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Hobby Heaven
The Internet is Responsible
for the Resurgence of Sports Cards and Collectibles
by Adam McFarland
In recent years there have been discussions among collectors suggesting that
the internet may actually be hurting the sports cards and collectibles hobby.
They point to decreased card show attendance and the struggles of brick and
mortar stores as evidence of the demise of the hobby. I am here to tell you that
they are wrong. Not only was collecting not ruined by the internet, it was saved
by it. Thats right, the internet saved sports collectibles. There is more money
in the hobby now, consumers have more buying options, and it is easier to start
a business than ever before. Those things are good for everyone involved.
The Golden Age of Collecting
Within the last 15 years we have seen the sports cards and collectibles
market fall from grace only to rise again to its current form. Most collectors
and business owners over the age of 20 will point to the late 1980s and early
1990s as the best time to be a collector and the best time to be a dealer. Up
until that point the sports card hobby had grown steadily from the 1970s, when
shops started popping up around the country, in to a $1.4 billion a year
national pastime in 1992.
Card shows were packed with dealers selling top notch memorabilia, signature
prices were still reasonable, no authentication was necessary because
counterfeiting was minimal, and card shops were able to thrive with loyal
customers who were begging to spend their excess cash in their stores week after
week. And I dont disagree with any of this - those truly were great times to be
a collector. But factors out of collectors and dealers control would cause the
golden age of collecting to come to an end.
All Good Things Come to an End
As the US entered recession in the early 1990s the hobby crashed. Couple
economical problems with a hobby oversaturated with companies trying to
capitalize on collectors by overproducing (and thus devaluing) their product,
and we were left with a hobby on life support. Americans gravitated towards
spending their money on other things and card sales plummeted to $400 million in
1999. Failure was inevitable and neither the collector nor the business owner
could do anything about it.
The Rebirth of Collecting Online
Lucky for collectors, this little thing called the internet had grown from an
information exchange for research, education, and government use into an
economic juggernaut that pulled the country out of recession and into the age of
eCommerce. Largely due to the advent of eBay, the hobby went virtual and hasnt
looked back since. In 2003, eBay alone sold $3 billion in cards - more than
twice the sales of the entire industry at the peak of the golden age. In
addition to eBay, other auction sites, trading forums, as well as fixed price
web sites have sprouted up all over the internet. The amount of money in the
hobby now is far greater than it ever has been.
Collecting is BETTER Because of the Internet
Not only did the internet save a dying hobby, it made it better. Consumers
now have more choices. According to Beckett.com, 34% of collectors still buy in
shops, 33.1 % from online auctions, 24.5% buy from online fixed price dealers,
and the remaining through other methods. You can still go to a card shop or show
(although their presence has been reduced), but the internet has enabled
consumers to find what they are looking for easier and cheaper. The consumer is
now able to become more educated in less time. In minutes they can compare
prices from stores all across the world. They can join message board discussions
and chat rooms with other collectors to exchange both information and
memorabilia. The hobby can now reach everyone, not just those with a card shop
or show nearby and some free time on a Saturday.
Counterfeiting a by Product of Success, Not the Internet
One potential downside to internet that a naysayer is quick to point out is
the increase in counterfeit memorabilia. It has been estimated by the FBI that
over half of all autographed memorabilia is forged. While this is bad for the
hobby, it is not solely because of the internet, and it is not a problem faced
solely by sports collectibles. Most other industries (music, movies, software,
etc) that thrive on the internet are also subjected to counterfeiting. It is the
nature of the beast. There will always be people looking to make money by
cheating the system. As technology increases, it becomes easier and easier to
create counterfeit memorabilia, as well as to counterfeit CDs, DVDs, and
software. The best thing that we can do is educate our consumers and continue to
develop measures against counterfeiting. Unfortunately, counterfeiting is a by
product of the success the industry has had on the internet. The hobby was not
brought to the internet by counterfeiters looking for an easier way to scam
collectors, nor did the internet "cause" counterfeiting.
Where Would We be Without the Internet?
Back to those who would rather the internet never happened: where do you
think the hobby would be today without the internet? It is illogical to think
that it would have been able to boom without it. It likely would have continued
to struggle. Instead it has flourished. To think that less information exchange,
higher prices, and more difficulty finding items is good for the hobby is
ludicrous. It seems that the only ones who are complaining are those who have
failed to embrace the change. Those who have taken advantage of the many
resources the web has to offer are certainly not complaining. The reality is
that it the hobby is far bigger and better today than it ever was in the past.
Business is Good for Businesses Large and Small
From a business owners perspective, the market is better today than ever.
There is significantly more money in the hobby today than there was in 1992 and
it is much easier to start a business. All you really need to do is start
posting auctions on eBay and you can grow from there - no store, no employees,
not even a table at a show. Anyone can do it. The catch here is that it is
drastically different than it was ten or fifteen years ago. And where there is
change, there are always those who resist. Many who invested a great deal of
time and money starting brick and mortar businesses during the golden years only
to see them collapse were not quick to embrace the internet. While I certainly
feel bad for those who lost their business, I dont correlate that to the
internet being bad for the hobby. I can also point to all of those (myself
included) who wouldnt have even had a chance at entering the industry fifteen
years ago, who now have had the possibility to live their passion because of
what the internet has brought to the table.
Embrace the New Golden Age
Factors outside of our control caused the golden age to end, but by adopting
technology and using it to grow and expand the hobby we have introduced a new
golden age - one that is better for both buyer and seller. Change in everything
is inevitable. We should be embracing this new golden age of collecting as
opposed to wishing it never happened.
Adam McFarland owns SportsLizard.com - an online marketplace for buying and
selling sports collectibles
http://www.sportslizard.com.
Try our new search feature that enables you to search eBay, Amazon, and
SportsLizard.com all at once to make sure that you get the best deal on what you
are looking for!
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