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In my previous post, I mentioned 3 reasons to niche down on this personal finance blog. Unlike the sports cards blogs out there that talk in depth about the hobby, my focus for the new direction in this blog is to combine my two passions for personal finance and sports cards.
Sports cards are my favorite way to make extra income and this hobby has kept my financial portfolio and net worth a bit more diversified while keeping me sane. Let me explain..
What Sports Cards Means to Me Financially
- Sports cards provide extra income as a side hustle – buying and selling sports cards (aka flipping sports cards) can be scaled to what you are comfortable with. I have a full time job as do many in the sports cards community, so I limit the time spent on this hobby and the capital I put back in. I have explored the possibilities of doing this full time and almost bought a sports card shop several years ago, but realized that I enjoy this hobby because it is just that.
- Sports cards have been a great alternative investment – I have the typical retirement accounts as well as taxable accounts (such as a stock portfolio). I am also into real estate (buy, fix, rent/flip). That said, sports cards represents a more than decent chunk of my net worth (10-20%). I do have some invested in gold and silver(<1%), but sports cards by far outweighs gold and silver not only literally in weight, but more importantly in value and appreciation over the past 15+ years. It’s not even close.
What Sports Cards Means to Me Mentally
- Sports cards brings the nostalgia back – I always tell dealers and customers that I am a collector first, but I will not bypass an opportunity to make money. As a kid growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, the nostalgia factor is a big one, which is why the collector in me comes first. Back then I truly had no concept of selling and loved sports cards for the collecting. I still have some of that in me.
- Sports cards allow me to continue learning while being creative – I am continually amazed at the sports cards hustlers especially the younger crowd (mostly teens) because there is always a niche in sports cards that I never considered. I continue to improve negotiation skills by constantly working with buyers and sellers. In order to be successful in this industry, you must build a network. Networking was one of my weaker points both professionally and personally and this hobby has helped me improve. Without the network I have built, I would not be able to acquire some of the cards I have for my personal collection or resell cards that would take too much time to piece out individually.
- Sports cards lets me have some me time – although I have other ways to have personal time such as working out or listening to podcasts and audiobooks, I find comfort in dealing with sports cards whether it is browsing eBay or Facebook for deals, prepping cards to sell, talking sports cards in general, or organizing my cards to get ready for a show.
I would love to know how this community has benefited from sports cards.
