I’m back with ANOTHER 6 WAYS NOT TO LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY IN SPORTS CARDS to help protect new and old collectors and investors alike for the eventual downturn in this en fuego market. Whether it’s next week, month, year, or decade, this glorious ride can’t last forever… and I want to help aid your buying decisions to increase the probability that you’re not the one left holding a bunch of depreciating cardboard.

Let’s get to it.

#1 – Use an eBAY snipe app.

If you buy a lot of sports cards on eBay, don’t want to fall victim and lose a bunch of money to shill bidding, and don’t have time to input that last second bid on eBAY auctions, stop reading this article right now and go download an eBAY snipe app. RIGHT NOW.

Snipe apps allow you to set a maximum auction price to automatically bid for you in the closing seconds of an auction so you don’t fall victim to unscrupulous eBAYERS that bid up their own cards — shill bidding — from dummy and friend accounts. Dummy and Friend. Awesome sitcom title.

There are many snipe apps, but I use myibidder. It’s made my eBay life much simpler and cost effective.

#2 – Don’t buy non QB football cards.

Can you make money flipping a hot running back, wide receiver, or the occasional tight end if you time it right? Sure. But all the long term gains are in the quarterbacks, baby. Brady. Brees. Rodgers. Mahomes. Montana. Marino. Manning. Not Eli. And whatever other quarterbacks you want to roll the dice on from the 2018, 2019, and 2020 draft classes.

#3. Diversify your sports card investments.

Break down your sports card investments into 3 disparate risk categories to limit your exposure. I call it THE THIRDS METHOD to sports card investing and collecting. I’ll use basketball as an example. I invest a third in my Legacy category. These are retired HOFers and future HOFers with expensive, but safe investment floors that won’t result in you losing your proverbial shirt. This is where you’ll find the likes of Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Shaq, and Tim Duncan.

The next category is Legacy-in-Waiting. These are certain HOFers that are still writing their stories. This is where you’ll find the likes of Lebron, Steph, and Kawhi.

And finally we have the Young Studs. Giannis. Luka. Zion. Tatum. Ja.

These are the sports card versions of tech stocks. They are blessed with unlimited potential… and expensive downside risk if they don’t live up to the hype due to performance or injury. History has shown us that a select few will matriculate to Legacy-in-Waiting and eventually Legacy status, while most will become mere hobby footnotes with middling values. I thought Stephon Marbury and Stevie Franchise were going to be the next big thing. They… ahhh… weren’t.

Here’s to hoping you guess correctly and your stallions turn into championship winning Hall of Fame fan favorites.

#4 – There’s only 2 types of baseball rookie cards worth investing in.

You only want two kinds of baseball rookies. Their first Bowman Chrome prospect rookie and prospect rookie auto, and their first Major League rookie releases that usually come out the year they make their major league debut.

Let’s take one of my favorite young baseball players, Fernando Tatis, Jr. as an example. Speed. Power. Passion. He’s got it all which makes his 2016 Bowman Chrome base and auto fine investments in my estimation.

As are his various 2019 Major League rookie card releases.

But don’t waste your time or money on his 2nd and 3rd year prospect cards. These cards are life sentenced to an unprofitable purgatory between his first prospect card and his first true Major League rookie cards.

From an investment perspective, skip all of his 2017 and 2018 prospect releases and focus all your Fernando Tatis, Jr. investment dollars on his 2016 Bowman Chrome releases and 2019 Major League rookie cards.

For a thorough perspective on Bowman Chrome 1st Prospects and identifying and targeting true baseball rookies check out one of my favorite hobbyists, Philmington, and his infotaining dive into these topics below.

#5 – There’s no such thing as a bad deal if you profit!

Congratulations! You made money in the hobby we love. Now go take that profit and invest it in another hidden gem to make even more profit.

Stories of seller’s remorse can be entertaining conversation.

But don’t let seller’s remorse take your eye off your next shrewd investment. If history has taught us anything, it’s that no one can predict championships, injuries, or a player’s development… especially professional talent evaluators. Every draft in every year in every sport is littered with bad decisions. Bowie before Jordan. Trubisky before Mahomes AND Watson. Every 2000 QB prospect before Tom Brady. The Minnesota Timberwolves drafting two point guards in the top 10 of the 2009 draft and neither of them being named Steph Curry.

The unknown is what makes sports card collecting and investing fun. Embrace it and enjoy the ride.

#6 – Insure your sports card collection.

I’m going to go boring dad on you for a minute. If you’re hobbying hard, doing much more than ripping a few retail blasters here and there, protect yourself with insurance. It’ll give you peace of mind outside a nuclear explosion or an act of war. Both of which are definitely not covered in any policy. But let’s be honest, if either or both of those events happen, we have much bigger fish to fry. I insure with the Finkelmeier Insurance Agency. They are the largest collectibles insurance agency in the United States.

There you have it. ANOTHER 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, check out the Freddy Find YouTube Channel or click here.

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