Best way to offload quality rookie cards?
NewHere
Posts: 19 ✭
Guys,
Longtime collector. Never sold a card in my life. Need advice.
I have a crap ton of cards ranging from the 1950's-1990's. Cards are mostly baseball, but I've got a bunch of random Jordan's, boxing cards, wrestling cards NFL cards, etc.
I have what appears to be some rookie cards of interest. It also appears that, to sell a card nowadays, you have to send it off, pay a monster fee for grading and then hope to get it back in less than a year. I understand PSA and others are charging based on supply and demand. It also appears a PSA grading holds more value than other places? Ebay caps "new" sellers at $500 a month. It's also super scammy.
SO, what is another option for someone with a big lot of "good" cards?
Examples attached. 
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Comments
just mail them to me. i'll pay the postage. my middle name is offloader.
Ha ha. No problem.
"Offload" is probably a bad term. But, I have no kids and no one to "hand" these down to. It's not a problem. Just need advice for other potential ways to sell these to someone else who might enjoy them. Thanks.
first thing is first. get that ryan rookie outta whatever type holder its currently residing in.
Yeah gotta find something better. As you know it isn't your "generic" baseball card size. In that case, it hasn't moved in decades so no harm no foul on the edges, thankfully.
isnt “bowing” a movement? 😉
Perhaps. But I think the holder looks worse than it is. The card lays flat and holds flat unless moved or tossed (who the hell would do that??). A few decades in that case and no "bowing". But again it can be housed moving forward in a much better case. Looking into that now.
That's a nice collection. Why do you consider eBay super scammy? You have a lot of cards that wouldn't be worth grading, but would be good candidates to sell raw, and you could move quite a few with a new $500 cap ebay account. Once you move a bunch and show that you are a good seller, your cap will be removed and you can start selling the higher priced stuff.
I've had an Ebay account for over a decade. Don't use it often (mostly purchases). I have sold a handful of things, including some expensive video equipment. Had a very bad experience with a buyer who claimed what he bought was damaged and wanted a refund AND keep the "damaged" equipment. Because of the dollar amount, Ebay held the money for 21 days, so I was out shipping cost ($60), the equipment itself and then the money he paid for it. It was a nightmare to deal with. He finally just went away but it definitely wasn't worth the time and energy spent on rectifying a fake issue, all the while I was out money and the product.
I do have a bunch of "raw" candidates and may go that route as you mentioned. How long does it take Ebay to remove the cap? One month? Do they add another cap or is it wide open?
@NewHere
PHEW! 😉
Ha ha, yeah I looked at the pictures again with it in the case and it does look bowed as hell. May be the way the light filters into the case. I know it isn't, but it's definitely hard to tell from the pictures!
Greg Morris Cards is a good, well known Ebay consignor for raw cards. Might be worth checking with him to see if he'd take your collection.
@swish54 ... Just checked his website. This is the kind of info I'm looking for. Will hit him up tomorrow. Thank you!
be prepared for a slight delay though. and its not just him. its everybody. from stores, to grading companies, to shipping companies, to consignors, to just about every link in the chain. everyone is still dealing with the explosion of what happened last year. just dont expect anyone suggested here to have your cards listed with in a week or even a month from the time you get them there. the lines are and have been long. anyone that does might be suspect or maybe extremely new w inherent risks there.
greg morris is about as good as it gets when it comes to raw and these type of cards.
I would reach out to Chris Sewall. He has a YouTube channel ("Baseball card collector investor dealer"). He loves to buy collections and seems to be very fair. His Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/SewallSportsCards/
You are obviously leaving money on the table if you don't get things graded. You might consider SGC - their turnaround times are good.
Good luck - you've got some nice stuff!
Thank you @blurryface and @Tabe. I am grateful for the advice I have received so far on this post and privately. I appreciate the time you all are taking to help.
@Tabe :
I do have one question about grading. Do cards graded from other companies not called PSA hold the same value? So, if you had a PSA 10 vs. an SGC 10, do they fetch the same amount? Has PSA's decision to stop accepting cards for a period of time, cost, and turnaround time evened the playing field at all for other grading companies?
Can someone give a breakdown of current wait times for other companies? I'm in no big hurry, but the thought of having some of these cards out of my possession for months makes me ill. Also the cost is prohibitive when you've got between 30-50 cards you would like graded (which is why the prices are what they are). Any way around this?
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tabe and i love to disagree in playful ways, but we cant on this one. most of these are cards i would send to greg morris but he is definitely right here about money being left on the table pursuing thst route.
there are a few in here that you would definitely benefit from having graded like some of the ryans, henderson rc and any other sharp cornered/centered hofs. impossible for the guys to gauge correctly but maybe take solo shots of the bigger, centered cards and im sure youd get quality responses as to whether grade or consign raw.
btw: that tyson ring lords is nice too. flip it over, is it a prototype? hopefully not.
Yeah its the "sample" card. I just looked into this and there are only like 5 in existence that don't have the "sample" inked on the back. Really rare! Just looked on PSA. Only one "10" with the sample stamp. Huh.
Also, is there a market for SI cards? I have a bunch of these.
