Sports Card Shops Near Me Find Them Here
Posted by Adam Hughes | Baseball Cards for Sale, Resources | 2 |
Are there any sports card shops near me anymore?
You might have wondered about that from time to time before turning your attention back to your phone or laptop.
After all
The online baseball card community is absolutely incredible lots of great people sharing stories about the old days and helping each other find the cards they need to take that next step forward in their collections.
And, boy, you can find just about anything you want for sale online, often at prices you wouldnt have dreamed of 30 years ago.
In many ways, the hobby is even better today than in its 1980s and 1990s heyday.
But sometimes, you just want to walk into a real store, talk to real people, and pick up real cards, right?
Yeah, me too.
Well youre in luck!
Whether youre looking for baseball card shops in your city or planning a road trip and want to do some advance scouting, the resources below will help you ferret out any real-life cardboard in your path.
So are there any baseball card shops near me anymore?
Lets find out.
How To Start A Baseball Card Shop
According to a report in Forbes Magazine, the Beckett sporting cards pricing guide ranks the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner baseball card at between $250,000 and $400,000, and one auctioned at $1.1 million in 2000. There are are literally thousands of cards worth over $1,000. While not as common as before the current economic downturn, baseball card shops can be found in most large cities. There is quite a bit to know, however, before diving into this challenging market with a shop of your own.
1.
Create a business plan that explains how you will acquire your inventory, your cash flow and expansion opportunities. This document can be used as a marketing piece to help you get financing.
2.
Establish an Employer Identification Number at a local IRS field office or at the IRS website. This allows you to deposit withheld taxes from employees and to open a business checking account.
3.
License your business with your state’s Secretary of State’s office and get a sales tax license and any other required state license from them. This office will send you a coupon book to use to send your monthly sales tax collections.
4.
Choose a location big enough to hold merchandising fixtures and tables to protect and display your cards. Be sure it has a warehousing area to hold overstock and room to expand.
References
Research The Local Shop Before You Go
The great thing about using the Google Maps tool above is that you can also do some quick research within it.
For example, if you’re wanting to buy vintage cards, some stores will carry more than others .
Or if you’re looking for a certain product, then some stores may have them and others may not.
After finding a shop you think looks promising, simply click on the red marker and a panel of information will open on the left of your screen:
There you can find information about the shop such as:
That last one is highly dependent on the quantity and quality of previous reviews from others.
But it’s still useful in helping you choose which store or stores to visit first.
And if they have a website listed then that’s a huge help and easy way for you to click to learn more about them.
Beckett also came up with a really nice series where they feature a “Card Shop Of The Week” so that collectors can get to know more about the store:
These short interviews with the store owner are a great way to learn more about what that particular shop offers.
And you also get a better feel for the owner, too, who is a key part of your experience as a customer.
You can follow the series here.
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Sports Card Shops Near Me
Is there still a sports card store in the area?
You may have sometimes pondered it before returning your focus to your phone or laptop.
In any case,
The community of baseball card collectors online is wonderful. Many wonderful folks share tales from the past and assist one another in finding the cards they “need” to advance in their collections.
And, hey, you can get almost everything you want online, often at prices you couldn’t imagine 30 years ago.
The hobby has improved significantly since the 1980s and 1990s, when it was at its peak.
However, there are times when you simply want to enter a genuine shop, interact with real customers, and choose real cards.
Yes, I agree.
You’re in luck, then!
The tools listed below can help you find any real-life cardboard in your path, whether you’re searching for baseball card stores in your area or planning a road trip and want to perform some prior reconnaissance.
Are there any baseball card stores still in my area, then?
Let’s investigate.
GOOGLE SEARCH
It may seem odd and unexciting to see Google at the top of the list for finding local card shops, but were living in the information age.
I mean, youre reading this very post online, right?
And 99 percent of the time, the card shops youre looking for will have some online presence, even if thats just a physical address that shows up in the Yellow Pages.
Just go to Google and type in baseball card shops.
BING SEARCH
You are, after all, reading this piece online.
YELLOW PAGES
Compare Your Cards To Sold Prices
Sports card buyers are a savvy bunch. They will use online price guide services and completed sales on eBay to see what cards have sold for and you should do the same. Compare the quality of your vintage cards to others that have sold in the past few months (look for the sold search option on the left side of eBay. That way youll know generally where the market is. Expect dealers to offer a percentage of that as they will need to make a profit.
Look for this option on eBay to see cards that have sold there.
Please dont compare your ungraded cards to sales of high grade cards on the platform. Only a very small percentage of cards grade at the 9 or 10 leveland theres no guarantee your cards will be graded highly after you pay the fees .
