The Caitlin Clark Effect In Collectibles Is On Full Display

eBay recently released their “2024 in Collecting Report” and Caitlin Clark and “the legends” trends are worth noting.
eBay 2024 in Collecting Trends
eBay 2024 in Collecting Trends / Image courtesy of eBay.com

Basketball fans and card collectors have been hearing about Caitlin Clark for several years now.  Despite the attention she received throughout her college career and her rookie season in the WNBA, the interest in her cards and memorabilia only continues to grow.  In September 2024, searches for her name were up almost 200% compared to January 2024.  In addition, Goldin (an eBay company) set a record for the highest recorded sale of a WNBA card when her Signature Gold Vinyl 1/1 sold for 234.8k as was previously covered in this article.

The Caitlin Clark Effect
The Caitlin Clark Effect / Image courtesy of eBay.com

While the hype of modern players drives interest in newly released wax, it’s the retired legends that dominated the biggest sales on eBay.  Of the ten highest sales through October, seven of them were retired legends like Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Kobe Bryant. It seems the classics never go out of style.

Legends dominated the top sales on eBay
Legends dominated the top sales on eBay / Image courtesy of eBay.com

In one of my previous articles, I shared some data about the relative strength of the hobby.  Well, the eBay report had another piece of anecdotal data that supports that conclusion.  It showed in October, when the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and WNBA were all in season, eBay searches for “PSA 10” in the sports card category were up almost 30% compared to the previous year.  The interest in cards does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

Searches for PSA10 are up
Searches for PSA10 are up / Image courtesy of eBay.com

Despite the current push towards the NFL playoffs and the hype surrounding the league’s popularity, football cards have very little representation in the eBay report.  In fact, the top five athlete searches in November were all about baseball and basketball.  Michael Jordan, Victor Wembanyama, Caitlin Clark, Paul Skenes, and Shohei Ohtani topped the list.  It wasn’t until we zoom out to the full year that we see CJ Stroud crack the top 10 search list.

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani
Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Finally, I found it interesting and a bit reassuring that the top two card sales on eBay were from vastly different eras.  The most expensive trading card sold globally on eBay was a 2015-16 Panini Immaculate Nikola Jokic LOGOMAN Patch 1/1 RC Rookie Card PSA MVP, which sold for $205,000 in May of this year. It was followed by the top-sold vintage card this year, a 1909-11 T206 White Border #NN Ty Cobb (Portrait) "Ty Cobb" Tobacco PSA 1.5, which sold for $190,000 earlier in December. These were followed by a 1986-87 fleer Michael Jordan rookie #57 psa 10 Gem Mt at $145,655 and a 1952 Topps Set-Break #311 Mickey Mantle PSA 6 EX-MT for $135,100.   


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Mike Sommer
MIKE SOMMER

Mike Sommer is a lifelong collector who has a passion for teaching others how to have a self-sustaining hobby. You can find more from him at WaxPackHero.com, Hobby News Daily, and on the WaxPackHero Sports Card Minute podcast.