The popularity of trading cards ebbs and flows, but recently they have come back in a big way. You might have noticed during the pandemic that some stores even had to limit how many packs of cards a customer could buy in one shopping visit. This is because the pandemic saw a huge increase in interest and demand for both old trading cards and newer trading cards. If you have a few decks stashed away, you might be interested to know exactly how much that rare card might be worth to a collector. When it comes to selling collectibles of any kind, pawn shops are often your best bet. Pawn shops that buy and sell trading cards will often have the best appraisal tools available for your cards based on their rarity and condition. Similarly, if you are a collector looking for that special card, you should always check local pawn shops before buying online. Pawn shops are more likely to sell cards for their exact value, whereas online shopping can lead to greatly inflated costs set by the seller. If you are in the NYC area, Paradise Pawn sells and buys various trading cards including Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, etc.
Do All Pawn Shops Buy & Sell Trading Cards
Not all pawn shops buy and sell trading cards, and even pawn shops that do buy and sell cards don’t take all types of cards. For example, many modern pawn shops like to work with Pokemon cards because there is a robust appraisal system for these cards. It is much easier to appraise the value of a Pokemon card compared to appraising a baseball card for example. So it is important to check with your local pawn shop to find out what cards they take.
How Much Are My Old Trading Cards Worth?
It is impossible to be on the internet and not hear about those one-in-a-lifetime stories where someone discovers they have a secret rare item worth a million dollars to a collector. Unfortunately, the only items worth a million dollars are the items that are so rare a collector has no choice but to pay a million dollars. A trading card is going to be evaluated based on a few key factors. Authenticity, rarity, demand, and condition.
First and foremost it is important to make sure that your trading cards are legitimate. Many people have noticed the value of “rare trading cards” and made counterfeits. If you notice that the card material seems odd, there are spelling errors, unusual fonts, or other signs that your cards might not be legitimate that would be an issue.
Generally speaking the rarer a print of a card, the more it will be worth to a collector. For example, in the Pokemon Trading Card game holo (holographic) cards are worth more than standard cards. Pokemon even stamps the rarity of a card with a symbol in the bottom right corner. A circle means common, a diamond means uncommon, a star means rare, and three stars would mean very rare. Cards also might feature a print date. Older cards that are no longer printed are also usually worth more. A
common card printed from the first edition might be worth more than a rarer card from the current edition.
This might be a bit harder to measure, but a pawn shop or a collector is going to value something based on how much demand there is for that specific card. You can check historic sales to see what specific cards have sold in the past.
And of course, if that super rare card is ripped or damaged, that is going to affect the cost. Collectibles often need to be in mint condition in order to be valuable.
Sell/Buy Trading Cards in NYC
If you live in New York City and are looking to sell or buy trading cards like Pokemon cards, give us a call. We provide pawning, selling, and buying services for NYC and beyond at our locations in the Bronx.