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The Rise And Fall Of The Local Baseball Card Shop
Almost 150 years ago, the first baseball clubs handed out carte-de-vistes to fans and opponents as mementos. From then until the early 1970s, the hobby of baseball card collecting remained relatively unchanged.Collectors would collect and trade their cherished cardboard intensely, but eventually move on to another passion in life and leave their cards in small boxes in closets and attics. The cards would eventually meet their demise at the bottom of a wastebasket one way or another.
A look at how baseball cards evolved from the 1870s to 1970s
But . They operated through mail order, from their homes by appointment only, placing classified ads in newspapers, and arranging to meet with sellers in person. The bravest of them opened up physical storefronts.
A small baseball card shop owner showing off some of her items — Photo: NY Times
To older collectors, the opening of baseball card shops proved that their hobby, once dismissed as childs play, had a place in their adult lives. To younger ones, these locations became places to paw through new packs and marvel at the vintage cards behind glass priced well beyond what their allowances could support.
The rise of the local card shop also proved to dealers and shop owners that plenty of demand existed for these establishments — and that baseball cards were becoming a valuable commodity.
The original Beckett Price guide from 1979 — a booklet that would change the hobby forever
What Is The Best Way To Sell A Baseball Card Collection
There are several ways to sell your baseball cards, both online and in-person. Many of the companies that do appraisals may offer to purchase your baseball cards as well.
There are also local places to sell your collectibles, including sports card shops and consignment stores. You might not get the best price from a local shop because they are typically trying to flip cards for profit. You can also try eBay or Craigslist, but beware of online scams.
No matter where you sell your baseball cards, make sure to first get their fair market value with an online price guide such as Beckett.
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Out Of 5 On Google Reviews
Dean’s Cards customers give us an almost unheard of 4.9 stars, out of a possible 5, on Google Customer Reviews! We are dedicated to providing great customer service, competitive prices, conservative grading, an easy-to-use website, actual card scans, one business day shipping and the largest inventory of vintage cards and raising our score to a perfect 5.
What Can Google Maps Do For Users
1.Build maps experiences throughout the world
Give users the same high-quality Google Maps experiences they know and love in over 200 countries and territories. Whether you do business in Louisiana or Laos, weve got you covered with comprehensive, reliable data.
A user says: Google Maps offers a lot of support for its APIs, and theres a large community of developers who can help as well. Google does maps best. Choosing it was an obvious choice.
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What Does Google Maps Do
Bring the real world to your users with customized maps and street view imagery.
1.99% coverage of the world
Build with reliable, comprehensive data for over 200 countries and territories.
2.25 million updates daily
Count on accurate, real-time location information.
3.1 billion monthly active users
Scale confidently, backed by our infrastructure.
Best For Selling Your Baseball Cards: Just Collect
Just Collect
Why We Chose It: Just Collect is a nationally recognized online auction house that offers free baseball card appraisals for modern and vintage cards alike. It will give you a market value and will even offer to purchase your cards or collection directly, skipping the auction process.
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Florida Baseball Card Shops
Big League Cards 920 State Road 436, Casselberry Square Shopping Center Casselberry, FL 32707 407-834-2273
A Collectors Paradise 4901 E. Silver Springs Blvd. #605 Ocala, FL 34470 Ocala, Florida 34470
All-Star Sports Cards and Comics 4310 NW 23rd Ave Gainesville, FL 32606 352 -372-2700
Bases Loaded 9300 S. Dixie Hwy.#103 Miami, FL 33156 305-670-9262
Champion Sportscards 800 Ernest Barrett Pkwy #13 Kennesaw, GA 30144 770-427-2220
Atlanta Sportscards 3904 N. Druid Hills Rd. #307 Decatur, GA 30033 993-6955
Find Baseball Card Shops Using This Tool
The map below should automatically update with card shops near your location:
Any red marker you see is a local shop that sells baseball cards in some form or fashion.
Some are dedicated entirely to sports collectibles, others sell a mix of comic books and sports cards, etc.
You may have to zoom in or out using the arrows in the lower right to see more or fewer shops.
The next step is to do a little research on each shop to see if that shop provides the services you’re looking for…
Also Check: Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide 2022
What Are The Benefits Of Google Maps
Never mind traffic jams
See ‘Perspective’ the internal environment of the stores
With street view and indoor maps, you can take a peek before you go in person.
Go the first step with right direction
The first step with right direction gets ahead of others in the following steps. You dont have to worry about missing an illegible ramp exit any more. Fine navigation and lane guidance will escort you all the way.
Give your finger a break
All you need to do is to save your home and office addresses in Google Maps, and the system will automatically fill them in as you type, speeding up your search. You can also allow the Google Maps app to access your Android and iPhone address books to quickly find saved addresses.
