If You're Out There

I never even considered that I would be into sports cards again. To be honest, I was never REALLY into them in the first place. Sure, we had sports cards as kids. I remember a white binder of cards that I think I got - maybe as a fan giveaway, I can't remember - at a Cleveland Indians game. We had some baseball cards in it, some football, and some hockey. What's weird is that as much as I love hockey now and love hockey cards the most, I don't remember that many hockey cards in the collection. I say "we" because many of the cards were my brothers. After my mom passed, he took the cards because I wasn't really into sports at the time, let alone cards. I kind of wish I would have kept some, but the only reason I say that is because I swear we had a Gretzky rookie somewhere in there! 

I don't know how the heck I got it in my head sometime after COVID that I wanted to buy some sports cards to diversify my portfolio. Kind of like a joke, but of course as a new collector I was part serious because you always think cards are worth more than they really are when you own them - especially when you're just starting out. I didn't expect to be taken back to my childhood when I opened my first pack of hockey cards. But it wasn't my childhood of "collecting my favorite hockey cards." It was my childhood of going to the old Civic Arena in Pittsburgh (now demolished) and watching the Penguins play. My dad would get tickets to the games from work all the time and we would go - usually me, my dad, and brother. Sometimes a family friend would join us. I can't explain the magic of watching live hockey at that age. It was what drew me to the desire to play hockey as a kid. I wanted to go to Mercyhurst in Erie, PA and play Division I hockey in the hopes to eventually play professionally maybe, but I did other things. 

So opening those cards just brought me back to a childhood of loving every second of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. To this day, hockey is the only sport that I watch and follow, even though I sell other sports cards in the eBay store. 

When I started selling sports cards I was just doing it to try and recoup some profit on the boxes I was opening for my YouTube hockey card break channel. I wasn't too serious into the business side of it or trying to grow the brand or anything. After a while (and too much money spent!) I stopped opening boxes on that channel and started to notice other sellers documenting their card selling journey on YouTube. That's when I started the Card Zoo Sports Cards store and YouTube channel to document my journey - and that's when selling became more serious for me. But even at the beginning, I wasn't super focused on "building the business" per se. I mean I was, but I was really just trying out new things and seeing what worked and what didn't as we all should be at that phase! After a year or so, maybe sooner, I started to pickup some traction and decided to keep going. As documented by my YouTube videos, I tried SO MANY different approaches. Chasing Rookies, GOATS, Both, chasing hype, buying bulk. Some worked, some didn't.

It wasn't until I started my new Card Bucket Method in July 2025 that things really started to click. If you want to see me talk more about that method, you can check out my YouTube video on it. It just made everything fall into place. But it wasn't just about the new method that gave me foundational, scalable systems to run my business, it was also about my decision to focus mostly on selling what I love: Hockey Cards. I still sell the other sports, but hockey cards are the ones I am most effective at selling (yes, people ARE buying them in the US), and I love everything about them because I love everything about hockey (minus the horrendous officiating). 

So what is my goal with all this card stuff anyway? You know, I watch a lot of other sports card channels on YouTube and it's always the same story..."Buy these rookies now!" or "The ONLY way to sell is to chase hype and move inventory FAST" or "If you want to make money, you MUST grade with PSA regularly." Or my favorite, "I Spent $100,000 on this collection and made____." Let me say what we're all thinking...Bro, where did you get $100,000?! Many people may be successful doing all or none of those things. But what I want to share with people are basic business principles to help them run their sports card business. We get so stuck in "No one's buying cards" or "You can't make any money on them." But I believe that consistent profits can be had in this business. Is it consistent profit of $1,000/week on cards alone? Maybe not, but I'm still figuring all that out on my own journey. I learned a lot about business since I earned my Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in 2019 (and since being in the corporate world since 2017), and many people forget that in sports cards - behind all the hype and content - it's just a business like many other industries where the same principles & foundations apply. 

You won't find "BUY THIS ROOKIE NOW" videos on my channel, but you will find "How to SELL Sports Cards FAST" videos that talk about strategic principles and systems to help you scale a sports card business that gives you consistent, I repeat, consistent revenue. That's what I want to share with you. And, my commitment to you is that I am along on this journey with you. Selling, experimenting, sharing, adjusting, and hopefully, succeeding. But more importantly, enjoying the ride!