This is an area that brings up the most questions for collectors
worldwide and is a book in itself. Often you will hear dealers
give the stock answer, 'well....its worth what someone is
willing to pay for it!'. Thanks Einstein. But obviously the
point is how can we, the seller, figure out what this is?

As this is an active market valuations of different pieces
change from year to year. Many factors can determine this from
the popularity of the athlete/team to the economic conditions
of the time. Therefore, it is vital to have an updated guide
showing current values. A two year old guide is worthless-throw
it out!

For example, experienced sports card collectors prefer using
monthly price guide magazines such as Beckett's guides. This
sort of info keeps you up to date but you may find that not all
collectibles are in there simply because there is not enough
space! It can also be an issue when looking for details on rare
or vintage pieces.

For this you would have to look at some of the reputable yearly
guides produced by Tuff Stuff or Beckett's. They may be yearly
but they can provide a good reference point and will have more
on the rare pieces mentioned. These guides are huge and claim
to list over 500,000 items so it wont make for a good vacation
read! 

There are many guides out there that also cater for less
mainstream sports such as fishing or antique golf collectibles.
Price guides in this area are particularly useful if they carry
photos of authentic memorabilia and tips on collecting that
type of item. With these niche markets you may find that values
vary widely in relation to printed valuations.

It is still not enough to go by book valuation so you really
need to do your research on real world prices. If it is a well
known piece of sports memorabilia then you can go straight over
to ebay to see if something similar has been sold there and for
what price.As with anything on ebay - Buyer Beware! Check the
seller reputation and comments left by buyers.

Another option is to go to your local hobby shop or find a
sports memorabilia dealer local to you. They may be willing to
provide a no obligation estimate. However, it probably isn't a
good idea to sell to them as they will want to get it at a low
price before selling on for a profit. There is no harm in this
- it is a business after all - but the smart seller will go
somewhere else knowing it's probably worth more on the private
market.

When it comes to high end sports memorabilia it may be worth
paying a specialized appraiser. If an item is incredibly rare
then there is little in the way of a benchmark on the open
market so consulting an expert from a reputable company is your
best option. Look at the top auction companies in your niche
as the places to go for this.

Now, all of this may be pointless if your collectible has no
value at all because you bought badly in the first place! First
of all look for something related to a popular star/team.
Secondly try and get something that is rare. Finally, you must
keep it in as good condition as you possibly can. It would be
all well and good if you have a Michael Jordan Fleer rookie
card but if it's in bad condition it's not going to be worth a
whole lot. This final point is absolutely key. If you neglect
this then the dealer really is right - 'its only worth what
someone is willing to pay for it...'