New to collecting and want to get good info to start

[tmills1565]

Checkoutmycards, beckett marketplace, sportslots

Sent from my SPH-M820-BST using Sports Cards by Freedom Card Board.com

Thank you very much, I will def check those out!

 

[miguelcabrera]

dont collect cards

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

This hobby is best avoided if you're concerned about money

^^^ but stay within your budget or you may have to start selling your cards.

+ the hobby is about fun, not about work.

 

[rymflaherty]

Like others have said, if you don't want to lose money......It's best to buy singles off Ebay.

If you want to buy packs/boxes (I love that aspect of opening stuff up myself even though I know it's a gamble), your best bet is to wait for new products.
Stick around the site.....Check all the threads regarding products and stuff coming out. See what people think of the cards, the checklists, etc. and it will give you an idea of the potential value of the product. Even better check out the early box breaks and gauge what an average box looks like.....You can generally see a few breaks and still order at the initial price.

The reason I say this is because the market fluctuates so much. Older products may have a good cost, but that's because the odds are you'll pull crap. Products that were really nice tend to rise in price until they reach the point where there a huge gamble as well.
A great example of this is 2012 Topps Meuseum. Great patches, great player selection, some beautiful cards.
I saw the breaks and the positive buzz on the site once it hit.....So I bought a box for like $180 a day after release. It was a great product. The problem though is that everyone knows this now, and it's lost you closer to $250.
Conversely, there are products like Tier One last year that looked nice on the sellsheet, and then you saw breaks filled with $2 autographs and I was glad I saved my money and didn't pre-order.

So like I said, I'd hang out here learn, get as much info as you can......and when there looks to be a release everyone is gushing about jump in immediately to secure the best price.....because with the great products they will just keep going up after release. Hopefully you can find the new Ultimate Collection, or Museum Collection, etc.

 

[fkw]

Yeah I also do want to kind of buy packs because I like the thrill of getting great cards in the packs. But like I want to avoid the normal base boxes, I want boxes that are more valuable and will ultimately pay for itself.

I havent opened a pack of cards in close to 32 years and dont collect anything newer than 50 years old (most stuff I have is 70-120 yrs old), but I think you can get a good thrill in just winning an auction on eBay for a good deal...
On cards youre interested in, bid low and often and you may win a few now and then. Im a "type collector" and this is what I do, bid roughly 20%-50% of what a card usually sells for, bid on dozens of these, and I do win roughly 10%-20% of the auctions, or so.... but you have to get a good idea on what something is worth too. I have followed most PreWar cards (daily) for over 30 years now so have a good ideal of what they are now worth and if they are flat on the rise or overrated. Like anything..... knowledge is the key. Read/research all you can on what you plan on collecting and try to become an expert on that subject.

good luck

 

[tmills1565]

Like others have said, if you don't want to lose money......It's best to buy singles off Ebay.

If you want to buy packs/boxes (I love that aspect of opening stuff up myself even though I know it's a gamble), your best bet is to wait for new products.
Stick around the site.....Check all the threads regarding products and stuff coming out. See what people think of the cards, the checklists, etc. and it will give you an idea of the potential value of the product. Even better check out the early box breaks and gauge what an average box looks like.....You can generally see a few breaks and still order at the initial price.

The reason I say this is because the market fluctuates so much. Older products may have a good cost, but that's because the odds are you'll pull crap. Products that were really nice tend to rise in price until they reach the point where there a huge gamble as well.
A great example of this is 2012 Topps Meuseum. Great patches, great player selection, some beautiful cards.
I saw the breaks and the positive buzz on the site once it hit.....So I bought a box for like $180 a day after release. It was a great product. The problem though is that everyone knows this now, and it's lost you closer to $250.
Conversely, there are products like Tier One last year that looked nice on the sellsheet, and then you saw breaks filled with $2 autographs and I was glad I saved my money and didn't pre-order.

So like I said, I'd hang out here learn, get as much info as you can......and when there looks to be a release everyone is gushing about jump in immediately to secure the best price.....because with the great products they will just keep going up after release. Hopefully you can find the new Ultimate Collection, or Museum Collection, etc.

Thank you so much for the advice and I will def be taking it all in account. Hope that we can stay in touch and can maybe help each other out in the future.

 

[tmills1565]

I havent opened a pack of cards in close to 32 years and dont collect anything newer than 50 years old (most stuff I have is 70-120 yrs old), but I think you can get a good thrill in just winning an auction on eBay for a good deal...
On cards youre interested in, bid low and often and you may win a few now and then. Im a "type collector" and this is what I do, bid roughly 20%-50% of what a card usually sells for, bid on dozens of these, and I do win roughly 10%-20% of the auctions, or so.... but you have to get a good idea on what something is worth too. I have followed most PreWar cards (daily) for over 30 years now so have a good ideal of what they are now worth and if they are flat on the rise or overrated. Like anything..... knowledge is the key. Read/research all you can on what you plan on collecting and try to become an expert on that subject.

good luck

Yeah I will def try to research the most I can. Any advice on where to look? Or should I just look on eBay as much as possible?

 

[sneekc]

how old are you?

 

[Mudcatsfan]

You mentioned ebay is hard to search for you.

learn to use wild cards to search on ebay. For Example:

if you want to find Bryce Harper cards but you only want them from his 2010 season, and you are cool with either refractors, or autographs but not interested in jersey cards, try something like this

Harper (2010, 10) (auto*, ref*) -jersey

Here you're looking for all items that have HARPER in the name, AND either 2010 or 10 and either Auto, Autograph, or Ref or REfractor and taking away any results with the word Jersey.

Learn these tricks and you'll find the cards you're looking for.

Good luck, Welcome to FCB, and like just about everyone has said, Stick to singles of players you want, and only buy boxes for fun, knowing that you may not get 99% of the price you pay back.

 

[tmills1565]

You mentioned ebay is hard to search for you.

learn to use wild cards to search on ebay. For Example:

if you want to find Bryce Harper cards but you only want them from his 2010 season, and you are cool with either refractors, or autographs but not interested in jersey cards, try something like this

Harper (2010, 10) (auto*, ref*) -jersey

Here you're looking for all items that have HARPER in the name, AND either 2010 or 10 and either Auto, Autograph, or Ref or REfractor and taking away any results with the word Jersey.

Learn these tricks and you'll find the cards you're looking for.

Good luck, Welcome to FCB, and like just about everyone has said, Stick to singles of players you want, and only buy boxes for fun, knowing that you may not get 99% of the price you pay back.

Thank you very much! I will def try that out. That does make it a lot easier and I appreciate the advice.