Play Your Cards Right: Best Cards to Collect for Profit

It’s the joy of any sports fan to collect cards and show off their collection to friends, family, or even strangers.

However, what about those who are looking for a way to profit from this hobby? If you’re in this group, it’s time you find out which sports cards are the most valuable this year.

Sports card collecting has been a popular hobby for many people and for many years. In the past, sports cards were something that you would typically find at a garage sale or flea market. However, over time, that has changed drastically.

With the right tips, you too can start cashing in on your collection. A few lucky investors are even making big-time wins.

To learn more about the best cards to collect for profit, keep reading.

KEEPING YOUR EYE ON THE BALL

Today there are so many different possibilities when it comes to the best trading cards to collect. Some are very expensive. Meanwhile, others only cost pennies on the dollar.

In fact, many collectors and investors start out by buying cheap sports cards. Some even buy wholesale sports cards as the best baseball cards to invest in.

Here, we’ll explore how to collect your own set of valuable sports cards.

GETTING INTO THE GAME WITH YOUR EYES OPEN

First, let’s start with the truth. A lot of people have recently come to think that sports card collecting is a way to make a fast buck.

It’s hard work making money flipping sports cards, but it can prove quite rewarding. It’s true that you can make money from buying and selling sports cards. However, you’ll need to invest plenty of time and research into the project as you learn more about the best cards to collect for profit. 

If you want the right perspective, it helps to think of sports card collecting as a business rather than a hobby. This frame of mind will keep you from making devastating mistakes.

A comparison may drive this point home. Take, for instance, the profitable world of sneakerheads.

Sneaker collectors love their shoes, but when it comes time to make a profit, they get down to business. You’ll need to have the same attitude if you want to make money buying and selling trading cards.

Also, there’s something that you should know about the hot rookie card market. This is a very volatile area of sports card investing. What’s hot now may end up having no value next month.

Just like your favorite sports stars, there are times when you have to move fast in this business. You’ll need to stay on top of your game. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place to tune it up.

WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF SPORTS CARD INVESTING?

Before you get started, you’ll want to establish your goals. First, you want to think about how much you’re willing to risk when you’re searching for the best cards to collect for profit. 

Next, you’ll want to invest in the right category. In this regard, it helps to choose a sport that you’re passionate about.

More importantly, you want to think about your strategy. For example, buying and selling rookie cards is a high-risk, high-reward strategy.

If you want to make big money fast, you have the best chance of making a fast profit while new players are hot. With rookie cards, however, you also have the biggest chance of losing your investment if a player doesn’t live up to their potential. 

Alternatively, you could invest in the sports cards of retired players and Hall of Famers. This strategy presents much less risk and could be the best baseball cards to invest in..

However, it’s also a long-term investment strategy. With this method, you’ll most likely need to hold onto your card for a long time before realizing a significant return. The best sports cards to invest in for your needs most likely lies somewhere between these two extremes.

THE BEST CARDS TO COLLECT FOR PROFIT

With that said, let’s take a look at buying and selling rookie cards. If you plunge into the high-risk, high-reward side of sports card investing, you’re not alone.

There’s a class of investors that consider rookie sports cards a safer option compared to stocks and bonds. Over the last several years, these memorabilia investors have realized a significant return on investment. Some of the best in the business even make profits of 500% to 1000%.

Despite the inherent risk of rookie card trading, it’s much easier to predict which rookie cards will increase in value compared to which stock or investment will break out and deliver a massive return. As a result, even big companies are thinking about getting into sports card investing.

The 2011 Mike Trout Topps Update rookie card is a good example of one of the best cards to collect for profit. This card once went for $500. Now, it’s worth nearly $2,500

BEST BASEBALL CARDS TO INVEST IN

As in the previous year, a lot of great cards are coming out with this year’s Topps sets. You can expect companies such as Topps to publish cards of some of the most talented young players in the league.

Mike Trout is still in play, but he’s no longer the hottest ticket on the market. Still, you may want to keep a lookout for his Topps card that features a full-body photograph of him in full swing.

Elsewhere, it’s possible that Ronald Acuna Jr.’s sports cards will be among some of the best cards to collect for profit and go through the roof as we approach year three of his $100 million contract.

What’s more, the newly released Topps Archives will deliver all kinds of on-card autographs of today’s best players. For example, the 1/1 Fernando Tatis Jr. Cody Belanger cards from this set recently went for more than $1,000.

At Giant Sports Cards online card shop, we have tons of modern sports card products to start building your sports card investing portfolio. For instance, in our baseball card shop, we offer:

If you can snag a 1/1 Fernando Tatis Jr. from a box in our online baseball card store, you may want to hold onto it for a while—more on how to snap up the best cards at our live breaks in a moment.

BEST BASKETBALL CARDS TO INVEST IN

With so many players, it can prove impossible to decide where to start with NBA trading cards if you’re figuring out which ones are the best cards to collect for profit. However, we’ll make it a little easier by giving you three categories. These categories include:

  • Rookies
  • Active players
  • Retired players

With retired players, you’ll want to look for legends. You may also want to try to build a collection of players that you think will make it to the Hall of Fame.

