Hobby Education: Mistakes Every Card Collector Makes
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Collecting cards is one of the most enjoyable hobbies you can pursue. In the last few years, it has also become one of the most expensive. Beyond the cards themselves, the hobby teaches patience, rewards research, and reminds us that personal value doesn't always align with market value.
When it comes to collecting, at some point or another, we all make the same mistakes. But that’s not a bad thing. In the act of getting burned by these mistakes, we become wiser as collectors and individuals.
Below, we’ve recapped a few of the biggest mistakes we all make at one point in our collecting journey.
Buying Anything But Singles
If your goal is to collect certain players, you’re always better off just buying singles over packs, boxes, or breaks. The chances of you getting the player you want are slim, so singles are always the way to go.
It can look like everyone on social media is pulling “nukes” from hobby boxes or hitting grails on breaks, but you need to remind yourself that the algorithm is a survivorship bias machine pushing the biggest and best success stories to the top of everyone's feed.
It’s a tough lesson to learn, but sooner or later we all come to the same conclusion: singles are it.
Jumping On The Hobby Hype Train
Did you throw money at Matt Leinart cards back in the day? Or did you go all in on Zion Williamson just to see that market crash and burn?
Even seasoned collectors are susceptible to this mistake, albeit to a lesser extent. I was throwing caution to the wind for weeks, buying up Ja Morant cards after I saw his 52-point masterpiece against the Spurs in 2022. That one didn't pan out the way I’d hoped, but those L’s help keep me humble and serve as a constant reminder to focus on what players have produced over their potential.
Overconfidence In Your Collectibles Knowledge
Did you ever hear about that study asking drivers asking how good of a driver they think they are?
The TLDR is that across the board, everyone thinks they’re an above average driver, but we know that can't be true. The same holds true for collectors. I know that my hobby hubris has led me to make some pretty heinous (or humorous) purchases.
I mentioned my Ja Morant purchases earlier, but when I was a kid, I traded away my Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson cards for Paul Pierce, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter cards. Don’t get me wrong, I still love those three players, but it's a little painful to think about what I gave up.
This also comes in another form: thinking you’re spotting a deal when in reality, you’re being had. There are a lot of similar-looking cards, and in the modern environment, non-numbered cards, it can be even harder to identify the short prints vs the commons.
This gets trickier still if you’re buying under time constraints. No one has time to find comps in 5 seconds, so falling back on your hobby knowledge can be dangerous in these situations.
It's one thing to pay a little extra at your LCS for a player you like, knowing that you’re also supporting a small business. But it's another thing altogether to think you’re getting a sweet parallel on a live break only to find out a few minutes later that you paid $200 for a $20 card.
Overpaying for raw (ungraded) cards
If you're new to collecting this mistake can be crushing.
Two of the exact same cards on paper, especially when they aren’t graded, can have VERY different values. Even two BGS 10s or PSA 10s can have very different traits and qualities that can really impact a card's value.
You don’t need to know everything about subgrades or the subtle nuances of what smart buyers look for when buying cards, but at the very least, you should know about the key criteria the grading card companies grade cards based on, and you should understand other factors that can impact a card's value.
I knew to look out for corner wear and surface scratches, but I didn’t know the importance of centering on both the front and back of a card. I also thought it was cool when a card had Jordan in the background, but I didn’t really pay much attention to rare inserts that featured Jordan that used to be affordable.
Trying to Collect Everything
Smart collecting isn't like Pokémon where you're trying to catch 'em all. Far from it.
Smart and intentional collecting requires focus, which is one of the hardest things to maintain in the hobby. Especially when you mix in some of these other deadly collecting sins, like overconfidence. It's extremely easy to go broke as a result of death by 1,000 bids.
Seller's Remorse
All the above focus on the buying side of the equation, but sellers make rookie mistakes too.
The biggest selling mistake I hear about is regret regarding the sale. This regret can stem from seeing the card's value skyrocket after the sale or simply from emotional attachment, but seller's remorse is very real.
So much so that it's not uncommon for collectors to have some type of “Buyback list” of cards they regret selling and want to get back.
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Conor is a leading sports collectibles writer and market analyst with more than 100 published articles covering sports cards, Pokémon, auctions, investing trends, and hobby culture. A lifelong collector who entered the hobby in the early 1990s, Conor’s expertise centers on vintage and modern basketball cards, basketball icons, and iconic Boston sports memorabilia tied to legends like Larry Bird, Tom Brady, and David Ortiz.