Jared Says for May

April begins the baseball season and with May it's in full swing. With the start of over-55 softball practice and opening day at Fenway Park for the Red Sox and in Pawtucket, R.I. for the PawSox (the Red Sox AAA team) spring has finally arrived in New England.

Baseball, for me, brings sports cards to mind. In the past several years I have done very little business with sports cards. I used to collect and deal with them, but it was difficult to keep up with all the different vendors and styles of cards being released every year. This big supply in the market seems to have affected the value of older cards ( pre-1980).

The market seems to be strong for older non-sports cards and sports memorabilia: autographs, pictures, yearbooks, gloves, bats, etc. These are the areas where I would be interested in hearing from you if you've seen similar trends.

Don't overlook the "minor" sports! For almost any sport there is an association or interest group that can be reached. Last year I picked up a large collection pins saved from curling clubs and meets. I was having trouble finding a buyer until I found the U.S. Curling Club's web site. They were kind enough to post a note for me and a couple of weeks later I sold them to a person in the mid-west. Be sure to follow-up after getting help with a sale. After thanking the Club I asked them to delete the note. Shortly after that I received a call from a person in Scotland who wanted to purchase the pins. I Love this E-Commerce.