Kels Sports Cards — Attraction in Bridgeville

I live pretty far away from Kel's sport cards, I found it about 2 years ago and I try to get there about once every 3 months. Justin is very knowledgeable and friendly, he often times replenishes his singles so when I come there is a pretty good turnover of cards and his prices are very fair and the quality of his cards are great for the money. He has very affordable cards that he takes a great deal of time to pull for his customers and with the 4 major sports well represented he literally has something for everyone. His selection of fine vintage and other modern treasures is unmatched in the area. When I showed up today he was very courteous and he had a cooler full of soft drinks, I offered to pay for one and he said to have one, I thought wow, that's cool. He always has interesting things scattered about the store, so I spent a lot of time maximizing my trip. The store was very busy throughout the time that I was there and you could see that he had a rapport with each and every customer, I was there for several hours and customers were streaming into the store, I thought I might have stumbled into an event like a box break or pack wars, but it turned out that Justin had ordered about 8 or so very good, high quality pizzas 🍕 for his customers! I was so blown away and was famished! I didn't know what was going on and asked about the pizza and he said it was for everyone! I was blown away! How cool is it to see a businessman give back to his clientele? I was taking it all in and enjoying the packed house and enjoying the kindness of this host, little did I know that the fun was just getting started. I still didn't know what was happening so I started to ask questions before I settled up with my various treasures I had accumulated at Kel's when I was told that customers were to sign up on the computer for prize drawings! I had stumbled upon a customer Christmas appreciation day at Kel's sportcards! Unbeknownst to me, at an appointed time, carefully selected lots were to be randomizer drawn for his customers! I wasn't really paying attention as I suffer from low blood sugar and Justin's kindness with food and drink helped me tremendously, everyone was eligible so I figured I would wait until my name was called and receive a gift. The thing about the gifts 🎁 is that all the presents were well thought out and overly generous, I never win anything and wouldn't you know the 1st name called was my own! I was so thunderstruck that I didn't even know what to do! They very patiently waited for me to ask some questions about the gifts as you could pick what you liked in the order of your name being called, some of the gifts were so generous a person might expect to get one as a front line gift from a dear loved one, they were THAT GOOD! I picked a fine auto jersey with cert and I tell you I was so appreciative I felt like I was going to tear up amongst this roomful of people. I have collected cards for over 30 years and I have never, ever been treated with such class as was displayed tonight at Kel's. I will be a loyal customer of his for as long as the store is operational. With the difficulties that these past years have been and with my own personal struggles, it was overwhelming that Justin would display such generosity of spirit. Needless to say, if you are in the hobby for yourself, shopping for that special something as a gift or gift card for that special someone. One stop shop, head directly to Kel's and share in this...

I’m writing this review because I’ve seen comments or negative reviews regarding Kel’s being out of business, unfair treatment or overpriced and even the visual aesthetics of his shop. 1) he is not selling his business or going out of business. 2) unfairly treated/over priced or taken advantage of? I call BS on all. My son is 15, has only started 1.5 yrs ago and his knowledge is what you’d expect- elementary but eager to learn. Mine is non-existent. Justin has NEVER been condescending to me or my son nor made us feel uncomfortable for asking basic elementary questions. He always provides an educated, informed response and always friendly & honest. He’s even given my son tips on increasing collection, marketability, knowledge base and profit. Justin is educated in the collectable card market in all sport & subject matter- PRICES? Whomever said he’s overpriced- I implore you to remember prices are based on market value and overhead. Markets fluctuate and Kel’s is at retail/comp value or below. My son shows me this in real time on his phone. I’ve also been to every shop in a 40 mile radius of Kel’s & I know overpriced, bad customer service & plain robbery. 3) Visual shop aesthetic- Kel’s is a small business, 1 man operation. This brings me to overhead- if you want more inventory options, more organization or a “nicer store”. Then go to one of those shops and this is exactly why you’ll pay 20-40% over comp/retail prices for everything. Those shops have multiple employees , make cheap offers and buy lots of product at low prices but that savings is not passed to you, because of “overhead” costs. It really is simple business 101. If you want Hobby boxes or specific low, mid & high end individual cards (any sport) at undoubtedly the lowest, fairest prices and you want to feel like a lifelong VIP customer- Justin at KEL’S Sports cards is where...

First impressions are key, as most will tell you. Mine? 50/50.

PROS: The gentleman running the shop, Justin I believe, was welcoming, straightforward and attentive. I like him, seemed like an ok dude. He has very nice single cards with your average or expected price. He will work you if buying multiples or a box break. The shop is interesting, with a spot in the back to rip and enjoy your breaks. It is also a very large shop, which leads me into the....

CONS: The place is empty other than the aforementioned singles and a short wall of hats? The name of the store and the overwhelming size will tell you that you are walking into a gold mine of sports cards. Rather, you will find what seems to be a “Lids” store that is going out of business. Like I said, Justin was super welcoming and seemingly a good dude. But if you have to tell me “Hey man, come on in, we're open even though it doesn't look like it.”..... That is a bad sign. Empty shelves, with cases of boxes ripped including the wax packs shredded all over the floor. Looked like wrappers were still there from Topps Series 1. And what's up with the all the chip bags? Needless to say, it was a an empty product, mess filled hat store. They had absolutely ZERO baseball box breaks. Nothing older or newer. No complete sets etc. I am talking NO options at all but the singles. That's odd to me to have a store of that size and location for it to be empty.

Overall: Cool dude, potentially a cool store but currently is not that. Clean and stock the place and I would...