If you have a collection to sell and you live anywhere around Bristol, Kingsport, or Abingdon, you have probably run into the same problem everybody else does. Your options are a pawn shop that does not know a rookie card from a checklist, a Facebook stranger who wants to meet in a parking lot, or shipping your cards to someone three states away and hoping for the best.
There is a fourth option, and it is a short drive up the road in St. Paul.
Why bring it to a real shop
A card shop that actually deals in this stuff every day looks at your collection differently than a general resale counter does. We know which rookies matter, which parallels carry a premium, and which cards are worth grading versus selling raw. That knowledge is the difference between a fair number and a lowball.
It also means you get a straight answer. Some collections are loaded. Some are a fun afternoon of nostalgia and not much more. Either way, you hear the truth about what you have, not a pitch built around paying you as little as possible.
What we buy
The short version is most things worth buying. Sealed boxes and unopened product, star and rookie singles, autographs, numbered cards, vintage, graded slabs, and full collections. If you are not sure whether your stuff qualifies, that is exactly what the free look is for.
Our buying page walks through what to pull aside and how to put together a quick inventory before you come in. Ten minutes with that list makes the whole visit faster, and it helps you get a better number.
If what you are holding came out of a closet or an inheritance and you have no idea where to start, we wrote a whole guide for exactly that situation: what to do when you find a box of old cards.
How you get paid
If we make an offer and you take it, you get paid in whatever form fits the deal. Check, Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal. If you would rather turn a collection into something you actually want, store credit is on the table too, and it stretches further than a payout does. Plenty of folks walk in with a shoebox and walk out with a box of the new stuff they have been eyeing.
Making the trip worth it
St. Paul is centrally located and an easy drive from Northeast Tennessee and parts of Southwest Virginia. A few things to know before you load the car.
Small stuff, walk in any time we are open. You do not need an appointment to have us look at a stack.
Bigger hauls, a full closet, an estate, more than you can carry in one trip, give us a call first at 276-608-1607. That way we can block out real time to go through it properly instead of rushing it between customers.
Bring everything, even the parts you assume are worthless. The junk wax commons might not move the needle, but people are surprised more often than you would think by what was sitting in the same box.
Come see us
Lab 20 Sports Cards, 16611 Russell St, St. Paul, VA. Open Tuesday through Friday 10 to 6 and Saturday 9 to 4. Bring the collection, bring your questions, and get an honest read from people who do this every single day.
Wherever you are coming from in Northeast Tennessee or Southwest Virginia, the drive is shorter than you think, and the answer you get is a whole lot better than a parking lot guess.