302 Sports Cards: A sports collector’s dream, Ty Tillinghast’s life
Imagine cleaning your room and finding tens of thousands of dollars worth of in-demand items. That is precisely what happened when 302 Sports Cards President Ty Tillinghast’s mom told him he needed to make some space after his card and memorabilia collection began rivaling the inventory of a hobby shop itself.
At just 12 years old, Ty is operating his very own eBay storefront after recently making the switch from Pokemon to baseball cards.
“One of my friends was collecting [baseball cards] and I thought that they were super cool, and another one of my friends switched from Pokemon to baseball,” Ty said. “I was like, I'm gonna start doing this.”
Playing baseball since he was 5, Ty first began collecting cards as a hobby, but soon the personal collection began to grow.
“About six months ago, we were like, alright, we are getting too many of these; we don’t have any place to store them and we have to start doing something with them,” Ty said. “We started selling them on eBay.”
Launching a website, 302sportscards.com, and an eBay storefront, the Milton Little Leaguer is getting firsthand experience in the world of business and economics.
“He saw how much he made the first time he started to sell them and just got hooked on it,” said Ty’s dad, Justin.
Earning $40,000 in its first six months of business, 302 Sports Cards is operating at full force with at least one card sold every day. Playing travel baseball for the Delaware Diamonds, the 12-year-old appears to have created a hidden gem itself with his business, something he half expected.
“I knew the older cards would be valuable, but not so much with the newer ones because I know that there are fluctuations in prices, cold and hot, because they are still playing the sport, but the older cards just keep going up in value,” Ty said.
Impressing veteran collectors with his knowledge and affinity for vintage cards, Ty is not one to brush off history.
“Their era, they had some of the best baseball players of all time, like Ted Williams or Yogi Berra, and were people that impacted the sport today,” he said. “Even people from the ’90s are still impacting today’s game, so that’s why I collect them. The design is also much more simpler than what they are today.”
A card collector himself, Ty is all business when it comes to conflicts of interest.
“First, I look up the price to see if it's valuable ... if it's like a $1 card, I'll just keep it just because it’s nice to have a Gunnar Henderson or Adley Rutschman,” Ty said.
The situation may be very different if a valuable Spencer Steer card were to find its way to Ty. While there are vintage players and a few younger players in today’s game who have his interest, Ty’s favorite player is the Cincinnati Reds’ versatile first baseman and corner outfielder. Justin happened to know the Steer family and took Ty to a Phillies game in April; he was given access to the field level during warmups.
“He was stretching, so he came over to autograph a card and my jersey,” Ty said. “Then he went back to stretching. Then that night, he hit his first career grand slam that ended up winning them the game.”
Moments in a young player's career, such as Steer’s game-winning grand slam, are one of the reasons the present-day player cards fluctuate in value almost daily. Former top prospect Jackson Holliday, still just 20 years old, is a prime example of volatility.
“We were selling his [Jackson Holliday] cards pretty stably, and then after he got called up and then didn’t do so well, his card just stopped selling,” Ty said.
The young entrepreneur is hoping the young ballplayer will regain his predicted form so the value of his cards goes back up, but if they don’t, there are backup plans. Ty has about 7,000 cards listed on 302sportscards.com and another 120,000 in his personal collection.
Although it is not currently for sale, one of the prized possessions in Ty’s personal collection is a Willie Mays autograph that Justin called the most beautiful autograph he had ever seen.
As he prepares for the Little League all-star season, Ty continues to sell cards, capitalizing on any boosts current players get with MLB all-star selections. One of his main priorities after he sells cards at such a high value is making sure the customers are happy.
“It's important because 10% of our customers are returning – that will get higher with the more cards we sell and the higher feedback we have,” Ty said. “It’s important that we satisfy every customer that comes to the store.”
For any card collectors hoping to capitalize on their hobby, Ty has some sage advice.
“Just stick to it, even if you’re not doing well. You may not be selling or getting any views, but just keep working,” he said. “That’s what we did and now we’ve become a pretty large business on eBay.”
For anyone interested in purchasing trading cards from Ty, go to 302sportscards.com.
