Attending the National Sports Collectors Convention is not cheap. There can be travel costs involved plus parking at the Donald Stephens Convention Center is $15 per day. And then it will cost you $20 just to get inside. If you are within driving distance, I am going to tell you how to attend the National for free.
How To Attend The National For Free
First things first if you have to fly to The National there will be some extra costs involved. But, if you’re within driving distance it is pretty simple to spend the entire week at the National at no cost. You’re probably asking how this is all possible. Allow me to explain.
Buy The National Super VIP
The Super VIP pass is costly at $200. If you purchase this plan, it gives you a number of benefits. It also gets you swag, and this is the key for how you can attend the National for free.
What if you only want to attend one or two days? You might think the $35 for admission and parking for the day is a better option than forking over $200 for the Super VIP. It’s not, though.
Admission and Parking
Admission and parking for all five days would set you back $175. A parking pass is included with the Super VIP pass. The parking pass is not included with a regular VIP package. Of course, entry to the show is also included. In fact, with the VIP packages, you are allowed onto the show floor 30 minutes before the general public.
The VIP Lounge
Another perk to the VIP package is usage of the VIP Lounge. It opens on Wednesday ahead of the early entry sneak peak of the show. The lounge also hosts free autograph guests. This year’s autograph signers were Cecil Fielder, Wally Joyner, and Jan Stenerud.
Additionally, the lounge sponsor, Pristine Auctions, gave out mystery envelopes on a first come, first serve basis before the signers arrived. The gentleman next to me pulled a Mickey Mantle signed 8×10 authenticated by PSA/JSA. The lounge also provided pizza, sliders, and drinks. A bonus free meal.
Swag Bags
At this point you are still wondering how to attend the National for free. It’s all in the swag bag. When you check in for your VIP pass, you are given a bag of goodies.
These bags contain advertisements from sponsors, as well as special National exclusive items from corporate sponsors like Panini, Leaf, and this year the return of Wild Card.
The cards within these bags are highly sought after, and each year it will vary on the contents. With the Super VIP you receive free autograph tickets from all 18 VIP autograph signers. Additionally, with the Super VIP pass you receive two of each item within the swag bag, and this is the key on how to attend the National for free.
How To Attend The National For Free? Sell.
If you keep everything in your swag bag, you won’t be able to attend the National for free. How to attend the National for free? You have to sell the items in the swag bag and it should more than pay the $200 you spent on the Super VIP package.
My Results
Like with any new product on the market you have to move your items quickly. I was listing my VIP items the first two nights of the National. And everything nearly sold overnight.
Selling Items From The Swag Bag
- Panini Packs – $112
Each Panini pack contained 10 cards. My sales on the singles of Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Wander Franco, Julio Rodriguez, and Jarred Kelenic grossed $112.
- Leaf Packs – $36
There were four cards within the packs of Leaf. Baseball prospects Blaze Jordan and Spencer Torkelson were joined by football rookies Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. My gross sales on the eight cards was $36.
- Wild Card Packs – $113.50
Wild Card is back! That is even their official Twitter handle. Each Super VIP bag received two vouchers for a gold National exclusive pack of Wild Card. Additionally, if you followed Wild Card on social media they have you a free Matte pack. I pulled some nice hits out of my three packs including a Trevor Lawrence Alumination that sold for $35. My gold packs yielded both a blue holo and red holo Spencer Rattler. Collectively, the two cards of the Oklahoma Sooners quarterback sold for $40. Other cards sold included Ian Book, Mac Jones, Micah Parsons, Justin Fields, and Davis Mills.
- Upper Deck Goodwin Champions – $43
Upper Deck included a 5×7 jumbo Goodwin Champions card of Michael Jordan. My first card sold for $25, and the second was sold with an offer of $18.
- Autograph Tickets – $50
I sold all 18 of my autograph tickets for $50 on the Blowout Forums.
- Total Sales From Giveaways – $354.50
Gross sales yielded more than $350. Even after fees and shipping this is a net profit just getting the Super VIP package.
I Profited From Attending the National
Not only did I get free entry into the National all five days, I parked for free all five days. On top of that, my net profit on sales from my freebies from the Super VIP package was between $50 and $75. And that’s how to attend The National for free.