10 Tips For Starting A Sports Card YouTube Channel

I often get asked for tips on starting a YouTube channel for sports cards, so I thought I’d share some thoughts on that here.

I used to be a runner, and I feel like starting a channel is similar to starting to run. It’s hard at first; it can be ugly, painful, awkward, and embarrassing.

But you need to just start.

You’ll have failures along the way — I’ve had many. Acknowledge them, learn from them, and move on.

Like running, after practice it eventually becomes easier and maybe even good. You might be a 10-minute miler while others are 5-minute milers, but be your own runner and do what you can.

Here are the 10 tips I sent to two upstart channels recently:

When I was working hard to grow my channel, here are some of the things I tried that worked. (I tried a lot, and some worked and some failed.)

• Mix in some shorter videos with longer — some people won't watch longer videos, while others won't watch shorter.

• More frequent uploads — once I started doing 3+ per week, I became a more reliable creator. Some people say that's important to the algorithm, but I would argue that it's important to viewers.

• Don't talk about the same topics every time — I varied my topics and it attracted different types of viewers.

• But only talk about things you're genuinely interested in — if I talked about how great breaks are, no one would watch because I would do a terrible job of that.

• You don't need to be an expert — this is a common thought in the vintage creator world, that you should only talk about things you're an expert in, but focus on things you're interested in. I'm not an expert in anything!

• Occasional giveaways, no matter how small.

• Start a regular series that people can rely on. I did this with Attic Find Friday, and then Clearing the Bases. Commit to it and don't skip one for a while.

• Creating thumbnails — no matter how rudimentary — is crucial. I use an app called Promeo, which is great and takes me less than a minute per thumbnail. But you can also sign up for TubeBuddy for I think $5/mo and create them right in the YouTube uploader. A lot of mine are created that way because it's super easy and quick. The ones that are just a shot of me from the video with text overlaid are those. I think it's true that adding a face to a thumbnail brings in more viewers.

• The titles of your videos are also crucial. Make sure it's attention-grabbing, but not clickbait. Instead of saying something like, "A card that I love," say, "This card is awesome!" Or try questions. Instead of "This is my favorite card" try "Is this my favorite card?" Not great examples, but you get the gist.

• Most important: try new things! See how they work, and then try more new things. 

A good quote I read recently: “Building your own thing has more benefits than the thing itself.” —Tyler O’Shea

I Hope You Did Not Bid On This eBay Auction

Someone sold a T206 Honus Wagner on eBay for a whopping $9,999. There’s virtually no chance it’s legit.

And if you think the eBay Authenticity Guarantee will help the buyer, you may be wrong. It appears to be slabbed by something, and since the slab is not one of the Big Four companies, that’s a loophole sellers can use to bypass the program.

The seller even had the nerve to add a reserve to the auction.

They have a pretty crazy story that goes along with it, which is that it was damaged by fire and the case melted. And that there may be a Ty Cobb in the case as well. You’ll only find out if you buy it!

If it was you, please reach out to me. I have questions.

🗣️ YouTube Comment Of The Week

My wife gets great joy from these comments. The story is that she flips around (or turns upside-down) one of my cards behind me shortly before I record a video, and I don’t notice in time. Like this:

🎬 Upcoming Videos

• A follow-up on the 1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski card

• Maybe one on insuring your collection?

• I’m going to get down to #90 in my top 100 list this week

📩 Upcoming Newsletters

• Spending within a budget in the hobby

• Are eBay sellers feeling economic pain?

• Is a PSA 9 a bad grade for a modern card?

• I’d like to feature some super-collections

• Various other short-form items and thought-provoking polls

🎬 Channel Highlights From the Past Week

On Sunday’s Clearing the Bases episode I mentioned the sheet of 99 autographs signed by Mickey Mantle, and speculated that a company like Fanatics may have bought it to put them on cards and insert them into packs as “chase” cards. I also said it felt too expensive for that, but I really don’t know.

My friend TJ Is Online showed me that this Instagram user, named Ryan Hanks, says he bought it:

I don’t know who Ryan is, but he’s followed by some hobby heavy hitters and posts some big items.

I also brought Attic Find Friday back:

And I wasn’t sure if I should post a video about one specific comment, but I did and it’s my most-watched video of October and has the most comments I’ve received since the National:

🎁 My Pickup Of The Week

This was a bit of a happy little mistake. It’s a card I’ve wanted since I got back into the hobby, but I never thought I’d get it for as little as I paid for it. Video coming this week.

👻 Brief Horror Movie Review of the Week

I watched MaXXXine, the third in a trilogy, and it was meh. The first two in the trilogy were really good, but this one was all off. Completely different vibe, and not in a good way. Her father’s character should’ve been featured more.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Health Update

I’m 45 and after spending all of my 30s and early 40s in great health, I’ve let it slip over the last 2-3 years since my foot injury. I want to lose 30 pounds, and what better way to hold myself accountable than to put my progress in a weekly update to 1,100+ readers?

Current weight: 240

Goal weight: 210

Loss required: 30 pounds, or 12.5%

🔗 Links:

Should I Clean My Sports Cards?

Iconic Tracker Update Offers Card Data, Potential Value Plays

WNBA Card Hype is Here, but is it Built to Last?

2,584 ancient silver pennies become Britain’s most valuable treasure find at more than $5 million

Why the Hall Not: Pete Rose and Barry Bonds Find Redemption in Trading Card Set!

The Collector’s Guide: What I Wish I Knew As A New Collector

This newsletter is still (and will always be) produced by humans… but we can’t say the same for one of Poland’s radio stations. OFF Radio Krakow laid off all its journalists and replaced them with AI-generated “presenters.”