The glitzier side of card collecting on social media puts a spotlight on rare and valuable cards. The hobby’s big “pulls” are showcased like rare jewels anyone can own if they’re lucky enough. Expensive cards are highlighted in slick videos and photographs. Instagram and Twitter become feedback loops, reinforcing the importance of costly cards and potentially lucrative returns.
But slowly, those platforms are also shedding light on personal and financial trouble that can result from a life where buying becomes an obsession. Rising prices for cards has made the pathway to financial trouble a lot shorter for those who become obsessed with buying in search of a big hit or rolling the dice on an expensive card in hopes of seeing a huge gain.
A search for content associated with trading card addiction yields several YouTube videos. Most have been posted in the past two years.
In a video viewed more than 200,000 times, George Wiley talks about starting a box-breaking business that ended up putting him $20,000 in debt.
“As someone that bought a lot of cases of cards, lost a lot of money within the hobby, it’s not there, guys,” Wiley says in the video. “You’re chasing the wrong things. If you think you’re going to make money off of buying boxes of cards and opening them – you will not.”
“It’s literally a cardboard drug,” wrote one of the more than 2,300 people who have commented on the video.
There’s little research on card addiction but extensive research on related addictions like compulsive shopping, hoarding, and gambling.
Peter Piraino, LMSW, LCDC at Burning Tree Programs in Elgin, TX, says that card addiction falls in line with process addictions. These addictions are less about physical dependence, such as drugs, but more about mental dependence, resulting in a preoccupation with thinking about something.
“If a person isn’t purchasing cards, but their mind is constantly preoccupied with how to get them, then those are some warning signs,” Piraino told SC Daily.
One clinical study on the addictive nature of collecting Star Wars cards found that while collectors considered themselves “addicted,” based on results from inventories developed by researchers, they did not meet the clinical definitions of true addictive behavior.
So what exactly is a card addiction, and can its definition vary from person to person regarding card collecting?
What is an Addiction?
Dustin from The Sports Card Dad, who posted on YouTube about his own struggles to control those buying impulses, felt addiction was an appropriate term for what he was going through.
“It’s OK to use that word in this instance because excessive card buying for me had become a habit,” Dustin told SC Daily. “There was the potential of negative consequences in my personal life if I didn’t put a plan in place and change.”
He describes eagerly awaiting Friday paydays and spending all his allotted money by Wednesday. It had gotten to a point where he was hiding mail from his wife, going beyond his budget to buy cards, and constantly logged in to eBay.
It was especially alarming because Dustin talked with his wife about his spending habits throughout 2022. He was still going over his budget by about $2,000 a month.
“I got addicted to box/case breaks in 2020/2021,” one collector responded to the video. “I was hiding purchases and intercepting the mail before my wife got home. It wasn’t good. The dishonesty almost ended my marriage.”
Tanner Jones, the author of Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict, says he has collected more than 10 million cards in his lifetime. Much of the book is a lighthearted tale of buying and selling cards and his Jose Canseco fandom, but there’s also a serious message.
“A news outlet did a story on me,” Jones told SC Daily. “One part showed the interviewer sitting down with a professional who said card collecting can be a problem when it interferes with your family or work.
“Collecting never did that for me, but there were certain addictive traits. I felt compelled to check eBay constantly. It was very time-consuming.”
When he was on the verge of buying a huge lot of Jose Canseco cards, Jones was overcome with an uneasy feeling. He felt a divine pull to sell his cards and to walk away from becoming a super collector.
“I’m not condemning collecting,” Jones wrote in his book. “My addictive personality made super collecting an unhealthy lifestyle for me due to the amount of brain space it took. I do urge you, however, to take a moment to think long and hard about where you are in your collecting journey and where you are in life. If you feel that you’ve sunk into a situation you can’t get out of, I encourage you to take the steps necessary to break free from the addiction.”
Warning Signs of Addiction
Dustin’s card-buying habits reminded him of a cigarette habit he kicked a few years ago. Card buying started to creep up old feelings of cravings for nicotine.
His story had such an impact that it inspired a handful of reaction videos related to his struggle. One collector connected the increased dependence on cell phones with a vulnerability for card collecting addiction. Dustin received private messages thanking him for giving them the courage to speak with their significant others about their spending. Critics said he didn’t have an addiction but that he was being irresponsible. But to him, the situation matched how a therapist once defined addiction.
“I watched a video where the therapist said, ‘It’s an addiction as long as it has a negative impact on your life and you keep on going,’” he said.
Collectors have stated their card-buying habits were influenced by a combination of:
- Chasing the big hit. By buying thousands of dollars of boxes, collectors are tilting the odds in their favor ever-so-slightly of hitting the most expensive cards in a set.
- The feeling of need to constantly find higher-graded examples of a card.
- Box Breaks. Joining breaks by paying a few dollars in hopes of hitting a big card appeals to gamblers and provides the anticipation commonly found in raffles.
- Ripping wax. By opening packs, collectors get small doses of dopamine by doing something enjoyable. Ripping wax and box breaks also add to a gamification component of the hobby.
Piraino compares the chase for big cards with playing video games.
“Those games are built to trigger your brain’s dopamine response,” Piraino said. “The games are geared to release your brain’s feel-good chemicals. The chase for a card could give you small hits, and once you get a certain card, it can give you a big hit.”
Effects of Addiction
Card addiction has had several consequences for those who have come forward about their issues. People that describe themselves as being addicts have experienced the following:
- Tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
- Fractured relationships. Collectors have experienced increased amounts of time on card websites like eBay or with breakers that limited interaction with loved ones.
- Unmanageable inventory. Amassing a collection so large that it needs to be more organized, takes up large amounts of space, and where the collector is unsure what they own.
- Crime. A former Homeland Security special agent was found guilty of improperly using his government-issued car to work for Uber, Lyft, and Amazon. The former federal agent had become addicted to buying cards and money from that second job was used to support his habit.
Managing the Addiction
More than two months after posting his video, Dustin admits he still struggles with the parameters he and his wife set together. But there were steps he took that have helped. He encourages anyone that finds themselves struggling to do one or more of the following:
- Have an “accountability partner.” In this case, it’s his wife who is now made aware of every potential purchase.
- Only use money from sales of cards you own to buy more.
- Give yourself more financial responsibilities with your discretionary income to spend less on cards. Dustin and his wife agreed to share more of their household expenses.
- Delete the eBay app from your cell phone.
Now that Dustin has sold most of his lower-end cards, he is entering a difficult period where he will need to begin selling more of his higher-end cards for new purchases.
“Now comes the real test,” he says.
Another way to put off new card purchases is for collectors to enjoy the cards they already own. Collectors can catalog their existing cards in new ways, such as by putting them in binders or re-arranging shelf displays. Collectors can also create subcollections of existing cards.
There’s also a matter of time spent in the hobby. Jones says the longer he’s been collecting cards, the less impulsive he has become.
“I call it the ‘diamond cutting stage,’” Jones says. “As collectors, a lot of us have cards that we are ‘meh’ about. We can use those cards to get cards that wow us. I’ve been way more selective about what I get these days. I got into some vintage and a small high-end Jose Canseco collection. I’m really satisfied, which is difficult for card collectors to say.”
At Renewal Lodge, a rehabilitation center that Piraino runs, the focus is on reconnecting to nature and helping clients reshape their world through mindfulness programs.
“I can have a thought about buying a card,” Piraino says, “but that thought will pass. It’s a lot easier said than done, but hopefully, you can get to where you change your thinking.”
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