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Step 1
Get organized. You can't know what your collection is worth unless you know exactly what you have. Sort your cards into a system, whether it is something as simple as star players in one box and commons (average-to-below-average players) in another box. Many commons are assigned a standard value, whereas stars tend to have an increased value. Rookie players on the rise--even if they're not stars--are often worth more because of people's excitement over their potential.
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Step 2
Go online. A slew of websites are available for you to research the value of specific cards and sets (see Resources below). Most, like Card Pricer ($8.99 a month) and Vintage Card Prices ($9.99 a month/$99.99 a year), charge a fee, but they offer detailed information in return. If you're looking for one-time pricing to sell off your collection, research to determine the best site and purchase a 1-month subscription. If you're taking up baseball card collecting as a permanent hobby or even as a part-time occupation, find a site you're comfortable with and subscribe for a year, since you'll get a discount on their services.
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Step 3
Buy a magazine or a book. The magazine aisle of your local bookstore or even your local grocer will probably have a few baseball card magazines (or sports collectibles magazines). One advantage is that you can view the information in the magazine before you buy it. These magazines usually come out monthly or bi-monthly and can normally be had for less than $10. Beckett Monthly, the gold standard for card collecting when I was growing up, still publishes a pricing magazine ($29.99 for a year's subscription) and has pricing information at its website ($5.99 a month, see Resources). You can also find annual books that price baseball cards in your local bookstore. While these books usually come out just once a year, they often contain far more information than the monthly magazines, especially on older cards.
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Step 4
Look at the vendors. Visit websites and auction sites of vendors who sell baseball cards to see how much they're asking for their merchandise. Don't be surprised if their prices are either more or less than the quotes you've found on the Web or in magazines. While the guides are the best place to start--and you shouldn't expect to pay a great deal above or below the prices you find--understand that prices for cards vary from dealer to dealer. The guides may set a range, but in the end, the card's actual value is as much (or as little) as you can get someone to pay for it.
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Step 5
Price your organized collection. If you've looked at prices online, read a few magazines and taken time to look at collections similar to yours either at shows or at online auction sites, you should have a good idea of how much your cards are worth. If you've already organized your cards, you should be able to refer back to the notes you've made when sorting through them to assign prices. It's handy to design a spreadsheet program on your computer to keep a log of your cards and prices.
