Sports Cards Plus Defends $40 Hanger Box Pricing After Google Review
A customer posted a Google review Friday calling out Sports Cards Plus in San Antonio for charging $40 on 2025 Topps Chrome Football hanger boxes while three big national chains had the same product at $20.
The reviewer, a Google Local Guide with 25 reviews, laid the numbers out plain: Lids, $20. Dick’s Sporting Goods, $20. GameStop, $20. Sports Cards Plus, $40. Topps lists MSRP at $19.99. The review included a photo of a $19.99 sticker on a hanger box at a national retailer.
Sports Cards Plus didn’t let it sit. Six hours later, the owner replied through the shop’s Google profile, arguing hobby shops “pay MORE to carry items that are popular for a collector mindset” and that Lids online was sold out and Topps.com was sold out too.
“THAT’S WHAT MAKES THE HOBBY VALUE RISE. AVAILABILITY,” the reply said. The owner also pointed to eBay, saying prices there are “much moreso” than the $40 tag.
The shop sits at 2251 Lockhill Selma Road in San Antonio and is run by Charlie DiPietro. Panini America gave Sports Cards Plus a $75,000 store makeover in 2015 after DiPietro’s customers turned in more NBA product wrappers than any other shop in the country. Panini brought David Robinson in for the reopening. In 2023, Sports Collectors Digest named the shop its Card Shop of the Year.
The 2025 Topps Chrome Football release dropped April 15 — the first licensed Topps NFL product since 2015 and the first under the new Fanatics/Topps exclusive after Panini’s NFL deal ran out March 31.
Prices are jumping fast. Hobby Boxes with a $349.99 MSRP are selling for $900 to $1,000 on resale, and the $19.99 hanger boxes are sold out on Topps.com. Whether collectors keep calling out pricing gaps between chain stores and local shops over the next few weeks is anyone’s guess.
