What Are The Best Places To Sell Cards?
A comprehensive guide to selling trading cards across multiple platforms, ranking them by effectiveness and discussing the pros/cons of each. The speaker recommends Instagram, Twitter/X, and Facebook groups as primary free platforms with good community engagement, while positioning eBay as a last resort due to high fees.
Summary
The speaker provides an in-depth analysis of the best platforms for selling trading cards, starting with Instagram as their primary sales channel. They emphasize the importance of high-quality photography using affordable tools like a $20 light box and card stand, and recommend removing PSA wrapping to avoid reflections. Instagram Stories are highlighted as effective for quick sales through 24-hour story sales. Twitter/X is presented as an emerging platform similar to Instagram but with lower engagement, using vouch threads for credibility verification. Facebook groups are described as highly liquid communities organized around specific card types (86 Fleer, 97 Metal, etc.), allowing rapid liquidation of bulk cards within days. Card shows are recommended for in-person transactions that eliminate shipping and insurance risks. eBay is discussed as a necessary but expensive last resort, with high fees for exposure but potential reach through dollar auctions and strategic pricing. The speaker also mentions alternative platforms like Alt, Fanatics Collect (which offers fee elimination with fan cash payments), and high-end auction houses (Golden, Heritage, Lelands, Robert Edward Auctions) for premium cards. Payment safety protocols are emphasized throughout, recommending PayPal Goods & Services over Friends & Family, with escalating security measures for higher-value cards. The speaker advises that cards under $100 have postal insurance coverage, $500 cards can use standard Pirate Ship insurance up to $5,000, and cards over $10,000 should involve in-person transactions or plane travel. Finally, the speaker reassures new sellers that building a following isn't necessary to start selling, as community-based platforms allow successful transactions even with minimal followers after establishing initial credibility.
Key Insights
- The speaker conducts most of their business on Instagram even with small followings, having successfully completed 86 Fleer deals with only 500 followers, indicating that platform engagement and community trust matter more than follower count.
- Facebook groups dedicated to specific card types (like 86 Fleer) can move tens of thousands of cards daily despite having only 6,000-7,000 members, demonstrating exceptional liquidity through niche community organization.
- eBay operates as a double-edged sword where sellers pay for exposure and reach through high fees, but high-quality imagery and accurate keywords are critical to success, contrasting with lower-friction platforms.
- Insurance coverage differs significantly by shipping method—USPS priority mail covers up to $100, Pirate Ship allows up to $5,000, but third-party insurance through UPS and FedEx has proven unreliable based on the speaker's experience.
- The speaker positions card deals over $10,000 as requiring in-person transactions or plane travel due to insurance limitations, establishing a threshold where digital remote sales become operationally risky.
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] Do you own cards? You probably do, and if you own cards, you've probably sold some before or you're planning to sell them. This is going to be all about the best ways. I'm going to look at all the different platforms, all the different options, pricing, and help you understand the best ways to sell stuff if you ever want to. Let's get right into Instagram. This is where I do the most business. Obviously, I've got a platform, but honestly, when I had 500 followers, I was still doing 86 Fleer deals on Instagram. It went very smoothly. Thing number one with IG, you [0:30] have to have very good photos of the cards. You don't want…
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