Where to Sell Football, Baseball, and Other Sports Cards
The best place to sell your cards depends on how valuable they are and how much work you want to do yourself. Some places to sell your cards are eBay, eBay consignment services, sports card message boards, and sports card dealers. To get an idea what your cards are worth, see the Gallery's page on estimating sports card values.
Selling Sports Cards on eBay
eBay is a popular place for collectors to buy cards, and it is a good place to sell your cards yourself. If you don't have an eBay account, you can register here.
The condition of your cards is critical to potential buyers, so provide clear pictures and detailed descriptions in your eBay listings. The more detailed you are, the more confident bidders will be in knowing what they are getting, and the more they will be willing to bid. Don't exaggerate your cards' condition, just describe them to the best of your ability, and provide the clearest pictures you can. If the cards have defects that don't appear in your pictures, such as light creases or marks on the back, note the defects in your description.
Because eBay charges a fee for each listing, and because it has to be worthwhile to ship each item, it often makes sense to group your cards into lots. Sellers typically group their cards by year, sport, and card company, e.g., 1970 Topps baseball cards or 1964 Philadelphia football cards. If you have cards of major stars, say Joe Namath or Hank Aaron, you might want to list them individually, depending on their condition. To decide how many auctions to run, you have to weigh the cards' value, the eBay fees, and the amount of time you want to spend listing them.
Plan to ship the cards securely, such that they cannot be damaged on the way. If you don't already have plastic holders and boxes made specifically for cards, you might want to buy some for shipping purposes.
eBay Consignment Stores
In some cities there are businesses that sell items on eBay for a consignment fee. I have not sold cards through one of these businesses, but I have bought cards from them and had good luck. Because they sell regularly on eBay, they will have the proper tools for creating eBay listings, and they provide shipping services as well. They will keep part of the proceeds as a commission, of course, but because of their experience and reputation, they might be able to get more money for your cards than you would yourself.
Message Boards
To avoid paying fees and commissions, you can try selling your cards on sports card message boards on the internet. To find them, do a search for terms like "sport card message board" or "baseball card forum." Collectors Universe has one such forum, but there are many more out there.
Sports Card Dealers
There are lots of sports card dealers out there, too, of course. Keep in mind that dealers need to make money on cards they buy, so they are not likely to pay you as much as a collector would. Also, if your cards individually are not valuable, they might not be worth a dealer's time, or he might offer you a small fraction of retail prices for them.
So that the dealer can more easily assess your cards' value--and to avoid shipping the cards--first try a local dealer if there is one in your area. If there are card shows nearby, try taking your cards to one of them, since there will be a number of dealers there, and you can get multiple offers.