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Recommendations for selling a ton of Memorabilia

What is the best place to sell a "ton" of sports memorabilia. Obviously know about eBay and have over $120k with Heritage Auctions already in graded cards, etc. I am referring to more physical memorabilia, for example:

  • 500+ Autographed pictures (Mantle, DiMaggio, Rose, Reggie, Yogi, Johnny Mize, Musial, Ted Williams, etc) PSA and Non-PSA
  • 200+ Bats (Signed and unsigned) PSA and non-PSA
  • Sets of cards from football, baseball & basketball
  • Hockey memorabilia (Old)
  • Jersey's (100+ of them) many signed and PSA / non-PSA
  • the List goes on...

I am looking to liquidate but NOT give away the farm. Not looking for pennies on the dollar. More like $0.60-$0.80 cents on the dollar. I am willing to leave meat on the bone. I am tryin to stay away from companies taking 15% + buyers premium.

Any help would be great.

Comments

  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,351 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Hiya Jermaine

    First off.

    What state do you reside?

    Mike
  • JoeBanzaiJoeBanzai Posts: 11,171 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jjermaine said:
    What is the best place to sell a "ton" of sports memorabilia. Obviously know about eBay and have over $120k with Heritage Auctions already in graded cards, etc. I am referring to more physical memorabilia, for example:

    • 500+ Autographed pictures (Mantle, DiMaggio, Rose, Reggie, Yogi, Johnny Mize, Musial, Ted Williams, etc) PSA and Non-PSA
    • 200+ Bats (Signed and unsigned) PSA and non-PSA
    • Sets of cards from football, baseball & basketball
    • Hockey memorabilia (Old)
    • Jersey's (100+ of them) many signed and PSA / non-PSA
    • the List goes on...

    I am looking to liquidate but NOT give away the farm. Not looking for pennies on the dollar. More like $0.60-$0.80 cents on the dollar. I am willing to leave meat on the bone. I am tryin to stay away from companies taking 15% + buyers premium.

    Any help would be great.

    Welcome to the boards!

    I would need more information to give you a good answer.

    Assuming you want to do it in a hurry? If so, you ARE going to leave some money on the table.

    Best way, in my opinion, is to sell the stuff yourself on ebay. The PSA authenticated items should be pretty easy to sell.

    Autographed photos would be the easiest. You will need some special supplies for some of the other stuff. Bat "tubes" and some kind of sturdy boxes for the jerseys.

    "Sets of cards from football, baseball & basketball" What sets? What years? You may need to get some of the star cards graded to get any strong bids on them. New stuff is generally worthless. I see your photos are of older players, if your sets are from the mid seventies or before and in good condition, they will sell fast.

    "Hockey memorabilia (Old) " Need details.

    " the List goes on..." No idea what this means.

    Bottom line is what my father used to tell me "you can't have your cake and eat it too.".

    If you are in a hurry or just don't have the time (or desire) to do it yourself, try to find an auction house that will give you a good deal.

    Not having ANY idea of what you have makes it hard to offer an opinion.

    Can you share more details?

    2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
  • AllenAllen Posts: 7,165 ✭✭✭

    Contact the auction houses and tell them what you have. They will sell it in lots and you should be able to negotiate your premium if sending six figures plus. If you are willing to take .60 cents on the dollar why be opposed to letting someone do all the work for a 20% BP and 15% or less commission.

  • HighGradeLegendsHighGradeLegends Posts: 1,693 ✭✭✭✭

    Welcome to the forum. Group low end stuff into lots and sell via forum boards if you want to avoid fees. Higher end stuff may get better prices with major auction houses and offset any fees incurred.

  • JoeBanzaiJoeBanzai Posts: 11,171 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Allen said:
    Contact the auction houses and tell them what you have. They will sell it in lots and you should be able to negotiate your premium if sending six figures plus. If you are willing to take .60 cents on the dollar why be opposed to letting someone do all the work for a 20% BP and 15% or less commission.

    This is a very good idea.

    2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
  • 80sOPC80sOPC Posts: 1,226 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Depending in what the hockey stuff is, I would consider selling with Classic Auctions in Canada. Real strong prices for hockey mem.

  • burghmanburghman Posts: 797 ✭✭✭✭

    @Allen said:
    Contact the auction houses and tell them what you have. They will sell it in lots and you should be able to negotiate your premium if sending six figures plus. If you are willing to take .60 cents on the dollar why be opposed to letting someone do all the work for a 20% BP and 15% or less commission.

    I agree with this approach too. If possible, visit the action house folks in person - I had a much less valuable collection and visited HA at a show, and they immediately offered me a 7.5% commission with no negotiating. I've heard of folks negotiating 0% commissions when they have a boatload to auction so you might be in that position. One more benefit - I gave HA everything I had to look over and review, and they sent back what they didn't feel was worth auctioning. Sure, I had to pay a small fee for return shipping and authentication review, but having expert eyes review everything I had (including running some things past PSA and PSA/DNA at a discounted cost) was well worth the 7.5% commission.

    Jim

  • esquiresportsesquiresports Posts: 1,360 ✭✭✭

    I deal in memorabilia a fair amount, and find the eBay does not bring strong prices. And of all the memorabilia I have purchased, almost none has come from eBay. Auction houses like HA, Goldin, Mile High, and Huggins would happily take what you have and charge you 0% seller fee. For stuff $500 and up, REA is a great option. Mile High may actually cut you back 5% of buyer's premiums if you give them at least $25K in items. You will get better prices through an auction house. I have no doubt in my mind. They may want to bundle some lots, but will work with you. The more you make, the more they make. Interests are generally aligned.

    Always buying 1971 OPC Baseball packs.
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