Total Earnings : $27,000
Risk Level : Low risk/startup costs ($287 for equipment and $100 for inventory)
Difficulty : Easy to start, hard to scale
Side Hustle Score (1-10) : 4
To date my most profitable and longest running side hustle has been selling trading cards. Over the last 3 years, I have made $10,000 and built a collection worth over $17,000 while working a full time job. In this article I have distilled everything that I have learned after 4,757 orders and exactly how I would start over today.
My Progression
I grew up playing with Pokémon cards in the early 2000s, building a small collection in a binder. Eventually I moved on to other hobbies, but in my senior year of college, the trading card market exploded. I have always been interested in side hustles, and watching people flip cards on Instagram made it look easy. I began buying and selling sports cards but never found much success. Eventually, I returned to Pokémon, which I loved as a kid and still enjoyed.
My first big win came during the 2020 market boom when I found a $700 Craigslist listing for someone’s childhood collection. The binder included a 1st Edition Neo Genesis Lugia card worth $700 by itself. After grading it, I resold the card for $2,000 within a month. While this was a great flip, I struggled to consistently turn a profit. In the collectibles market, consistent profits are challenging for two main reasons: many treat it as a hobby and are okay losing money, and there’s limited ways to add value. Your advantage often lies in recognizing undervalued cards, but with tools like eBay, anyone can check a card’s value in seconds, making it tough to rely on finding mispriced collections.
This caused me to look for other ways to make money, which led me to the players’ market. While collectors seek high-value, rare cards, players need common cards for gameplay. These cards, which may look like any other and sell for under $5, are overlooked by collectors. Even though a $1 card doesn’t seem like much, it offers potential in volume, especially since game rules “rotate” cards out of play, creating constant demand for new ones.
Selling low-value cards on eBay was inefficient, so I turned to TCGPlayer, where generic listings allow you to list cards in bulk by just adding quantity, price, and condition. I listed some Pokémon cards and made my first sale the next day. I kept expanding my inventory, eventually reaching over 75,000 listed cards across half a dozen games, and packing 20+ orders a day.
I initially set a floor price of $0.10 per card, which drove sales but resulted in low-value orders and hourly earnings under minimum wage. Raising my floor price to $0.25 increased my hourly earnings and decreased the volume of orders to a more manageable level. After another month, I raised it further to $0.35, which balanced sales volume with average sale value.
After moving to a new shared office with 75,000 cards taking up space, I needed to optimize. I started by auditing my inventory, selling anything worth under $0.25 in bulk, freeing up space and reducing my inventory by 90%. Now, I only list cards with a TCGPlayer “Market Price” over $0.25, which has significantly cut down sorting and listing time, making this a more sustainable business model.
Startup Costs
The items needed to start cost a total of $604. If you already have a way to print a sheet of paper and can make do without shelving, you could bring that down to $287 and have enough materials to ship 1,000 orders. Another $100 should get you plenty of inventory. Here’s all the steps you need to start a trading card business from scratch today.
Strategy
Two key lessons I’ve learned in the last three years are knowing which market to target and which types of cards to stock. We’re focusing on players of trading card games rather than collectors. As I mentioned earlier, players buy and sell cards regularly as metas change. Because they need certain cards to stay competitive, they are often less sensitive to price. Interestingly, the cards players want are usually not sought-after by collectors. For example, a common card may be worth $3 instead of $0.01 due to its utility in the game. This gap in pricing knowledge gives us a profitable niche.
The best market to leverage this strategy is Pokémon. Most buyers of Pokémon cards are adult collectors or people buying for kids, who often overlook the potential value in common cards. This presents a great opportunity to find cards that are worth more than they seem at first glance.
Sourcing Inventory
To find inventory, check Facebook Marketplace for collections of bulk cards. Bulk cards are those leftover after collectors have taken the most desirable ones from packs. Aim to buy in bulk (at least a few thousand cards at a time) for around a penny per card for non holographic cards. For holographic cards, Google “Pokemon Bulk Selling” to get an idea of what online buyers are paying. You can also check online thrift store auctions like Goodwill.com, local thrift shops, and Craigslist for deals. I would avoid eBay due to high competition.
Sorting Inventory
Once you’ve bought your first bulk lot, use a sorting tray to organize cards by set. The small symbol in the bottom corner of a Pokémon card identifies the set it belongs to. For easier sorting, first group cards by year, then by set (there are usually 4-5 sets per year). Within each set, sort cards by type: regular, reverse holofoil, and holofoil. Next, use TCGPlayer to identify and pick out the cards worth over $0.50 for listing.
To easily find card values we are going to head to TCGPlayer. Here, select Pokemon and “Shop All English” in the menu. This brings us to a list of every Pokemon card ever released. Next we want to add a couple of filters:
Select a set name of cards you sorted. (Use CardMavin to identify the set name if you don’t know it). Set Product Type to “Cards” Set Rarity to “Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Holo Rare” Set the Sort & View dropdown to “Price : High to Low”
What we now have is a list of “common” cards sorted by price. You can keep the screen up on your computer or write down a list of every card that has a market price over $.50. Pick these cards out of the pile and put the rest in a large flat rate box.
Listing on TCGPlayer
Now it’s time to list these high-value cards for sale. Create a TCGPlayer account if you haven’t already. In your seller account, go to the inventory tab, search for the card by name, and enter the price and quantity. Follow TCGPlayer’s condition guide to ensure customer satisfaction. As a beginner seller, set shipping to $0.99 and price your cards just below the lowest listing to show up as the first seller available. With a lowest list price of $0.50, there’s enough profit margin to help you make your first sales and increase your seller level quickly.
