The world of collectors: Trading Cards

In this episode, everything revolves around the exciting world of trading cards. The occasion: On 13/11, the first NFL regular-season game in Germany will take place in Munich between the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — including Tom Brady! At the same time, Helge Veit from https://www.fanartikelwelt.com/ is organizing a Trading Cards Convention in Munich on November 12. Collectors, dealers, and big names from the trading card world will come together here to trade, buy, and sell. eBay is the main sponsor of the convention and has exciting events and surprises in store for visitors.

**Important links**

Fanartikelweltcom | eBay Shops

Home | My Site (europeantradingcardtour.com)

Isabell: Hello, dear listeners, and welcome to our new podcast episode for our sellers and of course for everyone who wants to become one. Many of you will surely remember episode 25, in which we spoke with art and antiques dealer Wolfgang Kolb from the Vertical Collectibles, meaning collecting and rare items. That was an episode that was particularly well received by our community. And that’s why today we’ve invited our colleague Tobias Körner. Tobias is a Category Manager in the Collectibles area and he’ll tell us more about the vertical itself and especially about the topic of trading cards. And to go with that, we also have another guest with us, namely the Collectibles seller Helge Veit from fanartikelwelt.com

Tino: Exactly, and the invitation of the two of them to our podcast has a very exciting background. On November 13, the first NFL football regular-season game in Germany will take place in Munich, where the Seattle Seahawks will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including football star Tom Brady. At the same time, Helge is therefore organizing a Trading Card Convention in Munich on November 12. And you can probably already guess it: eBay Germany will be there as a sponsor. But first of all, welcome, Tobias, and welcome, Helge!

Tobias: Hello, thank you very much for the invitation to your podcast. I’m happy to be here.

Tino: Yes, Tobias, as a valued colleague of mine, let’s start with you straight away. Tell us exactly what you do at eBay as Category Manager Collectibles and what our listeners can actually imagine the vertical, the Collectibles category, to be.

Tobias: Yes, the Collectibles categories at eBay are super diverse. So here, customers really find everything a collector’s heart desires. We have all kinds of items from antiques, art, and toys to coins, stamps, and of course trading cards. And as Category Manager in this area, I’m in a lot of contact with our active sellers, work on acquiring new sellers and brands, and also take care of internal projects, such as structuring the categories or larger projects, like the upcoming fair that we’ll be hosting with Helge.

Isabell: Helge, your name has already come up several times in connection with trading cards. Please tell our listeners a bit about yourself and your company as well.

Helge: Yes, I’ve been collecting trading cards since the mid- or early 90s, when the Chicago Bulls around Michael Jordan triggered a huge boom not only in the US but also in Germany, and since then I’ve been more or less continuously involved with trading cards in various sports and formats.

Isabell: Yes, Tobias, I think I’m the only non-expert at the table here today. Tell us what trading cards are all about and what a layperson should imagine them to be.

Tobias: When it comes to trading cards, there’s basically a distinction between trading card games, meaning the actual games — these include Pokémon, Magic, and Yu-Gi-Oh! — and trading cards themselves — these are then sports trading cards and non-sports trading cards. Among non-sports trading cards, there’s a lot from the entertainment area, especially Star Wars and Marvel. And in sports trading cards, we have the area where, in Germany, there is very strong demand for football cards. But American sports such as basketball and football have also been in very high demand over the past few months or last year.

Tino: Yes, Helge, as an expert you of course know best when it comes to this topic. Which area of trading cards have you specialized in, and since when have you been selling?

Helge: Yes, I’ve been active on eBay since 2006 and definitely specialize in the sports card area. But broadly across football, US sports, basketball, football, ultimate fighting, wrestling, and all the sports you can think of. For me, it’s simply a personal connection I have there, as opposed to trading card games. And I’d rather sell things I know and can identify with than deal with things where I can’t really give customers feedback or help with them.

Tino: And what does your assortment look like, what do you offer customers on our platform? Are these only single cards, or possibly other products too?

Helge: Yes, I always try to make my offering as broad as possible, both in terms of single cards and sealed and complete boxes. The accessories for the respective trading cards as well, and all of that in a price range that is accessible to many, from €1 to €20,000.

Isabell: What can I imagine accessories for trading cards to be?

