FAQs

A: Our hours are Monday through Friday 8 am - 5 pm eastern standard time.

A: We do not have a retail store, we are strictly an Internet store and sell all of our items online.  Our office is located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A: Only if you live in the state of Ohio.

A: We do not negotiate prices.  We have been in business since 2001 and have never once broken this policy.  We offer the same quantity discounts to all of our customers that way everyone knows they are getting our best price and there is no need to negotiate.

A: The only items that cannot be returned on our site are starter sets, only because they are built to order and  there is labor involved to construct them.

A: We always send the orders out by the next business day, so you can cancel your order as long as it is within that time frame.  If you order more than one order before we ship the first order out we will combine the shipping for both orders.

A: All of our products are packaged very securely to ensure they are not damaged in the mail.

A: We use USPS to ship all of our products.  We do have a Fed Ex option on our website for customers to select.  Also on very heavy orders, such as 10 complete sets we sometimes use UPS.

A: No.  We are not a professional grading company.

A: Yes.  We have a secure site and use a third party to handle all credit card transactions.  None of your information is saved.  Even if someone were to 'Hack" into our website, there is no credit information to steal.  When you input your credit card information, even we cannot see your account numbers.  For this reason our web site is even more secure than a retail store, where you hand the employee your credit card.

A: No..  That way if you have a collection you want to sell you would need to contact us first.

A: Never, Ever.

A: To change your e-mail address go to my account and log in and then click on the view/change account info and you can change it.

A: We offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee on every item, except for Starter Sets, because in most cases they are customized for the buyer. If you are unsatisfied with your order, please ship the items and a copy of the invoice back to us within 10 days of receiving your order.

A: In lieu of having seasonal sales, we've implemented a discount system based on the quantity of items that you purchase. Our discounts range from 5% all the way up to 20%! For more information, Click Here . Also, we do realize that the prices of products listed on our website may fluctuate. With that said, please check out our Recently Added Cards page to see if we have reduced prices on any particular year of cards or complete sets.

A: Dean's Cards typically grades cards a little more conservatively than the grading criteria established by the Industry. By grading our cards conservatively, clients can rest assured that the cards they order will meet (and possibly exceed) their expectations.  Click Here for a detailed list of our grading standards.

First Class (3-5 Business Days)

Orders under $49.99 - $3.75

Orders $50.00-$199.99 - $5.75

Orders $200.00-$399.99 - $7.75

Priority (2-3 Business Days)

Orders under $49.99 -  $6.75

Orders $50.00-$199.99 - $8.75

Orders $200.00-$1999.99 - $10.75

Express (1-2 Business Days)

 

Orders under $49.99 - $24.75

Orders $50.00-$199.99 - $27.75

Orders $200.00-$1999.99 - $29.75

Orders over $2000.00 - FREE

 

Fed Ex (Overnight) - $49.00

Your order will arrive overnight if it is placed by 3 pm Monday through Thursday.  No Saturday or Sunday delivery.  Depending on the weight of the package we may have to contact you to purchase additional shipping.

 

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - All International customers are responsible for any customs fees or taxes levied by their respective country.  Please contact your local customs office to determine what the fees will be for importing your goods from the United States.

 

We do not know what these fees will be, and cannot quote you a price for these fees.  You are responsible to pay these fees in order to receive your goods at your local customs office.  If you refuse to pay the import fees that your country levies on your order, and your order is returned to us, your refund will be reduced by any customs fees and return shipping fees that we are required to pay in order to accept the goods back in our country.  Below are the shipping rates for Canada and all other International orders.

 

First Class Air Mail - No Tracking Information 

Under $150 - $9.75 (USPS Air Mail - Does NOT have Tracking Information)

Priority Mail - No Tracking Information

Under $150 - $15.75 (USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate International - Does NOT have Tracking Information)

Priority Mail - With Tracking Information

Under $150 - $25 (USPS Priority Mail International - Includes Tracking Information)

Over $150 - $35 (USPS Priority Mail International - Includes Tracking Information)

Express Mail  

$45 on most orders

Depending on the weight of the package we may have to contact you to purchase additional shipping.

Priority Mail - With Tracking Information

Under $150 - $35.00 (USPS Priority Mail International - Includes Tracking information)

Priority Mail - With Tracking Information

Over $150 - $45.00 (USPS Priority Mail International - Includes Tracking Information)

Depending on the weight of the package we may have to contact you to purchase additional shipping.

A: All of our autographed baseballs are authenticated by PSA.  Our autographed cards come with a certification of authenticity from Deans' Cards.

A: With label means there is a label on the front of the magazine because it was a part of  an subscription and with out label means it was a news stand issue.

A: A complete set will contain every card from that year.  Starter sets are card lots of our choice to help you get started on putting together a complete set.  We have several starter sets to choose from for each year with specified numbers of cards in different conditions.

