Collecting Brett Farve?

Born October 10, 1969, Brett Lorenzo Favre now has 14 years of National Football League experience. This Mississippi native was born in Gulport and grew up in Kiln, which was a very small town with less than 100 residents. This boy who grew up in a small town had nothing but big dreams that he would someday make come true. In his early years, the youngster grew up idolizing a pair of legendary quarterbacks by the name of Archie Manning and Roger Staubach. Having played football at Hancock North Central High School in Kiln, Favre began to get a taste of the game and he loved it. After attending college at the University of Southern Mississippi, he began making his way to the professional league.

One of the best known quarterbacks in NFL history, Favre began his rookie season in 1991 with the Atlanta Falcons. The following year, in 2002, he accepted a position with the Green Bay Packers where he remains today. Still retaining an active NFL contract after 15 years, Favre leaves little doubt that he is already a legend of the game.

Among the many recognitions that Brett Favre has received include being the NFL’s only three-time MVP (Most Valuable Player), which he achieved consecutively in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Additionally, he is ranked third on the all-time quarterback wins list, holds the fourth highest winning percentage and possesses a home record. He started 205 consecutive games, which set a quarterback record. One of the most interesting facts about Favre’s earliest plays is the fact that his first NFL completion was to himself in a September 1992 game against Tampa Bay. The event unfolded as Favre caught a deflection pass that he had just thrown before being tackled for a 7 yard loss.

Today, Brett Favre contributes to the NFL and also to the community. In 1996, The Brett Favre Fourward Foundation was established in order to provide aid to disadvantaged and disabled children in Wisconsin and Mississippi. Since it’s inception, the foundation had donated more than $1.5 million to charities with the help of an annual golf tournament, celebrity softball game and fundraising dinners.

Also in 1996, Favre married longtime love Deanna Tynes and the couple now has two daughters. During his free time, Brett is an avid golfer and is a fan of televised nature programs, crossword puzzles and fishing. In recognition of his great accomplishments in the NFL, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle proclaimed November 29, 2004 as “Brett Favre Day.”

Tips on Making Money Selling Sports Cards on eBay

Are you interested in becoming an eBay seller or are you a relatively new eBay seller?  If so, you may still be learning the ins and outs of eBay. Selling on eBay is a great way to make money on the side or even enough to support yourself, but you have to be successful at what you do.  Unfortunately, it can take time to fully learn the ins and outs of eBay, particularly how to become a profitable eBay seller, until now.  Below some helpful tips are outlined; tips that you won’t necessarily find explained on eBay.

eBay sellers are all required to pay fees to list their items for sale on eBay.  You are charged two separate fees, a listing fee or insertion fee and a final value fee.  For the final value fee, you are charged a percentage of the price that your item sold for.  The insertion fee or listing fee is figured out a little bit differently.  Instead of being charged a percentage, you are charged a set amount. For instance, at the current moment, it costs .20 to list an item up to .99 cents and .40 to list an item for sale between $1.00 and $9.99, and the fee scale continues up in a similar fashion.  Please remember that this is just a sample.  eBay regularly changes their fees; therefore, you are urged not to rely on the aforementioned fee samples.

Although eBay sellers must pay the eBay fees mentioned above, many do not take the time to thoroughly understand those fees.  You are advised against doing that, as it may end up costing you money.  For instance, many of the price ranges for eBay’s insertion fee scale ends at .99 cents.  For you, this is a great opportunity to save money, but you must know how to do so.  As stated above, if you list one of your items at $9.99, the sample insertion fee would be only .40 cents.  Did you know that if you listed your item for $10.00, your insertion fee could jump up to around .60 cents!  An extra .20 cents just for a penny is pretty expensive, especially if you list a number of eBay auctions that way.  Before listing items for sale on eBay again, examine eBay insertion fee sale and see how you can easily save money, sometimes by just shaving a few cents off your asking price.

It has often been said that to be a successful eBay seller, you need to have good product descriptions and clear digital pictures of the item or items that you are selling.  Of course, having a number of pictures in your eBay listings is a great way to increase your chances of making a sale, but it can be expensive doing so.  eBay allows sellers to post one picture for free.  Additional pictures can be purchased for a small fee, but that small fee can add up overtime.  For that reason, many eBay sellers limit the number of pictures they put in their auctions; however, you do not want to do this. Instead, you will want to examine photo sharing sites.  Photo sharing websites, like PhotoBucket are a nice, fee way to add more pictures to your eBay auctions.  Register with a photo sharing site, like PhotoBucket, follow the instructions and you should be saving money in no time at all.

The above mentioned ways are just a few of the many ways that you can save money on eBay, not lose it.  In all honesty, you should do a little bit of research first.  Using the internet is a great way to research selling on eBay, as many other eBay users will share their money making secrets with you, free of charge.

