Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

[The GIGGAS]

I'm going to be selling a lot of my cards that I used to collect, and I want to make sure I'm not getting ripped off. Can anyone suggest a good guide for baseball card values? It'd be nice if there was some football in the guide too, but it's not required.

[NoleFan]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

Back when I was collecting (in the 90s) a Beckett was the price guide we used.

[billmatic]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

Back in the day, I remember having Beckett for football only, and Tuff Stuff because it had all sports in it.

[The Chef]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

Tuff Stuff has terrible pricing. Beckett is the way to go but they have altered the way they release their guides now and can be a pain. Beckett used to release a monthly guide, and they still do but rumor was the monthly guide was going to be more like Tuff Stuff with all sports listed and then every 3 months there would be a much more detailed guide available for each sport and only that sport. Keep in mind, if they did release a monthly guide with all sports in it, the sets listed and the cards listed would be much smaller and if something wasnt a high end card then it wouldnt be listed in that monthly beckett.

The other option is to go to Beckett.com, purchase the online price guides for like 2.99 a month or so and load your collection on there. It will keep track of the value of each card as long as you keep buying the guide each month online, not the paper version but the online price guide. It also provides checklists for every set in case you are trying to fill a set and you can sell your cards right there on beckett using their marketplace and they take a small fee somewhat similar to ebay. Let me know if you have any questions as I was using their website for close to a year recently.

EDIT- They have changed their web site since I was on last but it looks like the bulk of the important stuff is still there....

http://beta.beckett.com/

It appears to be 6.00 per month if you want to use the online price guide. The website is a little more confusing since Im used to the old one but all of the stuff is still there.

[Tomahawk]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

Beckett is the standard to go buy whether it is baseball or football. They do have two different versions now for both. One of them comes out monthly but mainly focuses on new cards and one comes out quarterly with more price data on older cards. The quarterly edition is thicker and more expensive....about $10.

Pretty sure you can find them in the Christiansburg Wal-Mart.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

I need to do this. We have a lot of rookie cards from various sports, I know for sure we have a Emmit Smith and Michael Irvin. I need to go through them.

[The Chef]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

Beckett is the standard to go buy whether it is baseball or football. They do have two different versions now for both. One of them comes out monthly but mainly focuses on new cards and one comes out quarterly with more price data on older cards. The quarterly edition is thicker and more expensive....about $10.

Pretty sure you can find them in the Christiansburg Wal-Mart.

Thats what I thought, I wasnt sure how much the quarterly one cost. I still think online is the way to go since its only 6.00 per month and you get everything given to you, not to mention a database to keep track of everything you have. To each their own.

[Tomahawk]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

Thats what I thought, I wasnt sure how much the quarterly one cost. I still think online is the way to go since its only 6.00 per month and you get everything given to you, not to mention a database to keep track of everything you have. To each their own.

Either one is fine. I think the online edition is best if you are looking at newer cards, but cards from the 90's and on back don't change very often so the quarterly magazine is the cheaper option. The online the database is nice, but it is not a big deal to me.

[fishepa]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

The only true price guide for card values is ebay.

[mgoblue]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

The only true price guide for card values is ebay.

QFT! I remember a friend got some Jordan insert back in the early 90's that Beckett said was worth 140 or something close and you couldn't sell it for more than 50 anywhere (back in the pre-ebay days we went to card stores...)

[The Chef]

Re: Sports Trading Cards Price Guide?

The only true price guide for card values is ebay.

To an extent but its also good to know what something is worth so you can establish a sale price and not screw yourself. I sold some cards on ebay in the past and got roughly 50% of book value on most but cards are hard as hell to sell unless you have some high end cards to sell in the first place.