LYONS CARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

YOUR CARDS ARE ASSETS.

MANAGE THEM THAT WAY.

Most card-selling services begin with “What can we sell this card for today?” Lyons begins with “Should we sell it today at all?”

A recent comp matters. But so do supply, transaction velocity, observable scarcity, grading population, player catalysts, timing, liquidity goals, and the opportunity cost of selling too early.

HAVE A COLLECTION WORTH $5,000 OR MORE?

Tell us about your cards, your goals and your timeline. Request an evaluation and learn more about our portfolio management service.

Minimum estimated total collection value: $5,000.
REQUEST A CARD EVALUATION MEET TOM LYONS
THE PROBLEM

THE PROBLEM WITH “JUST SELL IT”

A card sells for $700. Was that a successful sale? Maybe. But what if demand was accelerating, visible inventory was shrinking, the player’s season started in two weeks, PSA 10 economics justified grading, or the card could have been positioned differently and realized materially more?

Opportunity Revenue Loss is the value potentially surrendered because of pricing, timing, grading, distribution or inventory-management decisions. It is a decision concept, not a guaranteed recoverable number.

WHAT THE SELLER SEES
SALE PRICE$700
WHAT THEY RARELY SEE
OPPORTUNITY REVENUE LOSS
Demand accelerating • Inventory shrinking • Season in 2 weeks • PSA 10 economics
THE DIFFERENCE

TRADITIONAL SALE VS. LYONS PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Traditional consignment begins after the owner has already decided to sell. Lyons begins one step earlier.

TRADITIONAL TRANSACTION MODEL
1
CARD
2
RECENT COMP
3
LIST
4
SELL
One data point. One decision. The question “should this sell at all?” is never asked.
LYONS PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
1
CARD
2
CURRENT CLEARING RANGE
3
SUPPLY
4
SALES VELOCITY
5
SUPPLY ABSORPTION
6
POPULATION / SCARCITY
7
PLAYER & MARKET CATALYSTS
8
TIME HORIZON
9
CAPITAL OPPORTUNITY COST
SELL HOLD GRADE LIVE WATCH
Eight inputs before a single listing. Then a lane, not a reflex.
STEP 5

EVERY CARD GETS A LANE

Not every card should be sold. Not every card should be held. The audit decides.

SELL NOW

Demand and economics justify monetization now.

HOLD

The current market does not compensate for the expected opportunity.

GRADE

Expected grading economics justify the cost, time and risk.

LIVE

Particularly suited to Lyons Cards live-commerce exposure.

WATCH

Monitor supply, demand or catalysts before acting.

PASS

Active management does not add sufficient value.
Lyons Cards
WHY TOM LYONS

PORTFOLIO STRATEGY LED BY TOM LYONS

DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES. SAME DISCIPLINE. DECADES OF PRICING.

Tom Lyons is a longtime revenue-management executive and entrepreneur whose career has spanned hospitality, entertainment and ticketing, vacation rentals, technology, healthcare and sports collectibles. A recipient of major Hilton, hospitality and vacation-rental revenue-management recognition, Lyons has also appeared on industry podcasts and executive pricing roundtables. Through Lyons Market Lab and Lyons Card Portfolio Management, he applies those same principles to sports-card pricing, inventory and capital allocation.

“Across hotels, vacation rentals, ticketing and healthcare, I’ve spent my career studying what happens when supply, demand and timing collide. Sports cards may be the most volatile pricing environment I’ve encountered. When pricing is managed correctly, that volatility isn’t just risk. It’s opportunity.”
TOM LYONS • FOUNDER, LYONS CARDS
MEET TOM LYONS →
  • 01

    HOSPITALITY

    Hotel rooms

    Price • Demand • Inventory

  • 02

    ENTERTAINMENT & TICKETING

    Seats / experiences

    Capacity • Compression • Yield

  • 03

    VACATION RENTALS

    Unique properties

    Dynamic pricing • Booking curves

  • 04

    TECHNOLOGY

    Operating systems

    Process • Sales • Growth

  • 05

    HEALTHCARE

    Provider capacity

    Demand • Scheduling • Capacity

  • 06

    SPORTS CARDS

    Collectible assets

    Price • Supply • Velocity • Capital

TRACK RECORD

30+ YEARS

Pricing and revenue management across several industries.

REVENUE MANAGER OF THE YEAR · 2023

During his tenure as Chief Revenue Officer at Casago.

HSMAI ST. LOUIS MARKETER OF THE YEAR · 2016

For The Polar Express Train Ride at St. Louis Union Station.

LYONS CONSULTING GROUP

Worked alongside his brother at the digital commerce firm, acquired by Capgemini in 2017. Salesforce published a case study on the firm’s Lilly Pulitzer work.

Read the Salesforce case study →
HOW IT WORKS

THE LYONS PORTFOLIO CLIENT JOURNEY

You send us the portfolio. We create the label. You pack it, drop it off, and we take it from there.

