How many more marketplaces do we need? 🛒

 Hey everyone! You might’ve noticed we didn’t publish an issue yesterday. Our newsletter software went down for maintenance just as I was finishing up yesterday’s email, and I lost the entire draft. I’m new to this whole newsletter thing, so just bear with me!

Today’s edition is brought to you by Cardboard Market — use one search to find cards across eBay, COMC, PWCC, MySlabs, and more!

Rise and shine, card enthusiasts! This is Penny Sleeve, we’re your sports card barista. We know your order by heart and yes, we add an extra shot (or two) of clarity.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• How many more marketplaces do we need? 🛒

• Topps announces UFC Main Event buyback 🥊

• Auctions ending soon 🔎

• People to follow in the hobby 👥

• Meme of the day 🃏

HOW MANY MORE MARKETPLACES DO WE NEED? 🛒

Every day, it seems like we’re adding yet another name to the growing list of sports card marketplaces: eBay, MySlabs, COMC, PWCC, Goldin, Veriswap, Beckett, Whatnot, Alt, MyCardPost, ARENA CLUB, the list goes on. Some offer features that differentiate them from the crowd — for instance, Veriswap offers fully-insured and verified peer-to-peer trading of cards while only charging 1.5% to both parties. MyCardPost charges a monthly subscription fee to sellers ($9-22/mo), completely eliminating per-transaction fees.

The rapid proliferation of sports card marketplaces (and their associated vaults) makes me wonder what the steady state will look like. In an ideal world, there’s a singular place where collectors can go to browse and purchase cards.

Most cards are fungible — one Luka Doncic Silver Prizm PSA 10 isn’t sufficiently distinguishable from another. If I’m in the market for one, 99% of the time I’ll just buy the cheapest option available. But it’s pretty hard to be confident about that. When I was looking yesterday, there was a Luka Silver Prizm PSA 10 on auction at Goldin, sitting at $976. There was another close to $1,100. Then I found one available in the eBay Vault for $1,240 Buy It Now. And then another on Veriswap for $1,200.

This back and forth makes it difficult to know whether you’re getting the best price on the market — what are you guys doing to keep track of and find the best deals? I’m curious, shoot me a reply!

TOPPS ANNOUNCES UFC MAIN EVENT BUYBACK 🥊

Topps has introduced a buyback program for UFC 300, it’s first time doing so with UFC cards. The program, set to launch on April 14, allows collectors to exchange their 2024 Topps Chrome UFC cards featuring the UFC 300 Main Event winner — either Alex Pereira or Jamahal Hill — for Topps credit. The UFC 300 event itself is taking place on April 13.

The buyback prices are as follows:

• Base cards of the Main Event winner: $20

• Prism, Negative, Magenta, Sepia, X-Fractor, Purple: $40

• Cards numbered greater than 100: $100

• Cards numbers less than 100: $200

2024 Topps Chrome UFC Hobby Boxes are currently going for $230-250 on eBay. Topps reclaimed the UFC card license from Panini earlier this year, bringing Topps backing into the fold after previously holding the license from 2009 to 2020.

AUCTIONS ENDING SOON 🔎

• Detroit City Sports: ends on April 6

• MEARS Auctions: ends on April 6

• BBCE Auctions: ends on April 7

• Greg Morris Marketplace: ends on April 7

PEOPLE TO FOLLOW IN THE HOBBY 👥

• Golden Age of Cardboard: Vintage sports card podcast

• Sports Card Lessons: Weekly podcast covering lessons learned in the hobby

• Cards & Categories: Baseball podcast (cards and fantasy)

MEME OF THE DAY 🃏