Las Vegas Offers Sports Memorabilia

Sports lovers can be sure to find items of interest in the ever-popular Vegas! A partial list to get you started include: Numis Gems, The Upper Deck Store, Field of Dreams, Gallery of Legends, Baseball Cards of Las Vegas, Hall of Fame Sports Cards, Casey’s Sports Cards, Sports Card Mania, Sports N More, A Al’s Stars, Fans Hangout, Woody’s World, Starslive 365, Baseball Card Heaven, and K & B Sportcards.

Tired of shopping and need a break? Try renting a dune buggy for some fun before heading back to the shops to finish your search for that special sports item. There is a place called Sun Buggie Fun that rents for around $90 an hour.

When you’re done having fun in the sun, head for the wonderful restaurants that flaunt their famous sports memorabilia for all to enjoy. If you want something besides the run-of-the-mill sports items, remember that fishing is a sport as well. You can enjoy the collections of this type memorabilia in the Silverton Casino or the Village Sea Food Buffet. Don’t forget the fishing shop that has gained in popularity in just the last few years, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. It isn’t just your usual fishing supply store. It has a museum-like atmosphere and an indoor aquarium for the enjoyment of both you and your children.

Are you interested in wrestling memorabilia? Caesar’s Palace Colosseum has held several wrestling events. It has also been a place for boxing, car races, and Robbie Knievel. Wrestling even undertook pay-per-view events at Caesar’s Palace in 2006.

Are you looking for sports memorabilia in the form of comic books? There is no shortage of comic book collections in Las Vegas! A short list of stores include: Kool News, Maxstuf Comics, Velvet Underground, Alternate Reality, Dark Tower Comics, Dreamwell Comics, Black Thorne Hobbies, Heroes Playground, I Buy Comics, Bronze Tablet, Comic Oasis, and the Silver Cactus Comics.
You can find memorabilia for the sport of racing at Race Rock Café. Or Nascar Café.

Remember to watch out for forged memorabilia. As wonderful as Las Vegas can be, there are also those who prey upon the unsuspecting collector. One store owner was fined $25,000, a $100 assessment fee, 6 months custody, four months in a half-way house, 200 hours community service, and is under a 2 year supervised release. He was barred from the business of sports and celebrity memorabilia and has to pay restitution to the victims of his crime.

One places of business that reached fame in Las Vegas was the Official All Star Café, which was owned by six famous sports figures. These were Shaq, Agassi, Montana, Seles, Woods, and Gretsky.

Maybe you would like to visit the Harley Davidson Café. They have plenty of motorcycle memorabilia. They feature specialty bikes found only in this café. There is a huge 28 foot high, 15,000 pound Harley replica coming out of the building front as advertisement you just can’t miss.
Besides all this, Las Vegas is known for its casinos and plenty of sports memorabilia can be seen on display there as well.

Source: Sports Memorabilia Expert

Quick Tips for Selling Sports Cards

Penny Pincher's Guide to Collecting Baseball Cards

If you love collecting baseball cards, you are certainly not alone. There are millions of cards to choose from. Some people collect their favorite players or teams, while other collect specific years, brands, or sets. There is no right or wrong to collecting, but it would be a waste to pay full price for your cards. This penny pincher's guide to collecting baseball cards will help you get the most cards for the least amount of money.

The absolute best place to buy cheap baseball cards is eBay. Some might consider this the worst place, because of the number of people that are actively bidding on eBay each day. However, there are way more baseball card sellers on eBay than there are bidders. Thousands of baseball cards sell on eBay every minute for only a small fraction of their book value.

The Beckett price guide is considered the "bible" of baseball card values. Buyers and seller refer to this guide in order to see how much their cards are worth, how much they should pay for new cards, and what they might be able to sell their cards for. The problem that newcomers to the baseball card world encounter is that they think the prices in this guide are set in stone. This is far from the truth. In actuality, there is a unwritten rule amongst those active in the baseball card world that unless a card is extremely hot or rare, it usually is only worth 10% of the high book value listed. That's right, 10%.

If you are hoping to sell baseball cards, this is likely crushing news. If you are wanting to purchase new cards for your collection, you should jump for joy. There are exceptions, of course. Cards that are extremely limited, older cards, and some autographed and game used memorabilia cards can sell at their high book value, or even higher. By and large though, most cards fall into this unspoken 10% area.

There are several reasons to visit eBay. For one, there is no larger selection of baseball cards in one spot. Additionally, this large selection means that there are always extreme baseball card bargains to be had. There simply is not a buyer, or more than one buyer, for all of the over one million baseball cards on eBay at any given time. The vast majority of eBay sellers are trustworthy, and now more than ever, sellers are offering free shipping deals. Purchasing a baseball card that you need for your collection for a dollar or less is well withing the realm of possibility.