Helge: Well, the idea is to preserve the condition of the card as you see it when opening a pack for the first time. To achieve that, there are various plastic sleeves or magnetic holders where you can store the cards to preserve their condition accordingly. So that, basically, it stays as it was on the first day, meaning that the condition of the card after ten years is exactly the same as on the first day you saw it.

Tino: And do customers buy from you to complete collections, or more as an investment?

Helge: That’s a mixed bag too. Of course, there are people who, especially in the last two or three years, have also seen or discovered this as an alternative investment. But there are also customers who have been collecting cards for 25, 30 years and may still be looking for one or two cards for their own collection and then complete it via eBay and the respective shop.

Isabell: What should I, as a seller, keep in mind if I want to resell the cards? Do you have any best-practice tips you can share?

Helge: Basically, the idea is to reach as many customers as possible, and that works best with a broad assortment and by appealing to as many customers as possible, both through the selection of cards and the price range you offer.

Isabell: Yes, Tobias, you and your team are actively working to make it easier and simpler for eBay sellers to offer especially in the Collectibles category. Can you share some insights into what your work involves?

Tobias: Yes, gladly. Last year, for example, we standardized the trading card category structure internationally. That means that the structures used when listing items are now identical in countries such as the USA, the UK, and Germany, which also ensures better visibility of the products on the site. In addition, we also adapted the item specifics more specifically to the trading card area, so that when listing, attributes that are important for selling the cards can be selected, which then also makes it easier for customers to search for them.

Isabell: Yes, that’s very good. Item specifics are especially popular with our buyers in Germany. There’s no country where people love filtering as much as they do here. You just said that the category structure has been globally adapted. Has that also made it easier to trade internationally in this area?

Tobias: Yes, exactly. If sellers decide to offer international shipping, our unified category structure allows items listed in Germany with international shipping, for example, to be better found in search results in the US when a search is performed there, which means greater visibility for those items. And that’s super interesting because the markets in Germany and the US, for example, are very different. In Germany, we have a very strong football market because of the demand here with the Bundesliga, while American sports are more popular in the US. And because of these differences in collector focus, when you look at other markets, we have opportunities to find certain bargains here and there.

Tino: You said at the beginning that there are not only sports trading cards, but also trading card games. Is there a difference between the US market, the North American market, or Europe?

Tobias: There is. In Germany, the trading card games market is still a little more popular than the market in the US. There, the focus is very strongly on sports cards.

Tino: Helge, we’ve now heard quite a bit about the international market and market structures in the trading cards area. Do you actually sell internationally as well?

Helge: I definitely offer my items worldwide as well. As I said, reaching as many customers as possible is the goal, and from my point of view, that’s the only way it works. And in terms of sales figures, you can say that the share of the rest of the world versus Europe compared to Germany is roughly 50:50. More specifically, sales within Germany account for about 55% of revenue. Within the EU it’s about 20%, and for the rest of the world about 25% of revenue.

Isabell: Do you also buy your goods internationally?

Helge: I also buy cards internationally for my assortment, simply because there are cards in the US, for example, that are less popular there, such as cards of the German national team, which are of course traded more cheaply in the US than in Germany, so I prefer to buy them there and then sell them in Germany.

Tino: But it’s also interesting to hear that you have a large share of customers outside Germany. So from that perspective, adapting the category structure was completely worth it.

Helge: Absolutely, yes. Especially the two major markets in the US and China for the trading card area are very strongly represented in my seller numbers. Tobias, you didn’t just meet Helge here in Dreilinden today. How did the contact between you come about?

Tobias: Yes, that’s actually a pretty funny story. Since I collect sports cards privately myself, I’m regularly on YouTube and Instagram and in various podcasts to stay up to date. And recently I listened to the hobby podcast where Helge was a guest and announced the fair in Munich. And it took less than five minutes after the interview for me to go on Instagram and look up Helge’s account to get in touch, simply to establish contact and see what opportunities we at eBay might have to be present at the fair.

Isabell: Speaking of the fair in Munich: Helge, would you like to tell us a bit more about the convention you’re planning? Since we’ve just learned that it’s supposed to take place on November 12 and apparently we already have a fan sitting at the table.

