Where can I sell my Tim Hortons hockey cards?
I have a collection of over 300 vintage hockey cards, and I’m looking for a place to sell them. I’d like to know where the best places are to sell my collection, because I’m thinking about approaching a few different retailers about potentially purchasing a few boxes to put on display in their stores. The goal is to generate some revenue and make a little bit of money off the cards (most of which I’ve already spent on!); it’s not to profit!
If you’re looking to buy or sell vintage hockey cards, then check out my blog post for the best places to sell them. It’s mainly focused on Canadian sports cards, but a few other markets exist as well (e.g., Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Rams). I’ve personally been lucky enough to sell my cards to a few specialty stores and online shops, so I have some experience in this area. If you’ve been looking for a place to sell your vintage hockey cards, then check out my post because I think I have a good idea of where to look.
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Big Ticket Sports
The first place that comes to mind when thinking about selling vintage hockey cards is a shop that deals with very expensive sports collectibles and memorabilia called Big Ticket Sports (BTS). It’s located in Toronto, and it was originally founded by the Green family; they have a bit of a history with sports collectibles (e.g., Mike Green’s famous 1986 Al Goldstein collection, which came with a signed ball from Joe Namath).
BTS has a rather unique perspective on collectibles because they value quality more than anything else. This is demonstrated by the fact that they purchase very high-quality graded autographs and also purchase multiple packs of cards (e.g., to create a set) if they feel that the quality is high enough. They don’t buy singles or base cards because they feel that these are less valuable than signatures or graded material.
The best part about going to BTS is that they will usually buy anything that you have for sale, regardless of whether or not they already have a collection that they’re looking for. This way, you get to showcase more of your cards to potentially earn more money. The downside is that BTS is a bit of a hunt because they don’t always have what you’re looking for in stock. So, you might have to wait a little while to find out whether or not they’ll actually buy what you have.
Other Sports Cards Stores
If there’s one place that consistently comes up when people think about selling vintage hockey cards it’s Sportscardage.com. This is mainly because they have a wide variety of sports cards for sale from many different decades, and it’s extremely easy to navigate their website. Since 1993, they have been providing a safe and secure environment for buyers and sellers of collectibles to meet.
Another place that I’d like to call out is eSportsofau.com, a Canadian retailer of sports memorabilia and collectibles that was founded in 2007. They specialize in vintage sports cards (e.g., from the 1960s), and they also have a pretty substantial collection of signed footballs, basketballs, and baseballs. This is a great place to unload your vintage hockey cards.
There are many other places that one could potentially sell their vintage sports cards, but these are some of the more established websites that probably accept most trade-ins (e.g., graded signatures, game-used items, etc.).
Brewer’s Pubs And Restaurants
The location that I visit most often when I’m in the Milwaukee area is called the Brewer’s Pub. This is mainly because they have a pretty decent beer selection, and it also happens to be one of my favorite spots to drink. I’ve been going there for 15 years now, and each year they get better and better at accommodating customers who want to drink and also do some sports-related shopping (hence, why I recommend this location).
The beers that they serve are mainly American beers, so it’s not too difficult to find something to suit most people. Plus, they have a special beer named after me that I always have to try when I’m there. I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s usually pretty delicious and available in four different varieties. It’s the perfect beer for when you’re in the mood for something light and refreshing.
Another great thing about the Brewer’s Pub is that they have a full bar, and it also has televisions that usually get the major American sports events fairly early in the morning. This means that even though it might be early on in the morning in the middle of nowhere, you can still watch the game.
The downside to the Brewer’s Pub is that most of their inventory is either tied up in inventory or is simply not for sale. This makes it more difficult for shoppers to find the items that they’re looking for, especially since they don’t always have these items in stock. But, if you’re lucky enough to find something that’s for sale, then it’s likely that you’ll get your money back (plus some) when you take into account the 10-15% sales tax that Milwaukee imposes.
Retailers, eBay, And CraigsList
The last place that I’d like to call out is the internet. A few years ago, my wife and I were looking for a place to sell our vintage hockey cards, and we came across a few online marketplaces that we browsed through. One of the first ones that I came across was called eBay. One of the biggest issues that I had with trying to sell my hockey cards on eBay is that unless you have a very high number of positive feedback reports, then it’s difficult to get approved for an account (at least, it was back in 2013 when I had to undergo this process).
What happens is that when you apply for an account on eBay, they ask you whether or not you intend to use the site to sell collectibles. If you say yes, then they’ll likely continue to ask you a series of questions about how you intend to utilize the site. One of the questions that they ask is: “Do you intend to use this account to purchase items or sell items containing collectibles?”
Honestly, I thought that this was some type of scam because up until that point, I’d only ever tried to sell my vintage hockey cards on sites that didn’t allow accounts for individuals (e.g., Craigslist). So, when I got the question about whether or not I intended to purchase items containing collectibles, I thought that this must be a trick question because what could possibly be the point of having an eBay account if you don’t intend on using it to purchase collectibles?
But then I remembered that there was this thing called the Multi-Billion Dollar Industry of Arbitration, which is basically when businesses get into legal disputes with one another. In this situation, the businesses go to an arbitrator (an independent third party), and the arbitrator decides whether or not the terms of the contract were met (based on the facts and law involved). This is why having a publicly viewable and searchable eBay account (without any feedback) is a bad idea: it gives the appearance of possible fraud. Plus, the more reviews that you have, the better because there’s more information for buyers to consider.
What happened was that after going through a series of tedious and redundant questions, I was approved for an eBay account, and I’ve been selling my cards on the site ever since. The best thing is that because eBay is such a large and well-known site, it’s relatively easy for potential buyers to find my listings. As a result, I’ve been able to generate a significant amount of revenue from the sale of my hockey cards (a much needed source of income for my family, thank you very much!).
One issue that I’ve had with selling my cards on eBay is that there aren’t many options for customers to pay. Right now, the only option is PayPal, which is fine if you have a PayPal account. But if you don’t, then you’re out of luck because you can’t use a credit card on the site. So, if you want to sell your cards and don’t have a PayPal account, then the best option is arguably to use a cashier’s check or a money order. In some rare cases, you can even use a credit card if you’re selling to someone within the same country as yourself (which is the vast majority of my sales). The other option is to use a service called Dwolla, which is a financial services company that allows individuals to securely send and receive money without the need for a bank account. What’s great about Dwolla is that they allow sellers to easily accept credit cards as a form of payment (for the rare cases where they do).