For sale

I collect cards for my own amusement. It's been that way for 40 years. There is nothing to this hobby besides accumulation for me.

Except for a few fits and starts, I have rarely considered selling cards because I think this hobby should be as free of real world problems as possible. The formula should be simple: Have a little extra cash for cards? Buy cards. Enjoy cards. Repeat.

But after 40 years, that formula becomes less and less practical. I have lots of cards, but the space for them is shrinking by the year. I also have lots of cards that are practically useless to me. They don't fit in my collection and they're not easy to trade. And, of course, any kind of extra money would be helpful.

So, I'm considering again selling cards. Only a bit more seriously this time.

There has to be someone out there who is a Rays collector or a David DeJesus collector. If the blogs won't take care of my excess parallels then maybe ebay or COMC will.

I have resisted selling cards in the past not only because I want my hobby to be 100 percent pure enjoyment, but also because I've heard the stories about how selling cards online (particularly on ebay) has become more and more of a hassle.

So I'm asking for a little advice here.

Those of you who sell cards online, particularly on ebay or COMC, what kind of tips do you have for a newbie seller? Are there any obvious dos and don't?

I don't have a ton of cards that I think are worth selling. Besides some stray parallels from the unpopular teams among the card blogs (Marlins, Rays, Mariners, A's, Twins) there are abundant Dodgers that I believe I've circulated among the many Dodger collectors already.

So this will be a sporadic venture at most. I don't have the time and I don't want the hassle. But I do want the space and, oh, yes, I do want the money.

So if you've got tips, I want them.

And if that tip is "don't sell" then so be it.

I'm happy sticking with accumulating until the house explodes.