Hobbyists spent more than $381 million on sports and trading cards online in December, according to sales tracked by Card Ladder.
December’s result is a small increase over the roughly $376 million spent in November and is now the fourth-highest total for a single month in Card Ladder’s records.
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Card Ladder’s Industry page attempts to capture the hobby’s online secondary market by pulling data from a number of marketplaces. The page doesn’t record cards purchased in-person at card shops or card shows or from online sales directly from the manufacturer or major retailers.
Private sales are included when reported and verified by Card Ladder. Totals for each month can also change as sales are retroactively added.
eBay was December’s leading marketplace with more than $297 million spent on sports and trading cards. Collectors spent more than $43 million at Fanatics Collect, more than $27.5 million at Heritage, more than $14 million at REA and nearly $13.7 million at Alt.
In total, Card Ladder logged more than 5.96 million transactions through December, which is now the highest single month in the tool’s records after topping the 5.95 million tracked in August.
The highest public sale for a single card in December was the $3.172 million paid for a 2003 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant Dual Logoman at Heritage.
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Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the collectibles editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.