How to Buy and Sell Sports Memorabilia
In the past 25 years, the value of sports memorabilia has only gone up. Because of that, this collecting category offers some good investments. It can also quickly become a very costly hobby.
Buy
	Steps:
1.	Pick a category to collect: Sports cards? Which sport? One team only? One player only? The options are endless.
2.	Look in price guides such as Beckett, periodicals and Internet sources to find out what items sell for. Expect to spend thousands on Babe Ruth-signed baseballs and Derek Jeter bats.
3.	Go to a sports memorabilia show to get a feel for the variety and quality of items for sale.
4.	Get to know the owners of local baseball-card shops. They will have other memorabilia besides cards, and will also have contacts for national sources of sports collectibles.
5.	Take in an auction. Some auction houses specialize in sports memorabilia; order one of their catalogs for an upcoming sale. Mail in a bid or hire a proxy if you can't be there in person. Of course, check out Internet auction sites like eBay.com.
6.	Ask about the item's authenticity--proof of its provenance is essential to making a good investment. Buying from a reputable dealer will give you some level of assurance.
7.	As with every collecting category, a lot of fakes circulate in the marketplace, including reprinted baseball cards and cardboard advertising-display pieces. There are businesses that specialize in authenticating sports memorabilia. You might want to get some off-the-cuff, free opinions from dealers first. You don't want to pay $200 to authenticate an object that's only worth $50.
Sell
	Steps:
1.	Find someone qualified to give you an appraisal if you're not sure about the value of what you own. Start at a local sports-card shop, but don't stop there. You'll want more than one opinion, and you might have to pay for it. Collectors' magazines are filled with ads for authentication services.
2.	Sell it yourself. If your collection doesn't contain any high-ticket items, you can try to sell them one at a time or in small lots on the Internet. A local dealer might be interested in your collection.
3.	Take any really high-quality items among your sports collectibles to an auction house for the best return on your investment.
4.	Bring any documentation you have to help you get the best price. If you have a Jerry Rice jersey, that's good; if you have a photo of Rice handing it to you after a game, that's better.
	Overall Tips:
	Prices vary from year to year and month to month on articles related to current players. The smart money is in retired players, who won't have any more scoring slumps or legal woes to affect their status. Hall of Famers are always a good investment.
	"Older is better" doesn't hold true in all collecting categories, but it's a good rule of thumb in sports memorabilia. Materials from the 1940s and 1950s are relatively rare and therefore more valuable.
	Baseball dominates the category, but all sports memorabilia are collectible, from tennis to auto racing, boxing to bowling.
	Overall Warnings:
	When selling sports memorabilia to a dealer, expect to get about half the wholesale price listed in popular price guides.
ITEM COLLECTOR TIPS Baseball Cards Condition is key. Look for sharp corners and no creases. Rookie cards are the most valuable cards for star players. You can still find famous players' cards for $30 or even less sometimes. Signed Baseballs Look for baseballs that are clean and white, and that have a very clear autograph.Value depends on availability. The best find is a ball from the athlete's playing days. Many players hit the memorabilia circuit after retirement. Team Jerseys This is one of the few collecting categories in which sweat stains are a plus. Jerseys worn in games are the only way to go. Ask for authentication; don't be fooled by a new jersey that's been passed off as the real thing. Equipment Shoes, golf balls, gloves, bats, hockey pucks and sticks, and tennis rackets; again, it's key that the items were used in a game. Even a cracked bat will sell for hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars if a famous player used it. Stadium Items Seats, signs and even turnstiles are available to collectors. Especially valuable are those from old stadiums that have been renovated or that hosted a historic sports moment, like a milestone Hank Aaron home run. Ticket Stubs and Programs World Series' items are especially coveted because so few are available. A ticket stub from the 1955 World Series lists at $110. Bobble Heads These ceramic dolls have a bobbing, oversize head on a spring. Early examples represented an entire team; newer examples depict a particular player.
	What to look for:
	Price guides
	Local outlets
	National outlets
	Authenticity