This year, I decided to re-evaluate my approach to autograph collecting.
When I first started in the hobby, my focus was 100% on collecting autographed cards through the mail (TTM). During the first year, I sent a lot of requests to athletes with high success rates. It was great going to the mailbox and getting 3-5 returns every day. However, the result was a lot of common autographed cards. The following year, I took more risks and sent to star players with little to no recent success. While the number of returns decreased, the quality increased significantly. The next year, I focused most of my efforts on getting star players TTM using different tactics. That year, I had a 25% success rate. I was able to add several dozen autographed cards from major athletes that never signed before.
As the hobby grew, so did the number of people sending TTM requests. The following year, my success rate dropped to about 10% on “long shots”. As more collectors had success and posted them on social media, the window of opportunity began to shrink. In general, it only takes a few people attempting the same long shot for no-one to get a success. The moment a player is flooded, the address or trick is dead. A perfect is example is Wayne Gretzky. For nearly two years, he signed TTM with very few people in the hobby knowing it was happening. You could send him a request and 2-4 weeks later, it would come back signed like clockwork. However, once people started sharing their successes on social media, it took less than two months for him to stop signing.
Last year, my success rate ended around 1% on long shots. Heading into this year, I wanted to make a change. In the years that I focused solely on TTM, my collection grew to about 1,500 low-end players and 2,500 bigger names. I sent about 2,000 of the bigger names to PSA to get authenticated. I was fortunate that all but two autographed cards passed authentication.
It is no longer smart financially to focus on long shots TTM. Instead, I started buying unsigned rookie cards of the all-time greats along with a mix of current star players. My long-term goal is to get them all autographed via paid signings. After researching the completed sales history on eBay for autographed sports cards, my view of the hobby changed. My current belief is that long-term, the only autographed cards that will see significant growth in value will be rookie cards of all-time greats (e.g. Hank Aaron’s 1954 Topps) and high-end rookie cards of future legends (e.g. Peyton Manning’s 1998 Topps Chrome Refractor).
I decided to start selling all of my autographed cards that did not fit the description above. In only six months, I sold roughly $50,000 worth of autographed cards. I re-invested a portion of the money and the rest went into something nice for my family. I still have about 1,500 raw autographed cards and 500 PSA slabs left to sell. Currently, my personal collection contains about 250 autographed cards. These have grown significantly in value. I am viewing these 250 cards as an alternative investment. My plan is to keep most of them for 10-15 years before selling them off. The remainder, we be passed down in our family trust. Hopefully, the remaining cards will stay in the family for generations to come.
Below are some of the lessons that I learned along the way.
Establish a purpose/goal for your collection
I wish my collection was more focused when I first started. Unless you are an autographed set collector, there is no reason to chase after everyone.
Find a friend to share the hobby with
When you get a huge return, your first reaction might be to share it all over social media. However, that leads to a bunch of hassle (e.g. random people messaging you for the address). In addition, it almost guarantees that you will never get that player to autograph another card again. There are dozens of TTM groups on social media with thousands of members. Most of the members are lurkers waiting to see a big hit so they can capitalize on it. Find a friend or two that share similar collecting goals and take some long shots. Share your successes with them and together you will grow a solid collection.
Do the math
Before purchasing an unsigned card to send TTM, look at what is available on eBay. It maybe cheaper to buy the card you want already autographed. If I am sending a card TTM, I aim to have the card be worth at least 2-3x more after it is autographed. This helps to justify my time and financial commitment in the hobby. Here are some tips for determining what cards to send TTM.
Don’t slab everything
There is a reason why PSA has a backlog of over 1 million cards waiting to be slabbed, collectors are sending in too many cards that should never be slabbed in the first place. Unless it is for your personal collection and you really want them slabbed, it is important to understand how much value is gained by having your cards slabbed. From my experience, if you want to get the maximum value for your collection, only slab high-end cards and autographs from top tier athletes that are hard to obtain.
For example, you will never receive top dollar for a raw autographed Hank Aaron rookie card because a buyer is unlikely to trust that both the card and autograph are real. There is too much risk involved so you will only get a fraction of the full value. However, if you have an autographed Ryne Sandberg rookie card, you can maximize your return on investment (ROI) by selling it raw. Here are some tips for determining what cards to get slabbed.
Lookout for arbitrage opportunities
I lost count the number of times that I have been able to purchase autographed cards on Facebook only to flip them on eBay for at least 2-3x the value. I believe this happens for two main reasons: 1) sellers on Facebook need money fast and aren’t willing to take the time to slab their cards and 2) the majority of TTM collectors don’t do the math or take the time to understand the value of their collection.
Keep upgrading your collection
At first it was hard to let go part of my collection until I saw what I was able to build in its place. For example, I was able to sell ten raw autographed base cards of Eli Manning ($20 each on average) and three raw autographed rookie cards ($100 each on average). I took the $500 from those sales and purchased a 2004 Topps Chrome Refractor Eli Manning rookie card that I got autographed at a paid signing for a total investment of just under $200. I believe that the raw autographed base cards will never be worth more than $20-30 and the low-end rookie cards will probably max out at around $150 once slabbed. However, the high-end rookie card that I upgraded to, already has a recent sold comp at $1,000.
eBay is both your best friend and your worst enemy
When I decided to start selling part of my collection, I created a Facebook page to showcase my collection and generate sales. While I had success doing this, it took a lot of effort. I shifted my focus to eBay and kept my Facebook page to promote new listings and connect with other collectors. Occasionally, I will still get a sale from Facebook before I list on eBay but overall eBay performs better. If you are interested in seeing my listings, here is my eBay profile.
From my experience, the best way to generate sales quickly at fair market value is doing 10-day auctions. Besides the fees, the biggest downside of eBay is that they provide little support for sellers. Most of the time, eBay will side with a buyer when a dispute occurs. There are buyers that are looking for ways to scam you, so you must be careful. It is important to weed out as many bad buyers as possible. Fortunately, there is a Facebook Group dedicated to exposing scammers and that is a great resource for finding buyers to block on eBay.
Have fun
As you build your collection, it is likely that your effort will waver, and your focus may change. When I started, I never thought I would sell any of my collection. Nor did I think that I would have some of the higher-end cards that I currently own in my collection. Regardless of what you do, have fun! Personally, I am enjoying the hobby much more now that I am focused on collecting the all-time greats that I grew up watching. While at the same time flipping mid-tier autographs for a profit. This allows me to fund my collection without having to put much new money into it.
I hope you found these tips helpful and I would love to hear what tips you have used for growing your own collection.