Sports cards book chapter 1

A word of caution: Trading sports cards over the Internet involves providing your personal information to those you do not know. Parents and guardians of minors should be aware of all Internet activities of minors for whom they are responsible. Children should NEVER meet anyone they get to know on the Internet unless accompanied by their parents or guardians. Everyone should use caution when giving out personal information to people that they encounter online.

CHAPTER 1 - NOW THAT’S PROGRESS!

It wasn’t long ago that people wanting to trade sports cards really had their work cut out for them. First they had to wait for the weekend to roll around. Then they had to get into their cars and drive (sometimes several hours) to get to a card show. Finally, they had to haul their boxes of cards around at the show in order to hopefully do some trading! Although it was fun to trade with fellow collectors face to face, the process was very time consuming and the results were of course not guaranteed.

Fast forward a few years and along comes the Internet, a literal electronic trading pipeline with the ability to hook up collectors from around the world and facilitate non-stop trading day and night; all of this in the comforts of their own homes, now that’s progress!

The Internet provides many amazing resources for sports card collectors. When I first considered putting this book together several years ago, the Internet was still somewhat mysterious to most of us and it was hard to sort out fact from fiction with regard to exactly how this tool could actually be used to the benefit of sports card collectors. It has now been 10 years that I have been teaching and assisting collectors to trade on line. Although the Internet continues to evolve, I think that we can all agree that for those of us who use it, it is proven worthy of the title I have given it “Most amazing sports card resource ever”. If you are a sports card fan and you find yourself sitting on the sidelines not using the Internet to enhance your collection, it is time for you to jump in with both feet!

When I first got on-line I was only interested in purchasing sports cards from people. Thankfully it occurred to me that as a father with two young kids I needed to find a way to save a few bucks, so I started searching for people to trade with. I searched in the various online newsgroups and web sites and quickly found out how time consuming and unorganized the world of Internet sports card trading was. As a way to remedy the problem that I was encountering I decided to create my own web site where collectors could hook-up with other sports cards enthusiasts just to trade, hence the creation of Sportscardfun.com.

10 years later, I have taught literally thousands of collectors how to use the Internet to trade safely, some of them have even gone on to create trading sites of their own. I want to help you learn, as well. I have invested countless hours of research, development time, and hard earned money to create an Internet tool specifically for sports card traders. I know how to use the Internet effectively for sports card trading. I have written countless memos, trading tips and press releases; and I have attended card shows far from home. I have personally read and approved, or rejected by hand, hundreds of thousands of trade messages. I have helped thousands of traders resolve trade problems, communication problems and even technical problems. I have served as a “trader go between” when traders could not reach each other for one technical reason or another. I have even helped track down stolen cards and returned them to their rightful owners. ALL TO PROMOTE THE FUN AND EFFECTIVENESS OF TRADING SPORTS CARDS ON THE INTERNET!

The Internet provides sports card collectors the best tool available to share their passion for this wonderful hobby; it provides the “link” for collectors around the world to unite in comradery, friendship, and collecting FUN! Yet, the on-line world of sports cards is not without risks! I want to help you avoid these inherent risks and reap the bountiful rewards available to you and your collection online. Would you like to learn how to reduce the chances of being stolen from? How to communicate using email effectively? Learn the art of sports card trading negotiation? Knowing how to package sports cards properly to reduce the chances of damage is critical. We will cover these topics and a great deal more

Why Trade?
Online trading is a great addition to the long revered hobby of collecting sports cards. Through time, the trading aspect by which to increase a card collection has been lost. Buying new cards has been the normally accepted way to add on to one's set. Now, with the advent of the computer age, trading cards has once again become a way to increase the number and value of a card collection. That, along with the opportunity, to meet and become friends with a new world of like minded people has caused online trading to entice millions of previously uninterested collectors to the hobby

If you have collected for a while, you know that as cards become more and more premium so does the price. Even the less expensive cards can stress the piggy bank of young collectors. These are the people who represent the future of the trading card industry. Trading is an essential aspect of their hobby. The average adult collector is not wealthy and continually paying the higher price for products will lead to their inability to continue in the hobby. Out of necessity, some will quit buying cards. The solution to the problem, which allows the sports card Industry not only to survive, but to flourish and grow is by …TRADING!

Trading can significantly improve the entire sports card industry…

Trading actually entices a collector into purchasing more cards. Some might think that trading reduces retail card sales, the rational being that if people are trading they are not buying. The opposite has proven to be the case. Through trading, collectors are able to trade for the handful of sports cards that they need without breaking the bank. Once a set or player list is successfully completed (with relative ease) via trading, the collector is motivated to move on to the next set/list. The catalyst for more trading is in the purchasing of more cards at the local card shop. Trading is the positive reinforcement needed to keep a collector buying more cards. He consequently trades more cards, fills more sets/lists, and ultimately continues in the hobby for the long term.

Trading increases the value and usefulness of a trader's unneeded cards!
The book value of a baseball card (or other sports cards) does not usually mean you will be able to sell your card to your local dealer or on ebay for that listed price. Unless you have an incredibly hot card, trying to sell your cards can often be a disappointing experience, since buyers will often only give you a small percentage of what the sports card price guides say a card is worth. With trading however, the value of your card is often the same as the listed book value since many traders trade "book value for book value". Now, this certainly is not always the case, and often you must trade in your trading partner's favor in order to negotiate a trade. When trading with fellow collectors, your unwanted cards become a form of currency that can produce fantastic results.

Trading keeps the accumulation of unwanted cards to a minimum.
With trading, sports card collectors have a way to send back into circulation those boxes and boxes of cards taking-up closet space and extra bedrooms of their homes. Having a room full of extra cards that you do not want and do not know what to do with can be frustrating and can lead to a collector quitting the hobby. Trading away these nuisance cards stimulates renewed interest and motivation to continue collecting.

Extra sports cards

Trading is fun and is a great way to make good friends who share a common interest!
Start trading cards and make a friend. Maybe this is a little warm and fuzzy, but with our hectic lives, it is relaxing to connect with friends who share a common interest. Finding people with whom to trade provides even more feedback that is positive for collectors to keep buying and collecting. Plus, trading tends to be a bit more conducive to making friends since it takes finances out of the picture which normally goes along with buying and selling cards; It is sometimes easier to part with a card than it is to part with the all mighty dollar! Numerous long-term friendships develop simply because two people decided to trade sports cards. Often these friendships are purely via email and instant messaging, but I can assure you that they are deep friendships nonetheless.

So why trade? Remember the roots of collecting "trading cards". Some of us might remember what it was like to trade baseball cards with friends from our youth. Remember what it was like to get that card that meant more to you than anything, one that your trading partner happily traded away for a card he or she needed of their own. That is the experience we need to recall to keep our hobby flourishing. That is the joy of trading cards.

If you have not had the pleasure of trading and want to start, read on.

Chapter 2 - Tools Required