Helge: It’s true that in the run-up to the game on the 13th, the fair will take place at Motorworld in Munich. It will be on November 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. There will be 150 exhibitors on site. All the important names in the hobby in Europe will be there with a booth or at least with staff and people on site who want to present their brand and also offer their products. Naturally, eBay is named as the main sponsor and will be represented with a booth. But also... I’ll just mention a few household names for those who know the trading card area: companies like Topps and GTS, PWCC, BCW, Trace 'n Chase, or Dave & Adam's — names that everyone in the trading card world knows. And many of the companies are actually present for the first time in Germany, and many for the first time in Europe, for a show or event of this kind, because they’ve recognized that the European market still has a lot of development potential compared to the American market.

Isabell: Personally, those names didn’t mean much to me, but I’m very sure our listeners can make more sense of them. What can I expect the event on site to be like, besides the exhibitors?

Helge: Yes, it will be a fair with a very American feel. That means there will also be food trucks on site, autograph guests on site, and yes, many more goodies will be handed out.

Tino: Then we’ll really get a true NFL feeling there on site. Tobias, to what extent will eBay be represented at the convention, and can our listeners also visit you and your team there?

Tobias: Yes, at the fair we will of course be there with a large booth presence. We will also be there with the German Collectibles team and, most likely, some of our international eBay colleagues. And visitors can look forward to exciting giveaways and events. For example, we’ll be hosting box breaks on site with well-known dealers from the German trading card scene. And box breaks can be thought of as a live opening of trading card displays. These are large packages that usually contain about 20 small packs. They will be opened on site, and participants can then win those cards that we open there.

Tino: Very exciting. Helge, we saw on your Instagram account fanartikelweltcom that you travel to various fairs with your booth. How important are these fairs for you and your shop, and why do you enjoy attending them so much?

Helge: Personally, I find the exchange between people much more exciting than handling everything digitally. Of course, in today’s world the digital share is very large, but I think personal conversations or personal exchange shouldn’t be lost. I find it much more exciting to spend a day with like-minded people, where you can talk to each other, throw around specialist terms, and not get strange looks when you talk about trading cards or all kinds of related things. Personal exchange is much more important to me than the digital, and that’s why I will always be happy to be present at various fairs worldwide and definitely visit them as well.

Isabell: Yes, also -

Tino: Just from what you then - sorry Isabell for interrupting you, but Tobias and I know this. Sometimes people look at us like we’re aliens when we talk about some trading card experiences. So very exciting. We get it.

Isabell: For example, from me. But all the better that you’re now organizing the fair yourself as well. What do I need to do as a participant if I want to take part and if I’m excited about this NFL experience?

Helge: So we launched a website called europeantradingcardtour.com, where tickets can be purchased for €15. There will also be a box office in Munich on site, where you can spontaneously and on short notice buy tickets for the show.

Isabell: We’ll definitely include the link in the show notes as well. During the corona period, the whole fair experience wasn’t possible at all and personal exchange basically disappeared completely. What was that like for you during that time?

Helge: Exactly. You have to distinguish that, in principle, only in Europe did personal exchange disappear. In the US, the issue was handled much more relaxed, and accordingly I looked for a way to still be able to be there live at a fair and then took a two-week vacation in Mexico to be able to participate in a card show in the US.

Tino: Very nice. I have to ask again: Do you have your own booth at the fair too, since you’re the organizer, or are you only there as the organizer?

Helge: Yes, this time I’ll actually be at a fair without my own booth for the first time, which will also be a new feeling for me. But I know that a lot will be coming my way that day. And basically, I’d rather have the best possible experience for the customers, but also for the dealers on site, and accordingly I’ll forgo my own sales simply to give people the chance to have the best possible experience at a card show.

Tobias: Yes, you are definitely a very welcome guest at our eBay booth right on site. Then you’ll at least get a bit of that booth feeling.

Isabell: Helge, I have one more question of my own. I was given a Pokémon set with three cards in a Halloween edition. But I don’t know anything about the topic at all. If I decided to sell them, how would I approach that from an expert’s point of view?

Helge: First of all, it’s important to simply check whether the item is already being sold on platforms like eBay, for example. Of course, you can then ориент yourself on the current prices at which they are already being offered. There’s also the tool on eBay to show sold auctions, and there you can also see whether the item may already have been included, so you can then determine whether the price suits you or not, or whether the emotional attachment to the cards is greater than the price you could get.

Isabell: So you mainly offer auctions, or do you also do fixed-price listings?

