(First: I’m totally biased here, as the admin of two different Facebook groups that specialize in vintage baseball cards! I’ll be clear about which groups I run in the text…)
If you collect vintage actively you probably do at least some of your buying and selling via social media. For me, Facebook and other social media probably account for 90% of my buy / sell / trading at this point! There are so many groups, and finding the best ones can be a challenge.
(Want your group added to a revised list? Link in the comments and I’ll consider!)
Here are my criteria for a “Best Group”:
- The best groups are large and active–5,000 members or more for a mainstream vintage group.
- Vigilant moderation–scams and rule-breakers get dealt with in a timely manner.
- Good Rules–to function well groups need clear rules about listings, payments, pictures, etc.
- The best groups are private and you need to answer questions and accept rules to join.
- For my purposes here groups need to be vintage only, and mostly baseball.
- There are great specialty groups (such as my group that focuses on Negro Leagues), but for this list, I’m only mentioning groups with a general vintage focus.
Without further ado, here are some of my favorites that meet those criteria:
Vintage Baseball Cards
Full disclosure, I admin this group. But Vintage Baseball Cards is the largest vintage baseball card group on all of Facebook, to my knowledge. It has loads of tight rules, good moderation (but could use more volunteers), and the best sellers I know are all very active in this group. Anything goes on Wacky Wednesdays, but otherwise, this group is 1985 and earlier only, and baseball only.
1985 and Older 24 Hour Auction, Firesales Vintage Baseball Card Page
OK, it’s a clunky name, now that I type that all out. But this group is solid and fun. It started as a DOND (deal or no deal) group–and DOND is admittedly a “love it or hate it” concept. I love it and think it is a fun way to sell cards when you are unsure of the value and just want to see what the market says. Sure, some people are just fishing for offers over comps–but I have a lot of success both buying and selling in this one.
Harmon’s Old-Time Baseball Cards–Buy-Sell-Trade & Show Them Off
Harmon’s group is the first one I found when I started using FB for cards, and so it is a sentimental choice. It’s a bit “light” on rules and moderation, but it is a tight-knit membership and doesn’t seem to need much. It’s smaller than the others at 9k members, but that is “big enough” to find buyers and not so huge that your listings can get lost in the traffic.
VINTAGE CARDS – FIRE SALES – WAX – ESTATES – AUCTION HOUSE ⭐️ 1860-1993
This group is another solid option. With 38k members it is one of the largest. It has a large admin team and they run a nice tight ship. It’s not exclusively baseball, but baseball is the vast majority of their traffic.
But wait there’s more . . .
There are dozens of specialty groups I love, or that are just a lot of fun. $1 Sport Card Auctions is a blast, but not specifically vintage. There are groups specific to SGC or PSA, Vintage baseball photos, Bowman, ’53 Topps, and even dedicated to individual players like Mantle, Clemente, etc. If you hyperspecialize, there is a group for you as well!
If I missed your favorite vintage group, drop it in the comments and I’ll add it in a revision!
