Australian card traders making $140,000 on eBay
NRL trading cards have exploded in Australia, making us eBay’s fastest growing collectable card-trading country — much like the demand for NFTs.
NRL trading cards have boomed 2080 per cent in Australia and the nation has become the fastest-growing collectable card-trading country on eBay.
Sports trading cards have grown 649 per cent overall, with AFL cards up 337 per cent, and collectibles including Pokemon, Magic The Gathering and Yu Gi Oh! seeing 365 per cent growth in the first quarter of this year alone.
The resurgence in popularity falls on the back of a 7769 per cent spike during the Covid pandemic, when many older fans of collectable cards discovered the trading cards they had hoarded in childhood had become extremely valuable.
“We’ve seen it just really explode on eBay in terms of growth. Australia, as a region, has actually grown faster than any other region within eBay,” said eBay’s in-house collectable card expert, Alaister Low.
Mr Low said that with some sports cards, the price fluctuated greatly based on a player’s performance.
“What’s really interesting, I find, is it’s so tied to moments and events; when a player performs really well in the NBA, for example, then all of a sudden there’s a spike in the price of their card. It’s just fascinating how closely (aligned) it is.”
In Australia, the largest number of card collectors are in Victoria and NSW, the majority of whom reside in the outer suburbs such as western Sydney’s Liverpool and Campbelltown.
The most popular cards traded on eBay are Pokemon. Of late, basketball cards have performed particularly well, Mr Low said.
“The most recent boom happened when the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship. After that, Steph Curry cards boomed in price,” he said.
“The most expensive card that we’ve seen traded on eBay in Australia is Luka Doncic, which traded for $140,000.
“When he was a rookie, I imagine that same card would have been worth about $100.”
Mr Low said the collectable card industry in recent years had been popular among a similar cohort to those who buy and sell NFTs — who want to make a quick buck.
“Three years ago it would have been diehard collectors but as the growth happened that’s when you saw flippers come in,” he said.
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