Helge: I also have many items in fixed-price format, simply to offer people a quicker decision when buying a card. If people have won an auction and say, okay, now I’ll see what other items the seller has on offer that I can buy immediately and don’t have to wait another seven days or ten until the auction ends, but can buy directly. And accordingly, it’s a mix that I offer, both auctions and fixed-price items.

Tino: Yes, and unfortunately we’re already almost at the end of our podcast episode again. I could talk with you much, much longer and exchange a bit of nerd speech. But today we heard a lot: about the trading cards category in general, even about international trade and the category improvements we made there. And of course about the upcoming fair/convention in Munich in November. Dear Tobias, dear Helge, thank you very much for these exciting insights, especially into our wonderful Collectibles category and the topic of trading cards. And as you surely know, at the end of every podcast episode we ask one last question, or today a few more. In this case, first to you, Tobias: What was the last thing you bought on eBay?

Tobias: I actually bought a football card last week, and it was a Trevor Lawrence rookie card from the Donruss Optic series in the Holo variant, and the Holo variant is a rare version of the base card, which can be recognized by the fact that it reflects particularly strongly when held up to the light.

Tino: Yes, and unfortunately Tobias got me hooked. We recently opened football cards together, and we also had a few Holo cards and Reflector cards in there. I’m still learning too. Helge, what was the last thing you bought on eBay?

Helge: For me, it was actually also a card for my personal collection. I also collect cards from the Olympic or Olympic sports area. And there, Jambalaya is a special insert from the Skybox Metal Universe set, and I got one of Mikaela Shiffrin.

Tino: And I think those trading cards even have a different format. So not the normal rectangular format, but...

Helge: With Jambalayas, it’s the case that they are oval trading cards that are specially cut out, basically.

Tino: Very exciting what all exists. And now one more question for you: What was the last thing you sold on eBay?

Helge: I checked my account again this morning to see what sold most recently, and it turns out that a card from the UFC area, from ultimate fighting, was sold today.

Tino: Oh, for what price?

Helge: For €10.

Isabell: Did you expect more?

Helge: It was actually a fixed-price card. So that was what was expected anyway.

Isabell: In that context, you were already tossing around a few numbers earlier, saying sometimes it’s €10, sometimes it’s €10,000. That’s of course super exciting in your area. What was the most valuable sale of an item? Or maybe the most exclusive?

Helge: From a financial point of view, there isn’t anything that exciting about it in my opinion. But there are always people and personalities behind it. And it was also the case that during the corona period, other athletes also found their way into the trading card area. For example, I also sold some cards to basketball player Paul Zipser from FC Bayern Munich. And it’s also the case that he will now be on site as an autograph guest at the convention in Munich, which completes the circle.

Isabell: So he signs his own cards.

Helge: Exactly. We’ll have cards on site that he can sign. But visitors, that is, attendees at the fair, are also welcome to bring items that they can then have signed by him.

Tino: Tobias, do you have a story like that too?

Tobias: I can’t really come up with any personal sales highlights, but one particular sale from our colleagues on the US team has stayed in my mind. In February, they sold a card via the US site that also has a good connection to the actual weekend of the Card Show. It was a Tom Brady rookie card from 2000, and this card sold for 2.3 million dollars, making it one of the top ten most valuable or highest-priced football trading cards ever sold.

Isabell: 2.3 million is definitely something. I’m definitely impressed by the sums you can earn with trading cards, and also by the exciting stories you’ve shared with us here, to wrap up the podcast at this point as well. Dear listeners, as you know, we’re always very happy to receive your feedback on our podcast, so please feel free to write in the eBay community about what impressed you most about Helge’s and Tobias’s insights. And if you’re also trading card fans, then come to Helge’s convention in Munich on November 12. There you can also chat with our colleagues at the eBay Germany booth. Tobias will also be there. And don’t forget: we’re always happy when you leave us a subscription or a like wherever you’re listening to us right now. Yes, and at this point, dear Helge, dear Tobias, thank you very much for being with us today and thank you for the exchange and the exciting insights into this area.

Tino: Yes, I can only echo that. If Tom Brady happens to cross your path at the convention and maybe sign a card: I’d be happy to take it. So just keep that in mind, please. So, thank you very much for being here.

Helge: Thank you. It was a very pleasant conversation. Thank you very much for that.

Tobias: We’ll keep our eyes open. And thank you very much for letting me be part of it too. I really enjoyed it.

Isabell: Goodbye and see you next time!

Tino: Goodbye!