Opinions wanted.
dallasactuary
Posts: 4,322 ✭✭✭✭✭
I had an idea and wanted some feedback. Even if the feedback is "stupid idea", I honestly want to hear it, although a suggestion to make it not stupid would be appreciated even more.
I've got a bunch of raw cards from the 60's through the junk era that I would have a hell of a time selling on ebay. And even the cards that I know would sell make me cringe at the thought of making a trip to the post office every day to spend $5 mailing a card I sold for $10. And, of course, trying to sell a card that's worth less than postage is an even bigger headache.
So, I'd rather sell them here, and I'm willing to factor in the aggravation avoidance that I'd receive, the ebay fees I wouldn't have to pay, the time I'd spend scanning, etc. and credit those monetary and emotional savings to the CU buyer.
My idea is to offer a lot of cards worth $150 for $100, shipping included. I'd pick the cards, subject to the following:
(1) The cards "worth" would be based on recent ebay sales, matching the condition as close as possible. I would not include Greg Morris auctions since those generally get premium prices based on the market's trust in Morris, which exceeds the trust they have in me.
(2) For common/minor star cards, the "worth" would be based on what lots of cards sell for, per card, from that given year. Meaning, while someone may have paid $5 for an EXMT card of Don Hahn from 1971, I would price it at 50 cents, or whatever EXMT lots of 1971 cards sell for per card. I do have some commons from the 1960's in very nice condition; I'll price those somewhere between the lot price and the single card price.
(3) Cards from the 1960's or early 70's could be commons, minor stars up to HOFers. As we move from there to the junk wax era, commons become more and more worthless. If I've got especially nice (gradable) commons from the later 70's or minor stars from the early 80's, I might include some of them, but from the junk wax era I would include nothing but notable rookie cards, and top-tier HOFers. This is NOT a trick to unload a bunch of, for example, 1987 Phil Niekro cards. From 1987, for example, you'd get only Bonds, McGwire, Larkin, Palmeiro, Canseco, Jackson, Clark and maybe Nolan Ryan or other highly collectible stars (or you might get no junk wax era cards at all).
(4) Absolutely no doubles.
(5) I don't recall off the top of my head if I have any cards with creases that might be included. If there are, then they will be star cards and they will be priced at VG, at best.
(6) Every lot would include a relatively even mix (by value, not by count) of older and newer cards ("older" here means 1973 or earlier). So you might, for example, get 40 "older" cards worth $75 and 60 "newer" cards worth $75. (Or you might get 10 older cards and 20 newer cards, if the lot is nothing but star cards.)
(7) If you have a favorite player or team, tell me when you order. I can't guarantee I have any cards of your favorite player, but if I do then I'll include some.
(8) Just to be perfectly clear, this is NOT a lottery type thing where one lucky buyer is going to get a Mantle Rookie. I am going to do my best to make the value of each lot the same and the composition of each lot similar.
(9) My goal here is to send you cards for $100 that you can immediately turn around and sell for more than $100, if you have the time and patience to break the lot into multiple lots and sell them on ebay. I am also hoping it sounds like fun.
(10) All of the above refers to baseball cards. I do also have a much smaller group of football/basketball/hockey (100% star cards, 99% from the 1980's - 1990's) that I could include, but only if the buyer wants me to.
(11) I have sold thousands of dollars worth of cards on this forum over the years, and I'm sure I'll try to sell thousands more in the future. I am going to do my best to pick cards that not only meet all of the conditions laid out here, but that will make the buyer happy and hopefully want to buy another lot, or at least post here about what a great deal they got. Whether this exercise is a failure or a success monetarily is not as important to me as my reputation as an honest seller/trader.
So, would anyone here be interested in a sale like this?
Alternatively, any suggestions for how I could tweak this, or any additional description/guarantee I could add that would make this offer more appealing? If there is interest, then I'll repost this as an actual "For Sale" thread, and my apologies if this thread violates the B/S/T rules but I didn't know where else to post it.
Comments
I’m probably not a buyer, but this seems well thought out, fairly priced and an entertaining purchase.
Yaz Master Set
#1 Gino Cappelletti master set
#1 John Hannah master set
Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
It sounds like an awful lot of work for not much return, but I see nothing wrong from a buyer standpoint.
I’d try a “show up at my house with a u-haul truck” Price before undertaking all of that. Bang out a hundred quick pics on your phone and see if someone will take the whole shooting match for less money but less work.
Bosox1976
I'd imagine if you just provided a spreadsheet of cards with your estimated values (since you'll be doing this effort anyways) then people will start shooting you offers and most will go quickly. The downside is you likely won't sell everything but you can dump the rest as a single lot on ebay. I think if you got an account with ebay then you can get their special rate mailing price of $1 or some stupid low price.