How much would you sell all? Let me know
definitely some value in sifk cards/sheets. others will prolly chime in tomorrow. theres definitely an art form to detaching them and subbing them. ill let them cover that, but the lebron, jordan, gretzky cards will carry value. usually any golfers will carry value as most sifk are considered their rookie cards, ie tiger, rory, etc.
as for subbing, sgc is your best bet. they are knocking subs out in 30ish days at $30 a pop, i think. right up your alley. of course an sgc 9 usually doesnt sell as well as a psa 9. but then again, you dont have to wait for over a year to get them back either. i would not explore any other grading company w whats presented above.
best of luck either way. youve got some classic cards we’d all love to sort thru, for sure!
I can't speak for turnaround times for other companies beyond them being really long (many months) unless you pay big money.
SGC cards sell for less than PSA.
Are you taking offers on cards?
While I agree that you may be leaving money on the table if you don't grade some of the cards, please remember that this advice is coming from skilled and experienced graders. They know exactly what to look for. Since you are very new to this game, my guess is that you'd be better off selling through Greg Morris and not taking on the headache of trying to figure out which cards to grade. It's similar to me saying that you can save a lot of money by replacing your own timing belt, but if you don't have the tools and knowledge, you'll have lots of stress, waste time, and spend more money than someone who is a pro at timing belts.
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On some of the cards...sure. Let me know what you're interested in. I'm sending feelers to some of the people mentioned in this thread. Trying to weigh my options.
Again--I appreciate all of the advice!
I'd be interested in buying all or selling on ebay for you. PM me, if interested. Looks like you have lots of decent stuff.
I have to much S**t; so if you working on sets or are a player/team collector, send me your want list, with conditions desired. Keep in mind I have a another job so please allow me a few days to respond.
What would you want for the entire lot ?
What city are you in?
@RufussCkingston In Atlanta.
@tonylags and @GOBUCKS ... I seriously have no idea and would sound like a total tool trying to spout of numbers for all of this when I don't have a single clue what it is all worth. This isn't even all the stuff I have. I have some error cards and other stuff I never thought would be worth anything, but according to my limited research, they are.
This post was me kind of dipping my toes in to understand what I have in relation to what others might be interested in and the best way to move them. If I had a kid, I would just hold on to everything and not even bother but...I don't. So I'm trying to figure out what the hell to do with it all now.
im not too far away from ya. and not interested in buying them. i got enough, trust me. but if you are ever near the savannah area, lemme know. could probably provide an honest assessment rather quickly. otherwise, not sure how the atlanta area is today with local shows, but might be worth grabbing the cherries and taking them to a show. theres some bigger shows (one in tampa this weekend i think) that might be worth a direct flight too. should be fairly easy outta atlanta. whats crazy today is that while all this seems a bit much, it truly only takes 1 card to make the entire process worth it. as tabe was trying to say, selling it all raw could be leaving money on the table as no one is going to pay high grade psa figures for raw examples.
eta: and while most of the stuff displayed above might not warrant a trip, i cant tell you how many times someone asked me to look at a collection and instantly showed me what they thought was the most valuable only to start sifting through a $1 box of their cards to find the real gold. happens way more often than the assumed gold they wanna show first.
^ kinda why i asked about the tyson card above. a non-sample woulda been a perfect example.
Yeah with hurricanes and covid--even while vaccinated--traveling is on hold for a while. But, I get what you are saying. I've just got so much random stuff I never thought would be worth anything--old school Hulk Hogan/Andre the Giant cards (lol) Nascar cards, Tiger Woods cards...just a bunch of stuff I bought for my enjoyment I never thought would be worth anything to anyone else. At least I took good care of everything I've purchased, so there's that.
I assume what is "worth" something is subjective? So, if I took all my stuff to three card shops here in town, will I get three different opinions of what stuff is "good"? If that's the case, I'd hate to waste everyone's time...
most likely. 3 people, 3 different opinions. but in the end, theres really only 4 ways to do it.
all have their pros & cons. just gotta figure out whats best for you.
Almost verbatim what another poster here told me. I'm learning.
Thanks again for all the great advice.
I would just be careful. There's a lot of sharks out there who are purely looking to take advantage of an unknowing collector such as yourself and pay pennies on the dollar all while making you think you're getting a good deal when in fact your not. Not saying it's happening with anyone in this thread in particular but when people smell blood in the water, they start circling fast.
Give it to an auction house and they will figure out the best way to sell it. You will be a wealthy man once you sell these cards !!! Oh hell yeah !!!
Appreciate your comment. I'm fortunate to be in a position that I don't have to or need to sell any of my stuff. The second it feels dodgy/shady, I'm out.
Old like 1985 Hulk Hogan cards can be worth money. same with old Tiger cards, especially the SI for kids one.
I'd say give us some close up front and back scans of the Henderson Rookie, Cal Ripiken Traded rookie, and the Ryan/Koosman since those might be some good SGC candidates at the very least.
@RufussCkingston
I pulled the Rickey's for someone interested in a set Sunday so I'll post those. '80, '81 and '82. I've got two or three of his 82's. I'll pull out the rest and work on getting some good pics when I get a moment.
do you have the 82 opc hendo? think thats one of his lowest pop cards in a 10. and his best looking card, imo.
The sticker? Pulled two random commons boxes at lunch...I've got this sticker set for sure. Found all these in the two...looks like an ink bleed on this sticker. May have another. I have a ton of rando Rickey cards.
Lighting is crap on the left side.