Google Maps for Android and iOS devices was released in September 2008 and features GPS turn-by-turn navigation along with dedicated parking assistance features. In August 2013, it was determined to be the world’s most popular app for smartphones, with over 54% of global smartphone owners using it at least once.
Listen to what others say
Torn between two businesses? You can start by looking at comments and photos shared by locals to make a more informed decision. Or even better, join a local guide program to share your favorite stores.
Best Baseball Card Shops
If you would like us to consider your shop or online store please email us your website along with pictures of your shop to info@goldcardauctions.com
Dons Sportscards 9900 Old Seward Highway, #8 Anchorage, AK 99515 907-349-8804
Grandslam Sportscards 3689 Rezanof Drive Kodiak, AK 99615 907-486-5400
Waynes World of Collectibles 907-929-7878 Anchorage, Alaska 99515
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So You Are Ready To Sell Your Collection
The first thing you want to do is make a list of highlights that you have.
Creating this list should not take more then 1-2 hours.
You will want to go through and pick out the more popular players. These are referred to as the Star cards. If you arent familiar with the collection look for on card autographs, cards in plastic holders, and things of that nature.
Common Cards
We do buy these and we buy them in bulk. If the majority of your collection is commons and doesnt exceed 50,000 cards you may not have much value
Late 80’s to Early 90’s Trading Cards
Most of the people that contact us have collections in this era. Its unfortunate that production was so massive that the value of these is next to nothing.
Please Make An Appointment
We dont always have someone in house with the ability to purchase cards. If you would like to come in, simply give us a call and well set you up.
California Baseball Card Shops
Hall of Fame Baseball Cards Owned and operated by Bob Newton. Based at 319 E. Foothill Blvd Arcadia, CA 91006 or by phone by calling 626-358-A-HIT.
Beverly Hills Baseball Cards Sportscards store selling collectibles, toys & figurines for baseball, basketball, hockey & more. Address: 1137 S Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 Phone: 278-4263.
Courtneys Sports Cards 1626 E Washington St, Colton, CA 92324 or phone at 824-2919.
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Your 1980s And 90s Cards Arent Likely Worth Much
Maybe you still love sports but collect autographs and other sports memorabilia instead of cards and were hoping to use the proceeds of your old cards on something else. Unfortunately, many baseball and other sports cards from the 1980s and 90s were printed in such high quantity to meet consumer demand that there arent very many buyers out there. If the bulk of your collection dates anywhere from the mid-1980s through the early 90s, you may have to simply sell them at a garage sale and take what you can geteven if its only a few dollars. Here are some other options that might work for those, too.
Higher end rookie cards of Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Derek Jeter, Mike Trout, Michael Jordan and a few other marquee players may have some valuebut unless you get them graded by a company like Professional Sports Authenticator Beckett or Sportscard Guaranty and are fortunate enough to score a 9 or 10, it may not be worth it. Again, seeking out other cards that have sold is a good way to get some idea of what they go for.
Find Additional Shops At Card Shows
Sometimes it’s not so much a physical store that you need but rather just a dealer or card buyer with whom you can meet in person.
For many dealers, it doesn’t make financial sense to maintain a physical store location.
But, it does make sense for them to attend local card shows.
And there are still card shows all over the country.
If you’re looking to buy or sell cards then shows can be a great way to feel out multiple dealers in one spot.
Talk to multiple people before you make a decision to buy or sell.
When you’re comfortable and have found a dealer that you trust then you can start discussing transactions.
Below is a look at a calendar that Beckett maintains for shows across the country.
Simply type in your city and state location at the bottom and any local shows nearby will be filtered.
You can find the calendar here.
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State Of The Sports Card Boom: After Sky
Dave Rivetto said he had a customer come into his suburban Detroit sports card shop recently and ask to buy an entire case of the new Topps Pristine Baseball product that had just dropped. Then he offered to buy the entire store for seven figures.
Grand Slam Sports Shop has sat since 1989 in the elbow of an unassuming, L-shaped strip mall in Sterling Heights, Mich., about a half hour north of Detroit. Its one of the few such shops left in the country.
No, was Rivettos answer, on both counts.
I could retire and walk away right now, but I told him no, he said.
Why turn down life-changing money especially as faint cracks begin to appear in the overall card industry?
The answer is simple: Because the sports card market in recent years already meant a fire hose of cash coming into Rivettos store as longtime adult buyers line up before the store opens to get their hands on the latest products. The money is simply too good to give up, even for more than a million bucks right now. Nor does he want to sell all of the best new cards to one buyer.
Its not about the money for me, its the principle. I need product for customers, not just one person, Rivetto said. He said he expects to make even more money when Topps gets the NFL and NBA card licenses back from Panini in a few years, because his shop gets more Topps inventory to sell.
Question is, how long will the good times last? Is the card boom starting to decline?
Why a softening in that segment?