01

SUBMIT YOUR PORTFOLIO

Photos, a spreadsheet, an inventory export or a card list. No card software required.
02

CURATED ACCEPTANCE

Generally $150+ per card or $1,000+ per portfolio. Exceptions for grading, live fit or scarcity.
03

THE PORTFOLIO AUDIT

Clearing range, supply, velocity, absorption, population, catalysts, time horizon, capital cost.
04

15-MINUTE STRATEGY CALL

Liquidity needs, holding period, grading appetite, target return, cards you want to keep.
05

EVERY CARD GETS A LANE

Sell, hold, grade, live, watch or pass. Each with a reason.
06

MANAGED EXECUTION

Presentation, pricing, channel, repricing, marketing, fulfillment. Right buyer, right channel, right time.
07

TRANSPARENT PAYOUT

Realized price, platform costs, Lyons fee, net proceeds. One clean reconciliation.
THE LENS

ONE CARD. THREE VALUE HORIZONS.

These are analysis ranges and strategic opinions, not guarantees of future value.

30-DAY

LIQUIDATION VALUE

What can the card reasonably convert to cash for today?
30–180 DAY

REVENUE-MANAGED RANGE

Given supply, velocity, absorption and catalysts, does another selling window offer a better risk-adjusted opportunity?
12+ MONTH

PORTFOLIO THESIS

Does the player, card, scarcity profile and collector demand justify continuing to hold capital in the asset?
THE FRAMEWORK

THE LYONS DYNAMIC VALUE FRAMEWORK

The last comp tells us where a transaction occurred. Revenue management asks what we should do next.

THE LYONS DYNAMIC VALUE FRAMEWORK

DYNAMIC VALUE RANGE

= f ( Price, Supply, Velocity, Absorption, Population, Catalyst, Time Horizon, Capital Opportunity Cost )

Gold inputs describe the market. Blue inputs describe the decision. Portfolio Management is where the two meet: the same eight inputs we publish in Lyons Market Lab, applied to your cards.

Presented as a decision framework, not a proven mathematical pricing formula.

READ LYONS MARKET LAB →
DISTRIBUTION

YOUR BEST BUYER PROBABLY ISN'T WALKING PAST ONE GLASS CASE.

Sports-card demand is national and increasingly digital. The strongest buyer may be on an online marketplace, in a live room, in a social audience, or inside a direct collector network. Lyons Portfolio Management is built around distribution rather than geography.

Net revenue matters more than headline sale price.

SELLING INFRASTRUCTURE

LYONSCARDS.COM
SHOPIFY
EBAY
WHATNOT
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TIKTOK
THE LYONS DEN
MARKET LAB
COLLECTOR NETWORK
PODCAST / VIDEO
MANAGEMENT FEE
20%

ON COMPLETED SALES

No completed sale, no management fee on that card. Custom terms may be available for large portfolios or unusually high-value individual assets.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

MANAGEMENT SHOULD CREATE MORE VALUE THAN IT COSTS.

Portfolio review
15-minute strategy consultation
Pricing strategy
Market monitoring
Channel selection
Marketing and presentation
Fulfillment
Reconciliation

Lyons is not positioning itself as the cheapest commodity listing service. The objective is to maximize net realized portfolio value.

BEYOND CONSIGNMENT
FROM TOM LYONS · THE PRICING EDGE

BEYOND CONSIGNMENT

Why Your Card Collection Deserves Active Management

What happens after a card is listed, how the Lyons pricing process works, and why the money you keep matters more than the headline price.

READ THE ARTICLE →
QUESTIONS

BEFORE YOU SUBMIT

Yes. Portfolio Management starts at an estimated total collection value of $5,000. That is the total for the whole collection, not a fee and not a per-card minimum. Not sure what yours is worth? Pick Unsure on the form and we will help you check the fit.
No. The entire point is determining what should and should not be sold.
No. Portfolio Management is curated. Lyons accepts assets where it believes it can provide meaningful analysis, service or market exposure.
Yes. When expected grading economics support it, GRADE may be the recommended lane.
Yes. If the analysis supports HOLD or WATCH, Lyons will say so.
That depends on the asset. Lyons may use appropriate online marketplaces, LyonsCards.com, live commerce or other legitimate channels.
No. Card markets are volatile. Ranges and recommendations are analytical judgments, not guarantees.
For accepted portfolios, Lyons provides clear shipping instructions and, where appropriate, creates the inbound shipping label. You pack the cards, attach the label and drop the package with the designated carrier.
Yes. Vintage and genuinely scarce cards may require a different valuation approach because public transaction frequency can be lower.
THE LYONS DEN → LYONS MARKET LAB → PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

BEFORE YOU SELL THE CARD,
MANAGE THE DECISION.

What should you sell? What should you hold? What should you grade? What should you bring live? What should you simply wait on?
REQUEST A CARD EVALUATION MEET TOM LYONS
Curated service. Generally $150+ per card or $1,000+ per portfolio. Ranges and recommendations are analytical judgments, not guarantees.