The sports card market continues to thrust its giant middle foam finger in the face of the pandemic and economic shutdown to reach new — seemingly daily — heights. It doesn’t seem to matter what singles or sealed wax collectors and investors buy as most card products have seen significant ROI in the short term. Is it sustainable at these levels? I don’t think so. Will collectors and investors have to be more shrewd with their buying decisions when the eventual sports card bear market hits in the coming months or years? The better question may be, why not be prepared anyway? Look, we all know collecting sports cards is a giant gamble. So why not play the odds and give yourself the best chance to win? I like winning. If you do too you’re in luck because your friend Freddy is here to help. Here are my 6 WAYS NOT TO LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY IN SPORTS CARDS.

Two quick notes before I dive into the list:

#1. I’m a collector and investor, but I want to see the cards in my pc rise even if I never intend to sell them. If you only collect your favorite players and teams, and don’t care about card values… this might not be the post for you.

#2. These are guidelines not commandments. There are exceptions to every rule and guideline, but probability tells us we shouldn’t count on those exceptions unless we’re the luckiest men and women on the planet. There is a time and place to break the rules and guidelines, but you need to understand them in order to know when to break them.

Enough preamble, on with the 6 WAYS NOT TO LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY IN SPORTS CARDS:

#1. Don’t buy unlicensed cards.

They look weird at best and like sh*t at worst. They are never likely to have the same profit potential as the licensed card of the same player in the same year. That means… NO Panini baseball and NO Leaf. I know. I know. You want Prizm baseball. But if you care about long term value, I recommend satiating your chrome baseball desires with Topps Chrome instead.

#2. Don’t buy draft pick releases.

We’re an impatient lot. We want those new rookie cards before the guys are even drafted. But do yourself a favor and shun these glorified college cards and hyper focus your money on the regular releases instead. These draft pick releases flop like a World Cup striker in the penalty area when the standard releases come out with rookies in their pro uniforms. Unless you’re the first to grip, rip, and flip, you’re more likely to lose money than make money. Even if you take the contrarian view that these will be valuable in ten to twenty years, please wait until the standard releases come out to scoop them up for pennies on the dollar.

#3. Rookie cards are king.

Duh. Freddy. Next you’ll tell us that Lebron James and Michael Jordan are good long term investments. They are btw. But it bares repeating in these mad, mad times where a 17th year veteran base card like the 2018-19 base Optic Lebron James is going for $200.

Don’t get caught up in this madness. When the sports card market, like all markets, experiences another downturn in the future, these veteran base cards are going to be hit the hardest. Unless you’re a financial masochist, protect yourself and steer clear of this inevitable wreckage.

#4. Don’t buy cards graded by companies other than BGS, PSA, and SGC.

It simply doesn’t add any value to your card, whether you’re buying or selling. I went into a detailed analysis of modern graded sports card values from BGS, PSA, and SGC in the YouTube video below. Please check it out if you’re so inclined.

#5. Buying the *RIGHT sealed wax ISN’T gambling IF you don’t rip it.

Ripping packs is WAY MORE fun and profitable when you pull that big ZION or LUKA… but in the instances when you get bupkis in the box, flipping that sealed wax for a smaller return is safer and more profitable. Breakers never lose, because the house ALWAYS wins.

#6. Don’t buy junk wax era singles in less than gem mint condition or junk wax boxes that aren’t from a sealed case and authenticated by BBCE.

If you’re going to invest in junk wax era cards, like I’m prone to do to feed my Ken Griffey, Jr. addiction from time to time, don’t buy anything below the gem mint tier… that’s BGS 9.5, BGS 10, BGS 10 Black Label, SGC 10 Mint, SGC 10 Pristine, and PSA 10.

There are simply too many of these cards in every condition, to make less than gem versions of them a safe long term investment.

On the sealed junk wax side of the tracks, I would only buy boxes from a sealed case — FASC — and authenticated by Baseball Card Exchange.

There you have it. 6 WAYS NOT TO LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY IN SPORTS CARDS. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these, and other ways NOT to lose all your money in the hobby we love.

If you prefer watching instead of reading your sports card content, you can check out this episode on the Freddy Find YouTube Channel, or click here.

As always, I’m Freddy… and you’re welcome.