A History of the Price of Baseball Card Sets from 1989 to the Present.

Since 1989, I have kept track of the price I paid for every card set since 1989.  Here we are going to compare a sample of the costs of the cards for the last 23 years. I did not keep track of the number of cards in each set but I think I can remember how many were in each set. (cpc = cents per card).

1989

I bought a Fleer and Donruss Baseball complete set (660) for $23.95 = 3.6 cpc

1990

I preordered a Upper Deck Factory BB set which I believe was 800 cards for $59.36 = 7.4 cpc

1991

I bought a Fleer Baseball set (660) for $26.45 = 4.0 cpc

1992

Bought a Fleer BB set (720) for $20.00 and a Donruss factory set (784) for $40.00 which yield cpc (2.7 and 5.1) respectively.

1993

I purchased a 1993 Donruss set (792) for $25.00 = 3.1 cpc. Also I bought another 1992 Donruss factory set but this time paid $12.50. The price of cards were in their free fall now.

1994

I paid $33.00 for a 1994 Donruss baseball set (660) = 5.0 cpc

1995

I bought a 1995 Fleer baseball set (600), through the mail for $49.95 = 8.3 cpc

1996

I paid 31.95 for series 1 and 2 for a 1996 Donruss set totaling 530 cards = 6.0 cpc

1997

I bought Series 1 of 1997 Donruss baseball (275 cards) for $10.00 = 3.6 cpc

1998

At a card show I paid $27.25 for a 1998 Topps set (503) cards which included Alex Rodriguez's first Topps card = 5.4 cpc

1999

I bought a 1999 Thunder set (300 cards) for $23.00 = 7.6 cpc

2000

I paid $20.00 for a Fleer Focus Baseball set (200) = 10.0 cpc

2001

I paid $10.00 for a Fleer Futures Baseball set (220) = 4.5 cpc

2006

I paid $38.51 for Topps Series 1, 2 and update set (1033 cards) = 3.7 cpc

2008

I paid $20.00 for a 2008 Topps Opening Day set (220 cards) and $21.97 for a 2008 Topps Chrome set (220 cards) = 9.5 cpc

2009

I paid $14.00 for 2008 Bowman and Bowman Draft baseball set (275 cards) $14.00 and $31.49 for 2008 Topps baseball set (660 cards) = 4.8 cpc

2010

I paid $17.49 (Topps chrome - 220 cards), $18.50 (Topps baseball - 660 cards), 17.99 (Topps T206 - 300 cards) = 4.5 cpc

2011

Bought Bowman Platinum 100 cards for $13.53 = 13.53 cpc (The most expensive baseball card set per card I ever bought)

2012

I bought Gypsy Queen ($17.31) and Bowman ($20.50) which are 630 total cards for a 6.0 cpc.

The price of cards have gone up and the number of cards in the set have gone down but the numbers are comparable.

I paid 6.0 cpc in 2012 and 1996. In 2010 I paid 4.5 cpc and in 1991 I paid 4.0 cpc.  They key difference is I buy complete sets, Obviously wax/boxes cost a whole lot more now.