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eBay sees record 142% domestic trading card growth: Pokémon tops list as most popular category, Soccer sees 1586% growth

Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
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Oct 25, 2017
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This morning eBay published a "State of Trading Cards" report for 2021, which saw explosive never-before-seen growth in 2020. When we made our resource thread for Pokémon cards over in Gaming last September, we didn't have numbers to really back up what we were seeing. We knew the market was transforming and now we know exactly how drastic that transformation has been. There is a lot of information and editorial in the article, including a lot of graphics, which you can find here:

eBay's 2021 "State of Trading Cards" Report Spotlights Collecting Trends and Industry Predictions

Pokémon saw 574% growth while Football/Soccer increased by 1586%. Baseball, perhaps the most matured market, only saw a 73% increase. I encourage you to read the report because it's actually pretty good, even if it spells Mewtwo wrong. Forgivable.

Interest in trading cards is hitting new heights. After crunching the numbers for our first-ever State of Trading Cards report, we're excited to announce a 142% surge in domestic sales — selling more than four million more sports, collectible card games and non-sport trading cards in 2020 than in the year before — illustrating just how much the enthusiasm for this category has grown and the cultural foothold the category has taken.

To kick off this year's annual report, we enlisted sports business analyst Darren Rovell to forecast the future of the industry based on current trends. "Never have I seen trading cards show such a steep increase in popularity and value. Gross sales in basketball cards have exploded in the past year, increasing by more than 300%. And in just the past couple of weeks, there have been cards selling for more than $500,000 in the collectible card game and sports cards industry on the marketplace."
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"Last year saw an industry-wide surge in collecting and flipping trading cards due in large part to people staying home and finding new ways to spend their time, turning to cards while there was a lack of sports on TV. In addition, new collectors are entering the trading cards space as another avenue of investment to diversify their portfolios," said Nicole Colombo, general manager of Collectibles & Trading Cards at ‎eBay. "We anticipate that this trajectory will keep pace in 2021, and to meet this demand, we're continuing to build on new ways to enhance the eBay experience for buyers and sellers, especially in the collectibles space."
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I can only talk about this in the context of Pokémon, but is has been a massive year for trading cards of all kinds. I know this is something lots of people might be aware of, or have seen others talking about, but since we have so much data now it really goes to show you how much has has changed.
 
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Xterrian

Xterrian

Member
Apr 20, 2018
2,788
As an outsider, and speaking moreso to tcg rather than sports cards, it seems possible that this ends up being the millennial/gen z version of coin collecting.

Maybe that's a stretch, but the appeal of rare valuables will always be there. Doubly so if there's any nostalgia or attachment to it outside of just collecting.
 
Amalthea

Amalthea

Member
Dec 22, 2017
5,665
My biggest regret is tossing away all my 1st series Pokémon cards. I knew it would eventually come back and bite my ass but I still threw them away.
 
shinobi602

shinobi602

Verified
Oct 24, 2017
8,313
I kick myself every day that I literally gave away my full original, jungle and fossil Pokemon sets to a friend when I hit my teenage years. All in great condition.

Even had a bunch of Japanese cards including rare holos.
 
Bigkrev

Bigkrev

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Oct 25, 2017
12,292
Higher end/reserve list Magic the Gathering stuff has gone nuts this year as well. Underground Sea is like $1200 dollars for a cheap revised edition version now!
 
jman0625

jman0625

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Dec 18, 2017
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I have a sealed booster box of Unlimited version of Base Set 1, and I'm honestly tempted to open them all 36 packs and keep them around. Wish I waitied two years to sell the other booster boxes :/
 

Deleted member 24079

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
3,287
All of the cards I had as a kid I had traded around. I wish I still had the 1st series. I did buy 3 holographic cards for like $10 each for fun in 2009. I uh saw the prices on eBay and jumped ASAP. I can't believe I sold a shiny magicarp for $150.
 
peteykirch

peteykirch

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Oct 25, 2017
2,830
Emergency & I said:
How about my Derek Jeter rookie card?
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BUT IS IT GEM MINT 10 CONDITION???????????
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

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Oct 25, 2017
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Decapod 10
I have a bunch of original Star Wars and Star Trek CCG cards from the 90s and I can't find anyone local who even wants them. I'm not selling them online so I guess they will continue to rot in my closet. I had no issue selling all my old toys locally and of course video games are no problem either.
 
Cruxist

Cruxist

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,811
I have no idea if my Pokemon card collection is still around. I think my parents were hanging onto it until my younger brother went to college... which happened last year. I know they cleaned some stuff out. Shame, I could probably have made some cash.
 
MrHedin

MrHedin

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Dec 7, 2018
6,806
I wonder if my 1990 TNMT cards are worth anything.

*looks at Ebay*

Nope, ok in the box they stay for another 30 years.
 
sejny

sejny

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Oct 30, 2017
154
I collect vintage mtg. Prices were way down when the stock market was down in 2020, but now they are way up. A lot of it had to do with crypto doing well and Youtubers making videos cracking old sealed product.
 
Ottaro

Ottaro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,520
My heart goes out to every mcdonalds employee currently having to with put up with aggressive resellers trying to buy out their entire stock of happy meal toys.
 