A: The simplest answer is Yes.  Even though Dean's Cards starter sets are custom built products, if you order two from the same year you will receive duplicate cards - even if you order different conditions.  The reason for this is starter sets are primarily built with cards that we have an abundance of. So unfortunately, ordering two 300 card starter sets from the same year will result in almost all duplicates.     

A: No, team starter sets are a great way to start collecting a complete team set.  A team starter set will feature a specified number of cards of our choice from specified years.

A: Our complete sets are the best in the hobby because of several factors.  The first factor being our grading.  We grade on par with PSA, and if a card grades in-between two grades, we always go with the more conservative grade.  Unlike most of the sets being sold on eBay that grade "Near Mint" but have cards that vary in grade from Good up to Near Mint-Mint, our sets are very consistent.  If you order a complete set that is in "Near Mint" condition, the stars as well as the semi-stars and commons will average Near Mint in grade (You will not get a Near Mint set with a Very Good Mickey Mantle).

A: We can and it's really easy.  Customers can now be notified when the out-of-stock cards they are looking for are added to our inventory.  The first step is to log in to your account like you normally would.  While you are shopping on the site to the right of the page you will see "Create Your Want List" in red and then under it will be a blue button that says "Turn it On."  Clicking that button will show the cards that are not in-stock. For these out of stock items a blue "Add to Want List" button will appear instead of a red add to cart button.  Click this button for the cards you are missing that you want.  As soon as we add this card to our inventory you will automatically receive an email notifying you that it is in stock.  It really is that easy. 

A: A representative image is a picture of what the card looks like and can been seen by clicking on the item listing.  However, this is not the exact card that you will receive and is not an indication of the grade of the card.  

  

A: No, only cards that are $300.00 or more have actual scans.  Every other card in our database has a representative image so that you can see what the card looks like, but that will not be the condition of the card you receive.

A: We have over 1.2 million cards in our data base, since we have so many we use representative images. However, we do provide the actual card scan ( in stock) for ones that are over $300.00.

A: No we do not have any type of lay away program, but if you are not able to purchase something and we no longer have that item when you are ready please contact us because we may be able to find that item for you.

A: No we do not have a catalog.  All of our inventory is listed online.

A: We do grade very conservatively and on par with PSA, but we cannot guarantee that a card will get a certain grade if sent to a professional grading company.

A: We prefer online orders, but you may place a phone order if you are unable to do so online.

A: It is not cost effective for us to sleeve, grade and inventory the common players from the mid-seventies through the mid-eighties. To keep the price affordable for the buyer, we've decided to make these years "Open Stock". All this means is the cards with "Open Stock" in the quantity field are not actually inventoried.

We have thousands of these cards, thus we should be able to fill most of your order, but we may be missing a few cards. If we are unable to completely fill your order, we will take it upon ourselves to refund your credit card or your other method of payment.

Please feel free to give us specific instructions in the comments section of your order. An example would be, "I ordered NrMt/Mt - please give me the best available, but not lower than Ex/Mt", and we will adjust the price accordingly. (Please note that because of the secure website, it is only possible for us to adjust the price down - not up.)

A: All of our inventory is listed on the website. We are constantly adding new products, making our site a virtual list of our current inventory. Keep checking out our Recently Added Cards page to keep up with our latest inventory. Additionally, we are working to perfect our new "Want List" function. If you are looking for a card that is listed on our website but simply out of stock, feel free to add the card to your want list. You will receive an automated e-mail when we replenish our stock of that card.

A: Since we have over 1.2 million cards posted online, it is nearly impossible for us to scan every item that comes through our door. With that said, for the majority of our lower priced items and individual cards, we have representative images. However, for items over $300, we do show actual scans of the product.

A: All of the vintage cards on our website up until 1972 will come in soft sleeves.  Most of the cards from 1972 and newer will not come in soft sleeves.

A: If you are looking for a pricing guide you can check tuffstuff.com.

A: You could try eBay.

A: Professional Sport Authenticator. They are a professional grading business.

A: In general autographed cards are worth more.

A: Some people - who are looking to sell their collections - have been told that "baseball cards are worth more when they are graded".  The professional card grading companies love to make this claim, as it is a justification for charging $10 to $13 to grade each common card!  (The real cost to have a card graded is usually $14 to $17 per card when you consider the overpriced shipping and insurance charges.)  As the value of the card goes up, so do the charges.  It is quite common to pay $40 to $300 (plus shipping, handling, and insurance) to have a Mickey Mantle (or another high dollar card) graded.

The truth is that many of the cards sell for less on the market after the owner has paid to have them graded!  While some cards are worth more after they have been professionally graded - we find that is most often not the case.  It all depends on the card.

Usually, it does not make sense to get a card graded unless it is very old and in near perfect condition.  Getting cards professionally graded is expensive and may even reduce the value of the card.  If you are selling a collection, you are usually better off saving yourself the expense and just selling the cards ungraded.

The reason that some graded cards sell for more is that the professional graders grade harder than we collectors did in the past years.  They tend to be very critical of flaws.  It is very common for people to send a card off to be graded that the owner feels is in NEAR MINT condition and have it come back graded EXCELLENT!  

