How to Find Out How Much Old School Football Cards Are Worth

Many football fans collect football cards as a hobby to track their favorite team and players. While the hobby of collecting can certainly be fun, it can also be worth a lot of money. Each football card that is produced is worth a certain amount of money based on several factors. Determining the value of your old school football cards takes just a little investigative work.

Things You'll Need

  • Football cards
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Instructions

    • 1

      Get your old school football cards graded. One way the value of a football card is determined is by the condition that it is currently in. The conditions run from mint to poor or from a high of ten to a low of one. The condition is determined by several factors such as the corners (damaged or straight), centering, color and overall appearance of the card. Send your football cards to be graded by a reputable company such as Beckett or Professional Sports Authenticator. The costs will vary depending on the number of cards you want graded, but it will be worth it if you ever try to sell your collection.

    • 2

      Obtain a football price guide. Companies such as Beckett and Vintage Card Prices allow users to look up the values of their sports cards based on their condition. Each of these sites require a membership fee. The fee structures range from a few dollars for a day pass to about $200 for a yearly pass, as of 2010. Other sites such as Rookie Stars offer a free online price guide.

    • 3

      Check the marketplace. Ultimately the barometer of a football cards worth is what someone else will pay for it. Because the internet has brought buyers and sellers together from all over the globe, the worth of football cards, and sports cards in general, has changed. No longer is a buyer restricted to the card show or card store in their town, he can also scour the internet for the best price. Check online auction sites such as eBay or the online stores within the Beckett and Vintage Card Prices to see what people are actually paying for the cards in similar condition. Then compare those numbers with the value you obtained from the online pricing guide. The high and low of those two figures will represent an approximate worth for your cards.