There are several ways to ensure a profit on sports cards, and I'm going to share one that not many people think about.
Before we begin, I need to make sure you know of the Sports Card grading services that are out there. What these third party companies do is take your cards, assign a point system grade based on its condition, and return it to you in a protective case. Knowing the difference levels between perceived prestige in these services is where we can make some money.
For the most part people agree that PSA is the "best" grading service. Receiving a 10 on your card from PSA means that you can now command big bucks with the right players.
Let's take a look at a recent completed ebay listing for Ja Morant:
Just today (as of this writing) his Prizm rookie card in PSA 10 condition sold for $510.
Now, let's take a look at this same card, graded by a different company.
The same card in a 9.5 from BGS sold for only $205.50.
The first question you should ask is what's really the difference between 9.5 and 10?
The answer is nothing at all, in fact, many people in the sports card world that Beckett (BGS) is actually a harder service to get a great grade from. So what's the real difference? Prestige in the public's eye. And with that bit of knowledge, we can make some money.
What I will be doing is buying expensive cards that score high on BGS, crack open the case, and send it off to PSA for grading.
9/10 that card will come back as a grade of 10.
Sell the card and you have made profit. How much?
Well, we'll use rough math here for this one, since I don't have exact numbers when it comes to the ebay fees that will be paid, but we'll be close enough to prove the point.
$514.25 (Sales price)
-$209.50 (Bought price)
-$18.00 (for grading and shipping)
We're at $286.75 profit before ebay fees.
Let's just say that it's $250 after fees and that's being heavy on what they charge. With that number in mind, it should only take you 30 minutes or so to remove the card, prep it for shipping, and sending it on its way.
Not a bad income for a hobby at all.