How to Determine Baseball Card Values

Who is your favorite amongst all the baseball stars? Is it Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, or Hank Aaron? How crazy are you about the national game of USA? How do you show it? Apart from knowing all the statistics of your baseball hero and never missing a game, I am sure that at least for some of you, your passion and craziness would have manifested in the form of owning baseball cards. But it does not stop at that now, does it? After all, collecting cards is lot more than just a simple hobby.

For true collectors, baseball cards have a great value. They are traded with other fellow collectors like stocks in the market (and with equal enthusiasm too!). To trade these cards however, one needs to first know their individual values. There are a few easy and reliable ways of doing this. Given below are a few simple ways of finding out the value of your baseball card(s).

With the Internet being a fantastic source of information, you can get the card values from several different websites which are dedicated to this purpose. There are also some specific sports magazines which can provide you with the values of your baseball card(s). The following are some of the popular and reliable sources which you can use.

Source #1: Sports Lizard

Although the name of this website might seem weird, Sports Lizard is actually pretty useful for finding out the value of a baseball card. You are not required to register or pay for this service. This website is easy to use, and allows you to find the value of your baseball card absolutely free of cost.

In case you want to check the value of the exact copy of your card, Sports Lizard also provides you with the option to pay and become a premium member to avail this facility. Once you are done checking the values, you can quote them to fellow card collectors, and also verify the same provided by them.

Source #2: Tuff Stuff

Another option that you can use to find out the value of your baseball card is the sports magazine Tuff Stuff. This magazine comes out monthly, and you are required to either subscribe to it or purchase a copy from your local bookstore. Clearly, therefore, this option isn't free (unless you can borrow it from a friend who has it).

However, if you visit the Tuff Stuff website, then you can use their online 'Price Guide' to get up-to-date prices of the baseball cards for free.

Source #3: Beckett

It goes without saying that Beckett is one of the most used price guides for baseball cards. It is not exactly free, but you can get the values for minimum prices. You can pick up the magazine at a sports card shop or a major bookstore. Beckett can be subscribed to online as well, which can give you access to their monthly as well as 'Plus' guides. These have more number of cards in them than the ones given in regular monthly guides.

The above three are the big players in the evaluation of baseball cards. There are a few other good ones, like Sports Collectors Digest, VintageCardPrices, and SportsCardDatabase. One more option is to subscribe to a price guide service, such as the ones available on eBay and other major auction sites. If however, you feel that you cannot rely on websites and e-magazines, you can just walk over to your nearest sports card shop and directly ask for a good baseball card-value guide.

Do note however, that a given card value does not necessarily mean that a person can sell his/her cards for exactly the same price that has been quoted. One must keep in mind that, one will get the price which the buyer would be willing to give. The main idea behind knowing the value of one's card is to understand what it is worth, and thus, avoid being fooled into selling it for a much lower price.