So does it really matter that they get a little more for their card that is professionally graded "EXCELLENT" - when compared to other cards that are graded EXCELLENT"?  Especially if they could of sold it ungraded as "NEAR MINT" for 75% more? Most people that send a group of cards off to be graded the first time are shocked at the low grades that they receive.

PSA runs an ingenious advertisement where they show a $5 or $10 card that was graded a "10" that sold for thousands of dollars.  While the ad is technically true, but the real reason for the value is because it is a great card - not because it was graded by PSA.  Out of the millions of cards printed it may be THE best one!

Stories like this are rare.  It would be like seeing that a rare diamond sold for millions of dollars and expecting to get the same amount for your wife's engagement ring.  After all, they are both diamonds, right?

For that one card that came back graded as a "10", there are a dozens of that same card - that looked just as good -  that were graded "9" that are worth $20 and hundreds graded "8" that are worth about $6 or $7.   The vast majority of the cards grade much lower and the prices go down from there.

Over the years, we have submitted thousands of vintage cards to be graded.  Many seemed to be perfect, but we have never had one receive a grade of over an 8!

Too often, we have seen some people - that have inherited collections - spend far more on grading fees than the collection is worth.  Many collectors feel that professional grading is a racket, as it is not uncommon for someone to send a borderline Mantle card off 9 times and have it come back ExMt (or maybe even EX) and send it off that 10th time and get a NrMt grade.  In that example the process takes about a year and costs the owner thousands of dollars for that card alone!  PSA does not seem to mind....

Please understand that we are totally "agnostic" and unbiased when it comes to professionally graded cards. We buy and sell both graded and ungraded cards - so it really does not matter to us.  We make money either way.

Dean's Cards is a member of PSA .   SGC and Beckett are the other grading companies that also have good reputations.  Those are the top three companies and the only that I could recommend.

Even when we buy a card that is professionally graded - we still grade the card ourselves.  For example, if PSA graded a card ExMt and we feel that it should be Nr/Mt - we will pay the NrMt price.  If we agree, with the grade - we may pay a few bucks more (seldom more the cost of the grading!).  Quite often we will remove the "under graded" cards from the PSA case to allow us to sell them for more money.

We usually do not have cards professional graded because it actually reduces the number of potential buyers and possibly reduces the value of the card.  As we grade on par with anyone, we can sell to both the graded and non-graded card collectors.  We offer a money back guarantee, so if collectors do not agree with our grades - they may simply return the cards.  MOST TRUE COLLECTORS DECIDE THE CONDITION OF THE CARD THEMSELVES.  The graded card collectors simply buy the ungraded cards and submit the card themselves.    

Dean's Cards has found that our graded cards sell slower than our ungraded cards. Many collectors are unwilling to pay a premium for a graded card.  There are occasions, when collectors will purchase a graded card from us and ask us to remove it from the case before shipping it to them.

In my opinion, you come away better about 98% of the time not having the cards graded - with much less hassle and expenses.  Yes, you will get a little more for that card that receives a high grade, but that profit it is quickly offset by your nice cards that received poor grades.

I do not want to give the impression that I am totally against grading companies.  I am not.  They are very helpful when we get a pre-war collection of highly valuable cards.  It is sometimes worth the cost to get a pre-war card (worth thousands of dollars) authenticated.  This way the buyer knows that the card is truly authentic.

Hope this information helps.

A: Most vintage sports cards do not have the year in which they were printed on the back. However, if the card features player statistics, you can often times tell in which year the card was printed by simply adding "one" to the most recent statistic. For example, if you have a Mickey Mantle card in which his last line of statistics is for the year 1957, that particular card was printed in 1958.

A: This is a very good question. If you have a reprint card, it was most likely printed at some point between the 1980's and today. With that said, reprint cards are generally found to be in much more pristine condition than originals. Additionally, most reprint cards feature the word "reprint" and sometimes the year in which they were reprinted, somewhere on the back of the card.

A: We are currently buying cards from 1980 and older.  We are primarily buying vintage cards from 1969 and older, but we do sometimes buy collections from the 1970s.  In order for you to send us cards from the 1970s we would need at least a few thousand and they would have to be in very nice condition.  Please refer to our Sell Your Collection page for more in depth information on how to go about selling your cards.

A: Dean's Cards cannot offer you an appraisal for your cards.  We simply cannot find enough hours in the day to offer this service.  However, if you wish for Dean's Cards to purchase your card collection, the ball gets rolling by filling out the form on our Sell Your Collection page.

A: No we do not offer consignment services.

A: No we do not.  Unfortunately, we simply do not have the type of expertise in this area to deliver the level of quality that we feel customers should receive. 

A: No we do not have auctions.

A: We update our inventory daily.  Click on New Inventory on our homepage to check out recently added items.

A: Yes we can try.  If you send us an email through Contact Us we will see what we can do!

    For less expensive items you can add the item to your Want List,

A: Then head on over to our Contact Us page and send us your question!