Collecting sports cards has become a hobby for many people. Some even collect them as investments. How much would you pay for a rare baseball card?
Sports cards are often considered valuable because they represent players who are no longer playing or have retired from the game.
They also serve as a way to remember some of the greatest moments in sports history. But what about digital collectibles, also known as NFTs?
What Is An NFT?
NFTs are digital collectibles that can be bought and sold online. You can own them forever and they’re not physical objects.
NFTs are similar to CryptoKitties but they’re different because NFTs can be traded and owned by people other than the original creator.
The first person to create an NFT was Decentraland, which started selling virtual parcels in December 2017. Since then we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of NFTs created around different games and items.
It’s really popular right now if you’re into trading things. Here’s where to shop:
eBay
If you do a search, you will see that there are a number of NFT’s for sale on Ebay. There still aren’t that many sports card NFT’s available but when I last checked there was one that was selling for $4,999.
Coinbase
One of my favorites due to its simplicity. Just sign up for Coinbase, purchase your NFT on their app, and send it to yourself through email.
Once you receive your mail, just open the attachment to load the token onto your Coinbase wallet. From there you can withdraw it at any time and send it anywhere.
Crypto Exchanges
Cryptocurrency exchanges make it easy to swap Bitcoin for Ethereum or ERC-20 tokens. Once you’re all set up, log onto your exchange and follow the instructions.
A word of caution: When buying anything with cryptocurrencies, you don’t know what you’re getting — so you need to double check everything.
Many websites will take advantage of new customers and offer cheap prices but when you hit checkout and enter personal information, the price might skyrocket.
There are always new exchanges popping up and in the current climate it may well pay to work with one that has been around for a while.. As far as value goes, consider checking out the forums and doing a fair amount of due diligence before committing.
Where Can I Sell NFTs?
You can sell your NFTs using platforms such as GAWMiners, OpenSea, and Augur. If you want to keep track of how much each NFT is worth, use CoinMarketCap.
When Should I Buy Or Sell A NFT?
There isn’t one definitive answer here. You should look at past trends and analyze market conditions accordingly. For example, if you see a lot of people selling their NFT and the price keeps dropping, the market may have cooled off.
However , if they’re actively purchasing NFTs and the price keeps rising, that could mean there’s more demand than supply.
Always do research and read reviews before jumping into the fray. You can easily make money by flipping your NFTs for profit.
Are These Digital Collectibles Legal To trade?
Yes, they are legal to trade and own. Any transaction between two parties is fair as long as both parties agree. This includes transactions involving NFTs.
What Are The Benefits Of Owning NFTs?
Owning an NFT gives you bragging rights. No one else has it unless they paid a ridiculous sum for it. They can also hold sentimental value depending on what they are the reasons why they were purchased specifically to add to your collection.
What Are The Downsides Of Owning NFTs?
Unfortunately, there can be serious risks involved with collecting NFTs. One thing to watch out for is fraud and scams. It’s very common for unscrupulous individuals to scam unsuspecting buyers.
Some even go so far as to try and sell stolen NFTs. Other drawbacks include:
Digital theft : A number of hackers attempt to hack the blockchain and steal digital assets such as NFTs from users. The bad guys have also gone after NFT providers who allow unauthorized transfers from third party wallets.
In some cases, hackers have taken control of users’ accounts and drained their bank accounts. In other cases they’ve removed funds from the user’s account and sent them to another address.
Virtual theft : There are times when content creators get hacked and someone takes over their account and makes changes to a game world that messes up player experience.
Another concern involves malicious actors taking over player accounts in order to gain access to private keys needed to move ownership of NFTs.
Digital counterfeiting : Sometimes companies create clones of official products and then resell them on online markets like eBay, eBay Marketplace, Amazon etc.
Since digital goods aren’t physically printed they don’t qualify as “real” items. So, technically these are just copies sold without permission and not allowed under copyright law.
Online piracy : Another way that digital collectibles become illegal is through the use of pirated software which allows a person to download copyrighted materials.
Vandalism : Artists sometimes paint over original artwork. When that happens it completely ruins the integrity of the piece of intellectual property.
In the case of NFTs, vandalization occurs when scammers cover a valuable item with images depicting drugs or violence for example.
Or maybe they take the best parts of a picture and put it inside a different frame. This destroys the integrity of the original artwork.
Conclusion
NFT’s have been successful in the art world and sports industry. Their success, however, comes with several caveats.
If you’re looking to invest in rare digital collectibles, be sure to understand the risks associated with each type of asset.
When I was just starting out with my card collection, I had lots of questions about authenticity, trading, and card conditions. But with not that much information available online, I felt quite alone in my queries. Some questions still haven’t been answered to this day.
This site aims to rectify this, and now, I am passing on my knowledge!
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