A few words on Collecting Sports Cards

Collecting baseball cards is fun, exciting, and educational, but more importantly, it can be great investment!

Steps:
Decide what you want to collect - new cards, old cards, or cards from one company, cards of one team or one player. The options and varieties are endless!

Start by researching about the card you want to collect on the internet. Check out prices on websites, like eBay. You can definitely get some great deals.

Go to a local baseball card shop or local merchant if you are looking for new cards.

Branch out and explore card shows and conventions. They usually have hundreds of dealers selling cards and other memorabilia. Sign up to be notified of upcoming shows.

Create "want lists" of cards you are looking for. This can make your card "shopping" much easier.

Subscribe to hobby publications such as "Sports Collector's Digest" or "Tuff Stuff."

Consider buying a price guide to use as a reference.

Remember to store your cards safely - Cardboard Boxes and/or polypropylene sleeves, or rigid PVC holders work well. If you want to "show" your cards or plan on looking at them often, polypropylene pages, which generally hold nine cards per page, per side, are often best.

Befriend local merchants that carry baseball cards and ask them to call you when new shipments come in.

Check out garage sales - you may get lucky!

The price of cards is affected by many things. In general, cards are more expensive if they are in mint condition, are old, are in rare supply and/or portray a star player (especially if it is a rookie card).

Pay attention to "condition." A card that is "like new" will be graded as Gem Mint. Card condition goes down from there, following this scale: Mint, Near Mint-Mint, Near Mint, Excellent-Mint, Excellent, Very Good-Excellent (VG-Ex), Very Good (VG), Good (G) and Poor to Fair.
Avoid storing your cards in extreme conditions - high/low humidity and direct light (sun or fluorescent lights) can hasten the decomposition and reduce the quality of your cards.

Set a budget before going into a card show or store - the buying frenzy can get carried away!

If you're looking for on an online auction, you may find one set of items listed under "baseball card" and another set listed under "baseball cards."

When choosing a 3-ring binder to store your plastic sheets in, make sure it is a D-ring binder, not an O-ring. With an O-ring binder, the rings will bend the cards when you close it. This will not happen with a D-ring.

Never buy a bundle of cards from a merchant unless they allow you to see the cards sometimes there are cards in the bundle that are poor to fair.