Sain

Sain

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Nov 13, 2017
1,531
Yeah, this checks out. I've gotten into grading my old Pokemon cards and have even dabbled in buying some of the modern sets since the Pandemic started.
 
El Toporo

El Toporo

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Oct 25, 2017
4,121
This is the year Beanie Babies will make a comeback. We'll all be rich as kings. And not just any kings, but Mansa Musa rich.
 
Parch

Parch

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Nov 6, 2017
7,980
Basketball cards have gone insane. Most sports have.

This youtube guy...
Baseball Card Collector Investor Dealer
does a weekly recap of the highest priced cards sold on ebay during the past week for both modern and vintage as well as a recap of the Goldin auctions. Every week the all time highs are being beat.
 
Regiruler

Regiruler

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Oct 28, 2017
12,269
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High rarity yugioh stuff has been up across the board as well. I think most ghost rares got a price hike if I'm not mistaken.

And of course Mattel cyber dragon but that's just one data point.
 
Parch

Parch

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Nov 6, 2017
7,980
terrible said:
Please resurrect the value of early 90s hockey cards.
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Not going to happen. The junk wax era of the late 80s and early 90s killed the hobby for a bunch of years. It was grossly overproduced and except for the occasional rare rookie card, baseball and hockey cards from that era are basically worthless.
 
Parch

Parch

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Nov 6, 2017
7,980
Condition of sportscards have become critical. Cards graded PSA 10 can be double the value of a PSA 9. There are high end collectors who pay big for gem mint cards. Telling the difference between a 9 and 10 can be difficult to spot, and you're pretty much at the subjective mercy of the professional grading companies giving out the grades. It's not cheap to get cards graded.

The problem is getting a 10 grade is extremely difficult, especially for older cards. If you've stored cards unprotected in a box they're probably going to have wear or surfaces scratches and never get a 10. It has to be fresh from a pack to a holder with no off centering or printing flaws, and it still probably won't get a 10.
 
My Blue Heaven

My Blue Heaven

Banned
May 19, 2020
4,828
i probably have my series 1 pokemon set from childhood somewhere in my parents crawlspace but uh yeah i'm not THAT desperate for old toys lol
 
OP
OP
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
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Parch said:
Condition of sportscards have become critical. Cards graded PSA 10 can be double the value of a PSA 9. There are high end collectors who pay big for gem mint cards. Telling the difference between a 9 and 10 can be difficult to spot, and you're pretty much at the subjective mercy of the professional grading companies giving out the grades. It's not cheap to get cards graded.

The problem is getting a 10 grade is extremely difficult, especially for older cards. If you've stored cards unprotected in a box they're probably going to have wear or surfaces scratches and never get a 10. It has to be fresh from a pack to a holder with no off centering or printing flaws, and it still probably won't get a 10.
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In Pokémon I warn people to not even expect a 10 from a pack fresh card. While I have seen some unexpected success stories it's just better to consider the best case scenario a 9.

I collect 7s and 8s myself but I break them out of the holders.
 
Sain

Sain

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Nov 13, 2017
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Finale Fireworker said:
In Pokémon I warn people to not even expect a 10 from a pack fresh card. While I have seen some unexpected success stories it's just better to consider the best case scenario a 9.

I collect 7s and 8s myself but I break them out of the holders.
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This is especially true for modern sets, because the printing is all over the place from set to set, particularly in terms of centering. I believe XY Evolutions is noteworthy for having holographic cards (i.e. the 'Zard) being damn near impossible to get 10s in due to print quality.
 
terrible

terrible

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Oct 25, 2017
1,294
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Parch said:
Not going to happen. The junk wax era of the late 80s and early 90s killed the hobby for a bunch of years. It was grossly overproduced and except for the occasional rare rookie card, baseball and hockey cards from that era are basically worthless.
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Whelp, guess it's time for me to go back to banking on the entire world's supply of 90s hockey cards minus mine to spontaneously combust.

*shrugs*
 
Parch

Parch

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Nov 6, 2017
7,980
A Gretzky rookie sold for $1.29 million in december.
An autographed rookie patch card of Lebron James sold for $1.8 million in july.
A Mike Trout 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Superfractor autographed rookie card 1of1 sold for $3.93 million in august.
PSA 10 Micheal Jordan rookie cards are selling for over $725,000.
Every week there are several cards that regularly sell for six digits.
The hobby has gone insane.
 
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OP
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
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Oct 25, 2017
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Sain said:
This is especially true for modern sets, because the printing is all over the place from set to set, particularly in terms of centering. I believe XY Evolutions is noteworthy for having holographic cards (i.e. the 'Zard) being damn near impossible to get 10s in due to print quality.
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I am collecting cards from 2000-2003 right now and am having a hell of a time finding cards with even borders. Even highly graded cards in the 8s and 9s are more off-center than I personally tolerate. The margins on these cards are all over the place.

One of the benefit of selling graded cards is a lot of people just trust the grade and don't scrutinize print quality. I've definitely made that mistake a couple times with cards I now want to replace. The condition is great but the print quality isn't.
 
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