Collect, trade & grade: All about trading cards
Welcome to the wonderful world of trading cards! Collectors, investors and enthusiasts alike all know the pull of trading cards. These small pieces of cardboard can unlock childhood nostalgia, be a symbol of pride and support for your favourite sports team or even be worth a serious amount of cash.
From the thrill of the chase for that one grail card, to meticulously growing your collection, the joys of trading cards are undeniable.
The main types of trading cards
There’s a huge variety of trading cards online to collect. The ever popular sports trading cards feature players from a range of sports, including NBA, AFL, NRL and baseball. Sports trading cards are the perfect way to get into the sporting season and show off your support for your top team or player.
Collectable Card Games (CCGs) are another big category that most notably includes popular games like Pokémon TCG, Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!, which can all be played as well as collected. While many collectors search for graded cards or rare singles in top condition, others focus on building the best deck of cards to play with or simply love the feeling of cracking open a fresh booster pack.
Non-sport trading cards are a rapidly growing category that encompasses all sorts of cards across pop culture, history, media and more – whether you’re after a PSA 10 Justin Bieber or a vintage 90’s Marvel card, there’s something for every collector on eBay.
What are graded trading cards?
To many trading card collectors, the condition of the cards matter. Grading services for trading cards, such as PSA and Beckett, give cards a rating on their physical condition. If you’re collecting trading cards for their value, cards in pristine shape are the way to go. When buying trading cards online, graded cards make it easier to know exactly what condition the card will be in.
For those collectors who are more interested in completing a set, perfecting their deck or finding a certain chase card, un-graded or raw trading cards are just as worth investing in.
Sealed packs versus singles
Boxes, cases, packs and single cards, even in one single set there’s so much to choose from! If you’re after a specific card, finding it online as a single means you’re guaranteed the card that you want. However, the satisfaction of pulling a rare card from a pack is a thrill many trading card enthusiasts chase. The choice is all yours, with a huge range of sealed packs and individual trading cards on eBay.