Among both active players and newcomers, you’ll have a much wider range of potential high-value assets to go after. As for rookie cards, you should know what to look for. If not, you might want to shy away from this category for now.

However, you might want to get a hold of a Luca Donic sports card if you’re looking for a moderate-risk investment. His cards are a moderate risk because he has a relatively short resume, but they could end up being among some of the best cards to collect for profit if his career continues to thrive. 

B-BALL SPORTS CARD PICKS TO GET YOU STARTED

Of course, you’ll want to snap up a Lebron James card as soon as you find one. If you’re looking for a player to bank your long-term investments on, Lebron is your man.

Among active players, you’ll want to take a look at Zion Williamson sports cards. If you’re a high-risk, high-reward investor, it’s worth giving Williamson’s sports cards a chance. If he can manage to kick his game up a notch, the value of his card should take off.

You can hunt for these pros’ cards at the Giant Sports Cards basketball card shop. There, we offer:

Also, if you can come across a LaMelo Ball card, it might turn out as one of the best cards to invest in 2021. He has massive upside if he bounces back strongly from his wrist injury.

BEST FOOTBALL CARDS TO INVEST IN

This year, you’ll have your choice of more than 20 Panini football box releases, offering plenty of some of the best cards to collect for profit in individual packs. With the NFL, you want to focus as much on the product as you do the players.

Here, you want to look for sports card boxes. If you want to build your collection fast, you can look into sports card cases.

By doing so, you can find a player that you like while also investing in a product that’s within your budget. No matter how you want to get started, we have what you need at our online sports card shop.

A good product to look out for later this year is the 2021 Panini Prizm Football Hobby Box – that’s always one of the hottest releases of the year for football and a good bet to offer some of the best cards to collect for profit, along with Select, National Treasures, and Flawless. You’ll also want to try to scoop up a 2020 Mosaic.

Mosaic is a relatively new concept from Panini. Already, however, it’s attracting the attention of a lot of collectors and investors.

You can expect a wide range of autographed sports cards and Prizms from the NFL’s top players. Here at Giant Sports Cards, our football card shop will have a wide variety of football card products for your collecting and investing enjoyment. For example, we’ll offer:

If you’re looking for high-risk, high-reward collectibles, you’ll want to keep an eye out for Panini Flawless rookie cards. This is an ultra-high-end product that serious collectors have come to love. The best cards to collect for profit, as shown above, can be very apparent or somewhat of a gamble.

GETTING YOUR CARDS GRADED

Once you’ve made your picks, you’ll want to have some of your sports cards graded. The biggest grading company around is PSA.

You may also consider the next largest grading company, BGS. Next in our group of top grading companies is SGC.

The process begins with you submitting your raw or ungraded trading cards for evaluation. The grading company will give your card a score of 1 to 10. Once the grading company has completed its assessment, they’ll enclose it for you in an attractive slab.

When grading your card, there are few things the grading company will consider. For example, they’ll examine your card’s surface (stains, marks, creases, etc).

They’ll also check the corners of your cards. In addition, the grading company will check the quality of the edges. Finally, they’ll assess how well the card is centered. This will play a crucial role in how much you can actually make if you’re looking to invest in the best cards to collect for profit.

GIANT SPORTS CARDS LIVE BREAKS

As promised, we’re now going to let you in on our sports card shop live breaks.

Savvy card investors can gain a competitive edge by checking out Giant Sports Cards' live breaks. During our live breaks, we “break” open boxes and cases of sports cards right in your living room—online that is.

We stream our breaks right over our Facebook group and our YouTube channel. You’ll want to make sure that you turn on your notifications so that you’ll know when we go live.

With our live breaks, we strive to provide you with the best possible experience so that you can stay on top of the best cards to collect for profit from top releases. We bring honesty and integrity to the hobby. By tuning in, you can feast your eyes on an awesome mix of football, basketball, and the best baseball cards to invest in as well.

Most of our live breaks are ultra-modern trading cards from the current year. Sometimes, however, older products will break out. On occasion, we’ll even do some throwbacks.

Our live breaks might include anything from cases to mixers. Mixer live breaks are a great way to get a look at a variety of different sports cards.

Usually, we host our live breaks two to four times a week, giving you plenty of opportunities to snatch up the best collectibles on the market.

A WIDE SELECTION OF SPORTS CARDS FROM YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS

Now you know more about the best cards to collect for profit. You’ve also learned more about our trading card store and live breaks—the top event for serious collectors and investors.

Collecting is fun, but investing is even better! Our trading card shop has everything you need to build your portfolio of sports cards.

With our selection of sports cards, there’s something for everyone. We have one of the best selections of sealed sports cards products on the market, so you can find your favorite player or team. Whether you’re looking for baseball, football, basketball, soccer, or hockey, we have what you need.

Start building your collection today. Check out our great selection of sealed boxes and cases to get all the best cards to collect for profit.