There are other auction sites where you can find baseball cards. Sites such as ePier, Bonanza, iOffer, and many more have thousands of such listings. Generally, the deals found on these sites are not as extreme as eBay deals, but they may be worth checking out if you are looking for specific cards and cannot find them on eBay.

How to Sell Baseball Cards for Profit

It truly saddens me when someone comes to me with a box of baseball cards from the 80's and thinks they have a goldmine on their hands. I hate being the one to tell them that they will be lucky if they can given them away, much less walk away rich. While baseball cards were mass produced in the 1980's, card companies such as Topps learned their lesson about how this affected card values, and changed the world of cards from the 90's on.

If you want to sell your box of cards from the 80's, I will not be able to help you. However, if you have vintage cards from the 70's or older, or newer cards from the 90's on up, you just might be in luck. Before you do anything, you will want to determine how much each of your cards are worth. The most popular price guide is Beckett. However, their online and magazine prices guides cost money. Tuff Stuff offers a free online price guide, but most hardcore baseball card sellers do not think the pricing on Tuff Stuff is as accurate as that of Beckett.

eBay used to be the land of opportunity for baseball card sellers. Today, it is rough going because everyone and their brother is trying to sell cards on eBay. There is still profit to be made here, but you have to know how to properly list.

If you have a card that is worth a lot of money, search eBay first to see if there are already listings for it. If there are, you will want to hold off on listing your card, hopefully until a time when yours is the only one. You should also search completed listings in order to determine what prices a card like yours actually sold for.

If you have a lot of cards that are not worth much individually, consider grouping them into lots. This will save you a ton of money on listing fees, and will increase the perceived, as well as actual value of what you are offering. Baseball card lots do well on eBay, as many people do not want to fool with buying their cards one at a time. You can separate these lots into brand, card type, player, or any other combination that you think will garner attention.

A final piece of advice is to list your baseball cards at a price that shows they are valuable, but be careful not to overprice. Card rarely sell for their full value unless they are rare, or are highly sought after issues. Searching the completed listings will help you determine if what you have falls into these categories.

Other places to sell your cards include auction sites other than eBay, and baseball card message boards, and independent sales websites. There will not be as high a turnover rate using these other methods, but you just might make more money per sale. It is worth checking out all of these option in order to determine how to sell your baseball cards for profit.

How To Market Your Sports Cards and Memorabilia

Are you an eBay seller? If you are, your goal is likely to make as much money as you can by selling products that you no longer need or want on eBay. Unfortunately, there are now thousands, if not millions, of individuals who are interested in doing the same thing. For you, this often means a steady increase in competition. However, even with competition, you should still be able to make a profit when using eBay, but you may need a little bit of help. That help could from marketing.

When many of us think of internet marketing, we often automatically think of online retail stores or online websites. Although you are not running your own online retail store, you are trying to make a profit online; therefore, you are, in a way, like a retailer. Just having your for sale items listed on eBay is enough to get your eBay items exposure, but you may want to think about taking it a step farther. There are a number of different ways that you can go about marketing your for sale eBay items, without having to spend a dime.

Perhaps, one of the best ways to go about marketing your eBay items is by joining the eBay community, otherwise known as the online message boards. When you talk with other eBay community members your screen name used is also your eBay name. In the eBay community forum, every time that you start a new message or respond to an existing one your name is left, with a link to your main eBay webpage. That is the age that outlines all of the items that you currently have available for sale. Many eBay community members click other member’s pages just out of curiosity, but it not uncommon for someone to find something that catches their eye. Simply starting a few conversations with other eBay community members, even just occasionally, may help to up your eBay exposure.

Another relatively easy way that you can market your eBay auction listings to the general public is by posting on a number of message boards, besides eBay. There are a number of message boards that allow internet users, just like you, to post information on items that they have available for sale, both on and off of eBay. Providing a link, as well as short description of some of the items that you are looking to sell is a great way to increase your eBay exposure and up your chances of making a sale. When taking this internet marketing approach, it is important that you only advertise your eBay listings in areas designated for doing so. Spamming is not permitted on many online message boards and it may actually get you a bad reputation.

Speaking of using online message boards, there are a number of online message boards or forums that allow members to have signatures. Signatures are where many people leave their name or a favorite quote of theirs, but some message boards allow members to use it as space to promote their products or businesses. Before posting a link to your eBay auctions, you are advised to examine the online message board’s policy concerning signature advertising. Should it be allowed, you are advised to take advantage of this free internet marketing. You will want to post a link to your eBay sales page, but be sure to mention that eBay is where all clickers will be going.

Another easy that you can promote your eBay items, particularly if you have multiple items for sale, is by putting a “please checkout my other eBay auctions,” message at the end of each of your eBay listings. As with all of the other above mentioned internet marketing tactics, this is easy and free to do.