New to the Board: Ebay question

MajorDanby

Hello. New to the board. Started back in the hobby about a few months ago. I initially started collecting around 1990-1991. Stopped around 1997-98. Like many, i had no money and i became confused and tired of a market saturated with so many insert cards and premium sets. Upon completing college, i decided to start back up again but with a focus on vintage cards.

Which leads to my question. I want to sell a large portion of my cards (mostly modern cards...80's-97). A lot of it i have either dealt or traded to local shops and friends. Some, i can't quite get rid of (and these are not junk cards either). So, off to ebay i go. I have bought many items off ebay and did test it out as a seller by selling a Ryne Sandberg Then and Now Upperdeck Insert (Sold it for $1.50..yay). I have a few questions about ebay i hope some of you can answer:

1.) What are the fees to sell stuff on the site?
2.) When are the best times to sell?
3.) What is the typical percentage off Book Value for 80's-90's cards sold through ebay?
4.) Any other honest tips to maximize your profit (because the bottom line is all that matters since we live in a capitalist society).

thanks for the help.
Major

jrdolan

1.) What are the fees to sell stuff on the site?

You can post an auction with a $1 opening bid for as little as 35 cents (no gallery pic or any extras). eBay will then take a small cut of your sale price, as will PayPal if you use that service. As a rule of thumb, I figure 10% in total fees. Though obviously if the card sells for $1 the percentage is much higher!

2.) When are the best times to sell?

There are several opinions on this. Some people vote for the weekend to end an auction because that's when most people are online. On the other hand, some prefer the middle of the week because while there are fewer bidders there are also veryfew auctions ending. Thus high competition, if your card is in demand. I don't know which theory is best. I like to start on Wed. night and go 10 days (20 cents extra), so bidders have two weekends to look at my cards. Whatever day you choose to end, you don't want your auction ending after midnight or before noon. I like 10 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Pacific) as a closing time. It seems a nice compromise, because you don't want to end after the East goes to bed or before Pacific gets home from the beach.

3.) What is the typical percentage off Book Value for 80's-90's cards sold through ebay?

Your cards aren't going to get much money if they're not graded. People will fear they are trimmed, or factor in what they will have to pay in grading fees. People do still buy raw cards these days, but they don't pay much. Right now PSA is grading modern cards at $5 each. The turnaround time is long on these specials, but it's the cheapest way to grade a large number of modern cards. The special ends Nov. 30 and may not return until next summer. You have to be a member, or know a member who will submit them for you.


4.) Any other honest tips to maximize your profit (because the bottom line is all that matters since we live in a capitalist society).

Don't bother grading any but the most popular cards that you know will sell. Even if you pay $5 per card (a bit more with shipping / insurance), many 1990s cards will have to get PSA 10 in order to make a profit on your grading fee. Example: I had a PSA 9 Pedro Martinez rookie out there for $6.99. A dollar or two more than the cheapest it could have been graded for. Still no bites. And this HOF certainty is hardly the worst card you could waste your money grading. There's just so many of these cards on the market, it seems like everybody has 3 or 4 copies already. So just grade the most high-demand cards, like Bonds rookie, Pujols, A-Rod, Jeter, etc. You can always grade others later if the market becomes strong for them.