While there’s so much we can do online when it comes to buying and selling sports cards, there’s no real substitute to visiting a old-school brick and mortar sports card store.
While there used to be a bunch of card stores everywhere back in the day, with the rise in sites like eBay, and other online platforms, card store numbers have dwindled.
Then, when you consider the costs involved with owning a physical storefront as opposed to an online store, you can kinda sympathize with business owners.
However, if you look closely, you still can find some excellent card stores.
If you’ve ever wondered, How can I find sports card stores near me?, then this article is right up your alley. Here, we’ll look at some ways that you can find great card stores near you.
Table of Contents
Use This Tool on Google Maps
The beauty of the internet is that you can quickly Google Map all the possible sports card stores you.
You can use this map below. All the red pins are sports card stores.
If your city doesn’t show up properly, do the following:
- Click “view larger map”
- Navigate to your city
- Look through all the card stores near you
Make Sure You Do a Little Research
While the joy of going to a sports card store near you is real. You don’t want to drive all the way across town (or even into the next town depending on where you live) and realize that the store doesn’t have what you need.
Or, even worse…. You get there and it’s closed.
On a weekday,
In the afternoon!
(As you can tell, it’s happened to me before and I’m still bitter)
So, make sure you do your research. You can quickly find the store’s opening hours online, along with a phone number if you do want to call.
However, a lot of physical stores will have an online presence of some sort (a website, Facebook page, or Instagram). Either way, it’s handy to check out what they’ve got online and see if they have any cards or product that takes your fancy.
Also, when you’re looking online, you can find any customer reviews. They are definitely worth checking out. While I wouldn’t let one bad review change your mind, if a card store
has a bunch of different negative reviews, I’d raise an eyebrow.
Pro Tip: On the Beckett website they also have a ‘card store of the week’ section. While they may not be released every week anymore, there’s still a bunch of great card and memorabilia stores. You can find the list here.
Visit In-Person Card Shows
While they may not be traditional brick and mortar stores, card shows are an awesome way to meet other collectors and find a good deal or two.
There are a bunch of great resources for finding card shows. Here are a couple of my favorites.
You can also get your cards graded at a lot of shows too, which is pretty awesome, especially seeing the turnaround time can be hectic with grading companies these days.
