Donald Trump’s Trading Cards a ‘Bad Bet,’ Appraiser Says

Donald Trump’s digital trading cards are a “bad bet,” according to an expert in sports memorabilia and trading cards.
The former president last week launched a new collection of digital trading cards, or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are being sold at $99 apiece.
The cards depict the former president in a variety of poses, such as him dancing or holding a Bitcoin icon. Customers who buy 15 or more of the digital items, which would be worth $1,485, will be sent a physical trading card that includes a piece of the former president’s suit that he wore for the June 27 presidential debate against President Joe Biden. In a video shared to his Truth Social account, Trump said it has been described as “the knockout suit.”
Meanwhile, those who buy 75 or more of the NFTs, worth $7,425, will be invited to a “gala dinner” at Trump’s country club in Jupiter, Florida.
The former president has said the cards will allow supporters to “collect a piece of American history,” but according to International Society of Appraisers (ISA)-accredited sports appraiser Michael Osacky, purchasing the trading cards endorsed by the former president is a “bad bet,” no matter if he wins or loses in November.
“Timing is important. Nobody is going to care or remember these cards come November. The time to sell is today. I would estimate the market value of each of the physical Trump trading cards to be $200 to $2,000. It’s therefore a losing proposition to buy these digital trading cards to obtain the one physical card to sell,” Osacky wrote in an MSNBC column.
Newsweek has contacted the Trump campaign for comment via email.
Osacky added that physical card holders who wait until the November election to sell, based on a belief Trump will be returning to the Oval Office, will be in for a “disastrous” result.
“Some buyers may want to wait until the November election to sell the physical card, hoping for a Trump victory. This wait-and-see method will certainly be disastrous. As each week ticks off heading into the election, the values of these cards will only decrease,” he wrote.
“We have no idea who will win the election. But the value of these cards will decrease either way. If he loses, nobody will care or want the cards. If he wins, there simply will be more supply of Trump trading cards that will infiltrate the market, and more people willing to buy them. Trump may make money off the sales, but there’s very little in it for any buyers wishing to do the same.
“As for the digital cards being sold, those are worth pennies on the dollar.”
It is not the first time Trump has launched NFT products in order to fund his campaign. His first collection was released in December 2022 and sold out within two days, raising nearly $4.5 million. A second batch hit the market in April 2023, which depicted Trump in an array of costumes. In December 2023, he released a “MugShot” edition of the NFTs, referencing his arrest in Georgia earlier that year on charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
In March, Trump’s first three batches of digital trading cards were pulled from sale until the end of the year.