This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
When a perennial side hustler reconnects with his boyhood hobby of sports trading cards, he brings in more than $20,000. Now listen friends, did you know that you could day trade sports cards? I had no idea. Like I'm very familiar with trading sports cards, baseball cards, basketball, football, et cetera. But I don't think I realized the short term trading value of such items, including a whole marketplace, multiple marketplaces in fact, which I'll tell you about here, several platforms that can facilitate the whole process.
So it really is a whole new world, which I probably say once a week, but that's what it is. It's a whole new world every week. I collected sports cards when I was a kid. It was a very analog process. Not only was there no internet because this was the dark ages, but also everything was done in person at large trade shows.
Like that's how you traded sports cards essentially. And now because of these online exchanges, you don't even need to hold the product. So we have evolved even further since online auctions came around. Now you have these marketplaces where it's kind of like trading commodities, like on the Chicago board of trade or wherever else. Like you're buying and selling soybeans, but thankfully no soybeans actually show up at your door.
It's all a secondary market essentially. So I'm pretty sure we have talked about sports cards from time to time on the podcast, but I don't know if we've ever looked at it in this particular way, the idea of trading items without actually taking physical possession. And indeed in some cases day trading them, where you're holding them for very short periods of time. So interesting project for sure. I look forward to showing it with you here.
Sports card trading hobby becomes pandemic payday. That story is coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Brad de Comermon describes his life as one big side hustle. While he makes his living mainly as a finance coach, he also dabbles in modeling and speaking, two activities that both took a big hit in 2020. While looking for ways to pass the time in lockdown, he fell back onto one of his childhood hobbies, trading collectible sports cards.
Brad had never lost his interest in sports, but the trading cards had sat on the bench since his teenagers. While he knew there were a few vintage cards that were valued in the millions, he thought for the most part the hobby was child's play, not a way to make a serious income. Fortunately, a chance discussion with a childhood friend would soon prove him wrong. That friend told Brad about comc.com. The site stands for Check Out My Collectibles.
It's a card trading platform that allowed remote sales and storage of trading cards. In other words, you could purchase, store, and resell a card with them without it ever leaving their warehouse. Instantly intrigued by the concept, Brad set himself a 30-day window to learn all there was to know about the world of trading cards. If after that time was up, he felt like it was a home run idea, he would throw himself in. If not, he'd forfeit his free agent rights and move on.
He monitored baseball, basketball, and football player cards for the next several weeks. He noticed what sold frequently and what kind of cards were fetching high prices. He also kept an eye on well-known players and averaged out the cost of their cards, then noted if one listed or sold under that price. By the time Brad neared the end of his research period, he felt even more excited about the idea. By looking at listings for certain cards, he quickly developed a hunch about those that were good and those that were not so good.
For example, Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. Brad had a sense that this would increase the value of cards for other players on the team, and he was right. By the time his 30-day limit was up, he had the confidence to give card trading a shot, starting at the budget price of $100. Although it wasn't quite the big leagues for Brad, it was still game on. He purchased a card for $2, then almost immediately sold it for four.
Although small, it signified a 100% profit. Over the coming month, he traded up to more expensive cards in hopes of making larger profits, and he learned a lot of tips on the way. The first thing is that the rookie cards of almost all players will be their most valuable. In fact, Brad thinks that more than 90% of trading value happens with rookie cards. There are some exceptions.
For instance, someone like LeBron James is such a big name that a lot of his cards are desirable. However, for most players, the rookie cards are where it's at. Anything else will be benched. He also learned about other platforms. COMC was a recommendation for beginners, but there was also alt trading, slab stocks, and of course eBay.
Each platform skews toward different types of cards, as well as different buyers. The importance of grading cards was Brad's next lesson. Grading a card is another way of saying that it's appraised for quality. Cards in mint condition fetch a lot more than faded or torn cards. And to highlight how much difference professional grading could make, Brad purchased a Kobe Bryant card for $10, then had it graded by a professional company for $25.
He ended up selling it for $1,000, an even better profit margin, of course, but also a lot more money in absolute terms. Ultimately, Brad discovered that trading sports cards, like trading almost anything else, is about supply and demand. The difficulty is that both these factors fluctuate depending on how well a team or player is doing, what's happening in the media, or even just general public perception. He also figured out that prices dropped during the off-season, so he could buy them more cheaply then, and then sell them during peak season for a nice profit. Luckily for Brad, he is a sports fanatic and follows the industry closely.
That helped him develop a sixth sense for what cards would do well and increase in value. And his keen eye for value helped Brad sell over $20,000 worth of cards over the last 12 months. That's been enough money to cover his living costs while his other work has been quiet. But the best part is Brad feels like a kid again, is actually making money while following his favorite sports teams. Pretty cool, huh?
As I said, I don't think we have ever looked at short-term trading of sports cards. I've always thought them as something that can be traded over time, but not necessarily very short periods of time. So here are a couple of tips from Brad. Brad says sports card flipping is a very nuanced hobby that is evolving rapidly. Because of that, my number one piece of advice is to dive into the learning side for three weeks straight without spending a penny, which is of course just what Brad did.
And he also has a YouTube video on this. We're gonna link it up in the show notes page. It's got more than 100,000 views. So there'll be lots of details there. But he also says learn the different platforms and find the niche that suits you best.
There are platforms for mostly day trading, which is good for in-depth knowledge on players, and platforms for buying hidden treasures, which is good for scavengers looking for unique cards of all-time grades. So lots of stuff you can dig into there if you're interested. And remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Today's show notes, including links to all those platforms, Brad's YouTube video, anything else I mentioned, will be at sidehustleschool.com/16061606, also known as 1606. Thank you for joining me today.
I hope you'll come back tomorrow. You can follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
