The Gary Vaynerchuk aka GaryVee post I am referencing is this one.
Let me start by saying that I am a fan of Gary’s. His career journey especially over the past 15+ years is incredible and inspirational. As a full time digital marketer, I experienced the digital evolution of what was happening from the mid-2000s to today. Because of this I believe Gary is a visionary especially when it comes to the digital world.
I know from the many comments made through various social media platforms that Gary’s post and his outspoken nature has resulted in a love it or hate it stance for many.
My thoughts on the GaryVee sports cards post citing direct Gary quotes
I do believe that in the next 24 – 36 months, we are going to see enormous growth in the sports card market. Even more than what we’ve seen in the past 2 – 3 years.
This is pure speculation. This is similar to speculating whether the stock market will continue its bull run or whether there will be a recession in the next 24-36 months or whether the housing market in certain areas will continue to appreciate at its current rate. This is pure speculation. We have seen explosive growth in the sports cards industry for more than 3 years and this industry can go in any direction. Recommendation: please be smart about what sports cards you buy especially if you intend to invest in sports cards. It is not as easy as one makes it out to think.
In the short term, an investment opportunity might look like buying cards for say, $40 each and flipping them for $80 a few months later.
Do not take this example literally. This is an extremely difficult thing to do. Unless you are very familiar with sports cards and your sports cards niche, buying cards for a certain amount and then expecting them to double a few months later is extremely risky. Recommendation: do not expect this flipping game to be easy. Start with your own research on specific teams or players. If you are new to sports cards and you want to start flipping, it is not always wise to start with the most hyped players (as of this writing, Zion Williamson in basketball, Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes in football, and Mike Trout and various baseball prospects in baseball).
In the long term, I think the best investments will be icons. These are the ones that will see growth over time. Too many people will take this next 2-3 year period and invest in young stars who, in 7 to 15 years won’t matter culturally. They’d be better off selling those cards in 24 months instead of holding them for a decade.
I absolutely agree. My best long term investments (5-10+ years) are the established players who are either already in the pro hall of fame or guaranteed pro hall of famers. My best short term investments (<3 years) are prospects and developing stars. I have luckily had more profit than losses in the short term investments, but I also study the players and market like a man man.
And to be clear, sports cards are the furthest thing from a “get rich quick” scheme. But just like real estate, the stock market, or anything else, there are inevitably moments when things burst in value due to supply and demand.
Again absolutely agree. Just like the other assets, sports cards have seen varying degrees of growth the past 10 years. Some have enjoyed this growth, but there are also many who have missed out. Sports cards should only be considered an alternative investment because of the high risks.
1. KIDS WHO FLIPPED SNEAKERS WILL START SELLING SPORTS CARDS.
I have never had any desire to be in the sneaker flipping game, so I am curious to hear from those to confirm if this is true. Contact me if you are a sneakerhead convert, so I can line you up for my future podcast. I would love to learn more.
2. NOSTALGIA: SPORTS CARD LOVERS FROM THE ’80S NOW HAVE KIDS.
Well not everyone who grew up in the 80’s have kids =) In all seriousness, I know from talking within the sports cards community especially around my age range that nostalgia is powerful….and expensive. Many in my age range now have money that we did not have growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. I could never have dreamed of obtaining a 1996/97 Topps Chrome Kobe Bryant rookie card (RC) or a 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr RC back when I was going to school. The first thing I did when I started making some money was to get PSA 10 (gem mint) versions of these “dream” cards. This passion and nostalgia for many of us is what brings out the collector in us.
3. SPORTS BETTING IS GETTING BIGGER
This is an interesting take by Gary and one that I did not consider. With sports betting getting more widely accepted and legalized, I can see how some will spill over to sports cards. I can say first hand that sports cards naturally makes me follow certain players and teams more closely and sports betting does exactly that.
Love It – expands the sports cards community
GaryVee has a large social media presence and a loyal fan base. What Gary is doing is bringing new people into the hobby. This hobby is about networking and whether you are in this hobby as a collector or as a flipper, the more people in this hobby the better. This just means there are now more people that we all have a common bond with and that is sports cards. People you might never have connected with are now a possible connection. You will be amazed at how some of my sports cards connections have blended with my professional connections. This is a great thing.
Love it – creates more sports cards awareness
Sports cards are still widely misunderstood and this might apply to many of my personal finance-only readers. Sports cards have evolved tremendously since the hey day of the late 80’s and early 90’s. What Gary is doing by spreading his belief about sports cards to his millions of followers is simply creating more awareness.
Hate it – gives the perception that sports cards flipping and investing are easy
Really the only negative about Gary’s post is that sports cards are not as easy as it seems and you do not need to have thousands of dollars. It is so easy to get caught up in some of the examples Gary gives and this is very misleading. Gary provides a couple investment examples (1986/87 Fleer Sticker Michael Jordan RC PSA 9 and 2013/14 Panini Prizm Giannis Antetokounmpo RC PSA 10) and these are near or above $1,000 per card now. Recommendation: start with what you know and what you research. You must understand why you are choosing to buy a player’s cards and no, saying because everyone else is doing it or Gary said so or eBay has a ton of them do not count. Know that you can start with a <$10 rookie card to hedge your bets.
Overall: I am a very open minded person and welcome any new life that is brought into this sports cards industry. There are already a lot of negatives…truly bad things happening in this hobby especially around trimming and scamming, so I prefer to think of Gary’s interest in sports cards as a positive thing.
