Trading card collecting can be an exciting and sometimes profitable hobby. It's like playing the stock market and mining gold at the same time: you may find the rare 1 in 1,000,000 rookie card that can be sold for a lot of money; you might just get a pack full of nobodies; or that rare rookie may lose popularity and thus your card isn't worth much at all; or someone that had been a nobody becomes a somebody and you happen to have a bunch of them. But maybe you're not a person that cares so much about the money and you just want to create a personal shrine to your favorite sports figure, team, or even a favorite movie or TV show. So whatever the reason, here are some tips that will help you get started.
BUYING
Trading cards can be bought almost anywhere: the supermarket, wholesale retailers, bookstores, card shops and shows, newspaper ads, online marketplaces, flea markets, and garage sales. Some trading cards can also be obtained by finding them in specially marked cereal boxes or completing the form on the back of the cereal box; buying them off home shopping networks; or trading them with your friends or anyone who's interested. Certain non-sports trading cards can be obtained by winning them in tournaments.
Trading cards can also be bought in various forms. The most common way to buy them is by the pack. A pack of cards is usually a set number of cards wrapped in anything from wax paper to cellophane. They're usually unopened and you don't know what you'll find inside. Some people keep all of the cards in the pack no matter how valuable any of them are, and some people throw away anything that not, in their mind, worth keeping.
Another method of buying is purchasing singles. Singles are cards that have been taken out of the pack and are being sold separately. If you're looking for a particular card, then this method is probably the best if you've done your homework. This is almost the easiest way of getting ripped off.
Trading cards can also be bought by the box. That means that the box that the individual packs came in can be bought unopened, and you have the pleasure of owning anything that comes out of that batch of cards.
Other ways of buying are grab bags, completed sets, or boxes of cards from someone's old collection.
PRICING
The price range of trading cards can be anything from $.01 to $1,000,000. But how do you know how much your card is worth? Finding an up-to date price guide is the usual way to go. Most price guides are monthly, but there are a few that may be published annually. Price guides help you determine whether your card is a common (high quantity and low demand) or something special (low quantity and high demand). Price guides also help you figure out how many more cards are needed to complete your set (the complete collection of a particular brand, year, and type of trading card). These price guides can be found in almost any store where magazines are sold, and some of them can be found online as well. There is even computer software that can help you track your trading cards easily.
Another, though more expensive, way of pricing your trading card is through a grading service. Grading services will assess the condition of your card and give it a grade that will affect its worth. A card in mint condition will be worth more than a card in worse condition. If your card is in poor condition its worth considerably less than the one that's in mint condition. Keep in mind that all of this is done for a fee; so make sure that this card has significant worth before you submit it to a grading service. Graded cards can often be sold for more than if you were to pull it straight from a shoebox and take it to a merchant.
PRESERVING
Throwing trading cards into a shoebox isn't exactly the best way to store them and is rather old fashioned. Now there are many ways to store your precious collection: specially designed boxes, books, toploaders, slabs, etc.
Books. Books are a good storage tool for those who like to look at or show off their cards often. Often any old 3-ring binder with special card pages will do. Card pages can be bought just about anywhere.
Boxes. Boxes are for those who don't look at their cards as often and have a very large collection. These boxes often are cardboard and have dividers that keep your cards in nice stacks or rows that allow for little movement. They also come in various sizes and some can accommodate some other storage accessories. There are plastic boxes but they come in considerably smaller sizes.
Sleeves and toploaders. Sleeves and toploaders are used to store cards that have more worth than common cards. Sleeves are thin plastic pockets that you insert your card into before inserting it into a toploader, a slim plastic pocket made of hard, but flexible plastic. These tools keep your cards fairly safe from bent corners which devalue them.
Screw and Non-screw Holders. Screw and non-screw holders are usually used to store very valuable cards. They're made of hard, inflexible plastic and come in two pieces. You set the card in the bottom part that has an indention where the card is supposed to sit, and then you either press or screw the top piece on top of it.
Slabs. If you want to preserve a card that you know is worth more than you car or house, than you may want to have it slabbed. Most, if not all, grading services will grade and slab your priceless card for a set fee. The slab can contain also display the card's vitals. The slabs are sealed, practically indestructible plastic that envelopes the card inside.
OTHER TIPS
*Don't expose your cards to direct sunlight. That will fade them.
*Keep them dry.
*Don't handle them too much if you plan on selling or trading them later.
*Try to figure out the worth of a card before you buy or sell.
*If you buy a vintage, unopened pack of cards, don't chew the bubble gum.
*Unopened things are sometimes more valuable then those that are open.
