
- Players who have already broken out (Luka, Herbert) are much more expensive cards to get into. At this point, we need to see MVPs and postseason success to see a nice jump.
5. Sell on eBay or Consignment
I mostly sell on eBay. I like the grind of it. I have all the materials at my house already, so it’s not a big pain. (Here’s everything I use to pack/ship cards)
However, if I have 5-10 cards to sell at once that will each bring $10 or more, I’ll send them to a consignment shop.
They get more eyes than my auctions do, plus all I have to do is ship them a box full of cards and they do the rest.
