Post-pandemic, there are more sports card collectors than ever.
The industry of sports cards might be one of the only to come out of the pandemic better than it was when it entered.
This industry reached new heights during the pandemic and as a result of this blow up, local card shops cannot keep their shelves stocked.
This has been the case for The Wizard of Sportscards, a local card shop here in Murray, located at 401 Maple St.
Earl Schroader, owner of The Wizard of Sportscards says business was good all the way through the pandemic.
“A lot of customers during the pandemic,” Scroader said. “It didn’t slow us down.”
With sports cards, there are a couple of different ways to purchase them. One way is buying single packs or boxes that contain multiple packs.
The packs and the boxes are what stores cannot keep on their shelves. They get bought as soon as they are restocked.
“The demand is a lot higher and the supply is a lot lower,” Schroader said. “Prices went up, especially the boxes and packs. That’s the bad thing about it. They don’t make as much.”
This influx in demand can be seen in the store. The shelves where his boxes and packs are stay empty until restock arrives.
This shortage of cards can also be seen in retail stores such as Walmart.
Restocking of sports cards is different from most products and is done through a third party company.
“We actually don’t stock,” a Walmart employee who wished to remain anonymous said. “They’re stocked by a third party company, Anderson comes in and stocks them.”
Walmart does not stock the cards that they sell and having it done by that third party company causes these shelves to stay empty.
“Majority of the time people come in and spend a couple hundred dollars a piece,” the anonymous Walmart employee said. “They used to wipe us out immediately but now they leave some stuff.”
These resellers will come in and buy everything on the shelves then resale it on a site like eBay with the prices marked way up.
According to sportscollectorsdaily.com, “Millions of sports cards sell on eBay each year but this year’s numbers have established new records. Company reps tell SC Daily that sports card category sales from March through May were 92% higher than they were during the last three months of 2019.”
This rise on eBay also lines up with when it started to occur in the Murray Walmart.
“Probably the beginning of 2020,” the anonymous Walmart employee said.
When it comes to collecting sports cards, the three main sports are baseball, basketball and football. Sports such as hockey and soccer cards do not really hold the value that those other three do.
According to sportscollectorsdaily.com, “Since the coronavirus outbreak, basketball cards have become the most popular, with sales spiking more than 130% from March through May compared to the last three months of 2019. Baseball cards take the #2 spot, with sales up more than 50%, followed by football cards, with a 47% increase.”
This surge within the industry has been seen in Murray and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
A 130 year old hobby refuels during COVID