Your idea is good but I think most people would rather choose.
how much do you mean by a bunch of cards?
I just did a quick count of 3200 ct boxes...3200 x 35 = 112,000 to me that's a bunch of cards...
That has actually worked for me twice a few years ago...
Appreciate the comments. And I admit that I have done the lion's share of the "work" already; all the good singles are sorted and in penny sleeves, all the commons are sorted by year and by condition, and I've got a pretty good idea of what every card is worth. The remaining work is to put together a lot that I think is worth $150, then check/confirm the prices on ebay, which I can probably do in 10-15 minutes, and adjust the lot if necessary.
I may someday go the "u-haul truck" route, or just find a local dealer to rip me off, but I'd like to try to get closer to a fair price first. I know I could get a lot more if I were willing to make 5,000 scans, create 1,000 ebay auctions, and make 500 trips to the post office, but while I'm not nearing 70, I am nearing 60, and life is just too short. I'll have fun putting lots together, and I think people would have fun going through them (and maybe selling the cards they don't want to keep).
Sounds like this would be geared more towards the end user rather than the reseller.
Yes, that's my hope. But, if the buyer doesn't like all the cards he can resell the ones he doesn't want.
And I may go the spreadsheet route, but that's a lot of work. May be the best option, though.
And at one point I probably did have 112,000 cards but I threw away my junk wax commons a long time ago. I've still got thousands of junk wax stars, but like the example I gave, what exactly is the market for a 1987 Phil Niekro? I'm not sure I can sell even the junk wax HOFers for more than postage. Maybe someday, at least that's the hope.
Well, I will take the 1st lot for $100! If you are ready to do this, lmk and will send PM.
I was in a similar position to you, early to mid 50s and looking at a mountain of cards that would take more free time than I had to try to extract close to the full retail value, but also not wanting to just wholesale them. Luckily I was able to retire a few years ago, and with my daughter getting older I found myself with more free time than usual, so I've started scaling up my card selling. My problem now is the mountain of cards I will leave for my loved ones to deal with should I pass unexpectedly. Good luck with your efforts.
You can pay for, affix labels, and ship right from your home. Why would you make 500 trips to the post office? You shouldn't have to make one.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
I have a similar "bunch" of cards, although not much from the 1960's and 1970's. I see a couple of ways to go to get the best return and sell the most cards. Hard to be specific, not knowing quantities, who the star cards are and condition. Based upon your post, I wouldn't try to sell the entire lot unless you just want to get it over with and leave a lot of money on the table.
You can break them down by year; if you have nice cards from 1964 list that lot together, hoping for someone who is putting together a raw set. The second thought would be break the lots down by team, some collectors still buy that way.
I would try to sell the lots in as large a quantity as possible without getting to the point where someone is going to offer you next to nothing in an effort to "flip" them.
My thinking is you are hoping for someone who wants them for their PC.
I like to list with a reasonable price and a best offer option. I never liked starting things off at a dollar and hoping for the bidding to "take off", even though this seems to work for many.
If you want to pm me with a more detailed breakdown of what you have, I would be happy to offer a more specific action plan.
Good luck and have FUN!
I'd see about setting up at a local show and just have them all in $.25, $.50 and $1.00 boxes (and higher if you want). I can't tell you how many people I see cleaning out those boxes at shows.
Dallas, the flat rate USPS boxes are your best friend in this case.
Sounds like a great candidate to sell them in one or two large lots of a "baseball 500 card collection 1967 1968 1971 Tom Seaver etc....' Get as many key years and big names in the title that are in the lot.
If you have enough cards of one year you can do "1971 topps near set etc......."
I've been clearing inventory and these sales have added up remarkably well and the most time consuming process is simply taking the pictures.
You can fit two or possibly three 660 count white baseball card boxes into the Medium Flat Rate USPS box which cost $17 to ship anywhere in the country no matter how much it weighs.
One time I shipped three cannon balls from the civil war in one of the large flat rate boxes. Clerk expression was the best when he picked it up. Still cost the same as shipping a feather in that box. One rate.
So you can sell a 1,000 card lot and it will only cost $17 to ship and it is ONE TRIP to the post office.
Your post office headache is gone.
As usual I have no real input. However, every time someone asks for advice, it immediately makes me think of the pitching coach in this scene:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Th4ajgNAgbo
If you go this route make sure you have all of your security options covered beforehand.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
I think you would have much better luck letting the buyer pick the $150 worth of cards for $100.