Sports card prices peaked in August after 5 months of hyper growth and when Covid got people sitting in front of eBay all day and the fact that people bought up cases of cards like was toilet paper in March amd April in the peak of it.
Fractures in the sports cards market are showing as prices are falling faster than they went up and Panini seems to be set to ship out next year's cards in time for the 2020 holiday shopping season. Laker's championship cards are available for preorder now on NBA.com.
Another dynamic of the trading card market is graded cards craze. Only two very reputable companies exist, PSA and BGS. There are some early cards graded by BCCG and SCG, but should stick with pre war cards if dealing with the latter. However, as with any company, they want to increase revenue and profit. In turn, the numbern of graded cards saturating the market is getting to a point where weaknesses in the quality of grading has come to question as well. So many modern cards graded as 10, typically the top grade have faults or are off center. The liberty given to early pre war cards due to their scarcity but now litters the collector's market.
I am a strong believe a modern uncentered card even if proportionate should not get a 10. Period. This is further backed by the fact that uncentered sports cards sell at nearly half the price of a gem mint centered on both sides card.
Fastforward to now. Prices are falling and those who have hobbied in cards for years finally have the chance to offload some of the millions and millions of cards sitting in people's closets and get back into the sports cards collelctibles market.
Like any fad, and at current levels that is what it seems like today, it will ease and prices will return to earth. So pick your cards wisely, pick players you like and are collectible. So when you realize they may be just worthless pieces of paper they still hold some value, so if prices drop to the levels of 5 years ago it is easier to wait for the next tulip mania.
