How to Track Private Sports Card Sales (Without Being a Jerk About It)

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Your buddy just posted the card.

The card you’ve been quietly hunting for over a year. It shows up in their Instagram story with nothing but a flame emoji. You know it didn't come from an auction. There were no bidding wars. No final sale prices posted to Card Ladder. They must have bought it privately.

And now you're sitting there, wondering what they paid. You want to ask, but you hesitate. You don't want to come off nosy or intrusive. But you need to know. Because that number tells you something about the market, about the demand, and maybe about what you should do next.

In the hobby, that’s not just nosiness. That’s scouting and doing your collecting diligence.

Because while auction comps get all the attention, private sales are the shadow market where true collector demand reveals itself. These are the deals that happen behind DMs or get shopped among elite collector groups to never see the light of day. And they might just tell you more than anything that ends with a completed sale on ebay.

Why Should You Care About Private Sales Prices?

Not every card is worth the extra effort. Common cards have plenty of public sales to guide your pricing. But for rare cards that don’t transact often, uncovering a private sale price can be a game-changer. Finding out the private sales price is helpful if you’re trying to:

• Understand collector demand in niche segments

• Evaluate risk on a card you're holding or eyeing

• Build a strategy for buying, selling, or trading with conviction

Let’s say you’re trying to figure out what to offer on a 1999 Fleer Brilliants 24KT Gold /24 of Barry Bonds. A comp from 2021 tells you one price, but you don’t know what to make of it between COVID inflated prices, the change in demand for the set, and the fact that one hasn’t sold publicly since then. But knowing what another collector dropped on a Griffey last month can give you signals about what the Bonds might be worth.

That kind of insight turns you from a follower of the market into a reader of it.

TL;DR: Smart collectors look beyond public comps and study private deals to read the true pulse of the market.

But Here’s the Thing…

People aren’t obligated to tell you what they paid. And they sure as hell don’t owe you proof. So if you’re going to ask, do it with tact. This is about learning, not pressing someone to disclose their bank statement.

The Easy Way - Card Ladder Private Sales

At the time this Collecting Guide was published, Card Ladder had recorded 1,370 Private Sales. These are private sales reported by the buyers, sellers, or third party acquisition companies looking to publicize significant sales for their clients. It won’t catch every deal, but it’s a smart first stop before reaching out to collectors. 

To find Private Sales Data on  Card Ladder:

• Go to “Sales History”

• And filter on “Platforms” for “Private Sales”

• You can then enter in your query or browse the cards that have been sold privately

If the card you’re interested isn’t there, then you need to start knocking on doors, starting with finding out who owns the card you’re interested in.

Step 1. Finding Out Who Owns the Card

Finding out who actually owns the card takes some sleuthing, but it’s not impossible.

Start on Instagram. That’s still the hobby’s main stage. Search hashtags tied to the player, set, or parallel. Explore through the collector’s page. You might spot the card buried in a broader player or set collection on their page.

Card Ladder's Showcase is also an excellent way to track down who owns a card. These are collectors who are opting into sharing their collection with other collectors and many are open to receiving messages. Simply search for a card you’re interested in and click on the result. If the owner is open to receiving a message, you’ll see a green, “Message Owner” button. 

If you aren’t getting anywhere with Instagram or Card Ladder Showcase, the next place to look would be on PSA’s Set Registry. The Set Registry allows collectors to publish their sets and allow other users to contact them. To find a collector, go to the set registry you’re exploring and click the little envelope to contact the user.

Some auction houses also give their buyers the ability to field offers directly on their website. The most notable being Heritage Auctions.

Three cards previous buyers are open to offers on currently listed on the Heritage Auction website

If those avenues don’t turn up any leads, don’t fret. While we won’t go through an exhaustive list of places to look, but other potential areas to investigate could include: Discords, Facebook groups, eBay sellers, or Blowout Forums. If someone scooped a rare card and you can ID their handle, you might be able to connect the dots. Worst case? Ask around. Hobby people talk.

Step 2. Build Rapport

Once you do track down the owner, it’s time to muster up the courage to ask, “How much did you pay for that?” Problem is, leading with that question is the collecting equivalent of asking someone how much money they make at a dinner party. Not a great look.

Instead, build a genuine rapport with the collector. Take an interest in their collection. Compliment their card and try to learn more about how they acquired it. Find a common thread between their collecting and yours.

Then, if it feels right, tee it up with something like:

“Mind sharing what you paid for it? I’m doing some research on this set and trying to get a better sense of where the market’s at. Totally fine if not.”

“It’s casual, low-pressure, and shows you’re not just here to flip.”

Step 3. Keep a Log—Because Memory Sucks

If someone does share what they paid, write it down. Maybe not in your camera roll or your head, but in a spreadsheet. Include the card, cert number (if available), date, owner, price, and source. We’ve created a Google Sheet you can use to track this info called “The Sports Card Ownership Tracker”. Feel free to make a copy for your own tracking.

Why log it? Because over time, you build your own shadow comp database. Not one driven by public listings or volatile auctions, but by real transactions from real collectors to give you a competitive edge in the market.

That’s how you move from speculator to strategist.

Final Word

The best collectors don’t just know what a card sold for—they know why it sold. Who bought it. When. Under what circumstances. That’s what private sale intel gives you. It’s not about gossip. It’s about clarity.

So the next time you see that grail card flash across your screen, don’t just double tap.

Ask questions. Build relationships. Track the sale.

Because in this hobby, what you don’t see is often where the real value lives.