Sharing my mistakes as an NBA Sports Card Collector/Investor

so you won’t do the same.

Let’s have a quick pause to give you a chance to close this piece and run away before you enter this “Rabbit Hole”.

<Pause>

So you’re still reading. I now assume that you’ve made up your mind and ready to go down the rabbit hole.

I now welcome you to NBA sports card investing and collecting. Since you’ve fortified yourself mentally, let me share with you some of my mistakes when starting this hobby.

1.Do your research! Prepare for some legwork

I can’t stress this enough. All of the mistakes I made happened because I was not knowledgeable enough to do sound judgment. All the information is already at our tip. Read articles, watch YouTube videos, and check eBay prices constantly or better yet subscribe to some apps that let you check the market. I never did any of these so I entered this labyrinth empty-handed.

2. Stay away from ripping packs and box breaks.

(TL;DR BUY SINGLES)

This is the biggest mistake I made when I was starting my NBA sports card journey. I started diving into NBA cards back in 2018. I locked my eye on Luka Doncic since I love international talents and I’m a #MFFL (Mavericks fan). I wanted to collect his cards and I’ve conditioned myself that I will only collect and invest in him but things got a bit crazy after I saw someone pull a 2018 Luka Doncic Panini Prizm Rookie Signature card on a box break.

I saw someone pulled this live and all logic was thrown out of the window

Soon enough, I saw myself spending Php 30,000 ($600) to Php 40,000 ($800) a month joining all the box breaks I can. I forgot that I’m here also for investing and investing alone already has a gambling factor and me joining these box breaks increases the gambling factor of what I’m doing. Imagine putting up Php 1,500 ($30) to P2,000 ($40) for a chance to win a Luka card when the probability of even landing the Dallas Mavericks slot in a random team box break is only 3.33% and the fact that I could’ve bought one of the chase cards , 2018 Panini Prizm Luka Doncic Base, for only Php 600 ($12).

I spent $60 to $80 to join box breaks when one of his sought-after cards costs around ($12)

3. Prizm is the king (When it comes to investments)

This is my second biggest mistake when I was starting. I never bought a 2018 Luka Doncic Prizm card because the Panini Select and Chronicles are more appealing in my eyes.

Look at this beauty!

I literally stayed away from the Prizm cards as I think other variants (especially Luminance) are more eye-catching and I didn’t know that Prizms are the most sought-after cards from an investment standpoint. A HUGE MISTAKE! Prizms are the most sough-after cards by investors hence it’s the variant that has the fastest growth in terms of price.

In a matter of weeks, the 2018 Luka Doncic Prizm Base almost doubled in price.

4. Set a budget and FOLLOW IT!

Collecting and investing in NBA cards is really addicting. We can call this the “cardboard” cocaine. So it’s easy to lose track of yourself. As mentioned above, I spent an average of Php 30,000 to Php 40,000 for about 4 months for this hobby. This is the most I spent on a hobby (I’m also a MTG player and Funko Pop collector) on an average. You have to have self-control when you enter the NBA sports card market. Spending 50% of your salary for a hobby is a big no-no especially if you have kids to feed.

Those are the biggest mistakes I have made and I hope you won’t do the same.

What’s your biggest mistake made in this hobby? Share in the comments below

Disclaimer:

All information provided is for educational purposes only. My goal isn’t to tell you how to spend your money but to simply show you my own personal perspective of the hobby.

You are responsible for your own investment decisions. I am not, in any way, an investment professional. I’m just a normal human like you that walked the path you’re about to walk.