Managing Inventory
Good inventory organization is crucial. A single 4-row box with card dividers labeled A-Z works well initially. Later, as you expand, you may need to sort by set within each letter group. Make it a rule to immediately place listed cards in their correct location to avoid increased pick times, lost cards, and unhappy customers.
Shipping Your First Order
When a customer places an order, you should receive an email notification. Log into TCGPlayer and click on the orders tab. Here you will see a list of all orders with unfulfilled orders being highlighted in green. Select the checkbox next to the order and click print packing slip. This will print an individual sheet of paper for every order that has been placed. Follow the steps below to pack an order:
Pick the cards listed on the sheet Place up to 10 cards into a penny sleeve Place the penny sleeved cards into a Shipping Shield Fold down the Shipping Shield tab and tape it shut with masking tape Fold the packing list on the dotted line Place the shipping shield in the corner of the fold Fold the rest of the paper so it fits in the envelope Stamp/write your return address on the envelope Place the folded paper in the envelope so the address lines up with the window Seal the envelope Place a stamp on the envelope Drop this in a post office box Mark the listing as shipped on TCGPlayer
For an order with 11 to 20 cards tape the shipping shields together on their sides . For an order with 21-30 cards tape the shipping shields together standing up. If the order has more than 30 cards it’s cheaper to split the order into 2 envelopes, just reprint the packing list and separate the cards in half. If the order is over 60 cards, I will put them in a bubble mailer and use Pirate Ship to purchase the postage. You can upload the tracking number to TCGPlayer for additional seller protection from lost packages.
Customer Satisfaction
Just like any business, keeping customers happy and having good reviews is key. Occasionally, issues may arise with card conditions or shipping. For lost packages, wait until the estimated arrival date, then offer a refund if needed. If a buyer has an issue with the condition of a card, you can refund the price difference between the conditions or provide a full refund. The most important things are fast shipping and clear communication. Aim to respond promptly to customer messages and ship orders as soon as possible. All of this is common sense stuff that just takes a little extra work. I currently have a 99.8% positive rating with 1,116 reviews and 4,754 total orders.
Profit Margin
At some point you will fill a large flat rate box with bulk (7,500 cards) that wasn’t worth pulling out. I sell these boxes on eBay via auction. Start them on a 7 day auction for $.99 with Large Flat Rate Shipping (~$21). I make sure I include in the description that the bulk has been sorted. These typically sell for $30-$50 recouping $.01 per 2 cards. That brings our cost down to half a cent per card. So let’s break down the math on a worst case scenario order for a single $0.50 card and $1.27 shipping.
TCG Commission = 10.25% of the subtotal
Credit Card Processing Fee = 2.5% of order total + $0.30
TCG Commission: $1.77 * 10.25% = $0.18
Credit Card Fee: $1.77 * 2.5% = $0.04 + $0.30 = $0.34
Gross Profit: $1.25 gross profit after selling and processing fees
Expenses:
$0.01 Cost of Card
$0.73 stamp
$0.06 Envelope
$0.01 penny sleeve
$0.09 Shipping Shield
$0.01 Sheet of paper
Net Profit: $0.34
After all of our expenses are accounted for we are left with $0.34 of profit. While this is a meager profit, we are earning a 34 times return on our original investment and this should be our worst case scenario. If we bump it up to a $5 order with free shipping for 12 cards our fees are $0.94, our expenses total $1.12, and we profit $2.94 on a $.12 investment for a 2350% return.
This example highlights the main upside and downside to the trading card side hustle. On one hand it has a very low startup cost, the margins are great, and it’s incredibly low risk. On the other hand the actual profits are so small that the time spent to find inventory, sort it, list it, package it, and ship it can make the hourly returns lower than minimum wage.
Scaling
Scaling a trading card business can be challenging due to the time required for sorting, listing, and fulfilling orders. High-end sorting machines are available but costly, and hiring help is impractical due to low returns. I recommend this business as a side hustle for those already interested in trading cards or looking to maximize the value of cards they acquire personally.
If you are interested in scaling, consider expanding into niche games with less competition. One of my best deals was a World of Warcraft card collection I found on Marketplace. I bought the lot for $100, sold some expansions for $200, and listed the remaining 4,000 cards. On TCGPlayer, I am often the only seller with these cards, allowing me to set my own prices. So far, I’ve made an additional $250 in sales, and the cards continue to sell steadily.
Another strategy to grow your trading card business is to flip higher-priced card lots. You can buy these lots at 60-70% of their value, select the top cards for grading, and sell the rest. This approach requires a strong brand as there are many people looking for these same deals. It’s also high risk, a card that grades a 9 instead of a 10 can be worth 80 percent less. I recommend building up some experience in the market before attempting these larger deals.
The Future of My Card Business
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve scaled back my card business significantly, reducing inventory from 75,000 cards to under 10,000. I plan to continue delisting lower-value cards to focus only on those with a market price above $0.50. Maintaining a selective inventory allows me to keep the business running passively while still earning money from the work I did previously. Even without actively listing new inventory I make regular sales, with a payout of $763.50 in the past three months. Because I already have all of the equipment needed to sell cards, I will likely continue to keep my TCGPlayer store open and selectively buy new inventory if I find good deals.
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