HELP: To consign to Auction or not.....

MurphDawg

Guys, I've got a few vintage cards that I'm thinking of consigning to one of these auction companies. Is this smart or not? The cards that I'm looking to send in are a 1957 Topps BB PSA 8 Mickey Mantle, a 1957 Topps PSA 8 Frank Robinson RC, a 1957 Topps PSA 9 Pee Wee Reese, and a 1960 Topps PSA 9 Bill Mazeroski. I guess my questions are 1.) Is it better to send these cards into an auction and pay the 10% or more consignment fees or try and sell them another way? 2.) What could I expect to get for these cards, would they go for right around SMR, less or more? 3.) Would an auction house even take these for consignment (I know they would probably take the PSA 9's, but what about the 8's)? 4.) If I should consign them, what company should I go with? Any help or advice that I could get would be much appreciated. Thanks, Matt

baseballfanatic

10% commission has gone the way of 25 cent hot dogs. Try someone that is more geared to single card auctions rather than Mastros. When your catalogs start coming in 3 volumes, single card lots tend to get lost in the shuffle.......

bxb

Why don't you try ebay first, put a reserve or minimum bid if you want. Those are some pretty popular cards, should have no trouble selling, and might save you on fees.

lawnmowerman

I would try ebay first as well. It just seems like alot less of a hassle to list them on your own. As the Vulcan said put a reserve on them if your concerned about selling them too cheap.

Matt

MurphDawg

Believe it or not I've never sold a thing on ebay. Just never gotten into it and I've had people tell me that potential bidders are weary of bidding if you have little or no feedback or prior transactions. So the cards that I'm trying to sell I have to advertise on this board. Anyways, what auction companies would you guys recommend for single cards, or are there other ways of selling these cards? Thanks

MurphDawg

Plus, it probably wouldn't be the best time for me to try and get started trying to sell on ebay, especially with such high-end stuff. Probably wouldn't get very confident bidders, if any, on a $2,000 card with no feedback or anything. Do I have any other options?

lawnmowerman

<< <i>Plus, it probably wouldn't be the best time for me to try and get started trying to sell on ebay, especially with such high-end stuff. Probably wouldn't get very confident bidders, if any, on a $2,000 card with no feedback or anything. Do I have any other options? >>

Do you know anyone personally with an established Ebay id?


Matt

MurphDawg

No, believe it or not I don't. I've had numerous people on this board advise me or agree to list and sell them on e-bay for me, for a fee, but I just can't bring myself to pay that much to have 4 cards listed and sold on ebay. The SMR on these cards is around $4,500 and that would be at least $450 or $500 to list and sell 4 cards if they sell for right at SMR. I do understand that there is work and time invested in ebay auctions and I don't mind paying a "fair" price for someone to do this but it seems like what I hear on this board usually is that ebay auctions usually are a deal for the buyer and not the seller. Don't those high-end cards usually garner somewhat higher bids in the company auctions? I don't know maybe they do and maybe they don't. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to get the most that I can for these "high-end" cards, I don't mind paying for the service or whatever of listing them, whether its on ebay or through an auction company, but I want to be sure that I get the most for my cards and not the buyer getting a deal.

earlycalguy

you could have listed them on ebay this week for their .10 cent special.

if you sell them yourself you probably need to have a high start price or the buy it now price that you want to sell the cards at. if you start at .99 cents and let them go then you should pay someone to sell them for you. selling them yourself with no feedback or sales history may end up costing you much more than the $400 you would pay someone else in commission to sell them for you.

cavalier

We do a fair amount of consignment and 10% is the minimum anyone should even consider and realistically 20% is more in line. Remember ebay is getting their fee and the purchaser is paying via paypal most of the time -- that means feebay is clearing approximately 7% of the deal and the consignment seller is only making 3%? Even on a 4500 deal - 3% or $135 is barely enough to justify the listing time, answering emails, shipping and the liability issues.

MuckyMutt

Well MurphDawg, it sounds like you are about in the same boat as a lot of people that have some good cards but have never sold any. Look at it this way - SMR is a value guide for the end buyer. I know you are looking to get the most from them, but consider this: The people that sell to the end buyers (ebay sellers and other dealers) have put a lot of time and/or money into it. I was facing the same situation you are about 6 months ago. I looked at all the possible venues for selling. I decided that the only way for me to end up with most of the money was to sell them myself on Ebay. I too had never sold anything on Ebay - and you're right, no one wants to pay for high dollar items from someone with low feedback or a new seller. that means you have to start out slow - sell lower value items (I sold about 100 auctions) before you start selling the high dollar ones. It takes time - lots of time. You really have to do your homework adn research. You have to learn all the in & outs of how Ebay works. You have to know the market and the product. I spent 2 months, about 10 hours a day, 7 days a week before I listed my first auction! I have been successful. Has it been worth it. For me it has - I've been unemployed the last 6 months and I've had the time to invest, it's kept me busy, and I've been some nice money. Are you willing to invest the time neccessary to maximize your price for these cards? If not, you're going to have to pay someone to sell them for you. And let me tell you - they earn every penny!! If it costs you $450-500, believe me it's worth it! Is there an easy way for you to end up with SMR value in your pocket -NO! That's just a fact.

I have run into several people that have some "older" cards and want top dollar for them. They just don't understand what it takes to do that. The person that knows how to do that has a big investment to get to that point. There's no easy road.

Good Luck.

theczar

just an FYI, superior is having only 5% for first time sellers on their next auction. you can click on the banner on psacard.com for more info.

eyebone

Are there not prominent dealers who could sell these cards to an established client base for 10% because they would be avoiding the ebay/paypal fees?


Eyebone

WinPitcher

Murph not sure if I read you correctly but just cuz u never sold b4 on ebay does not mean you have no feedback. Does it? Surely u must have bought on ebay b4?


The amount you spend selling thru a known dealer is usually made up as they have a following and thus more budders.

I would sell them myself and just use a reserve type auction. many collectors and dealers see that all the time.

I agree with Cav, sellers with lotsa feedback have put time and energy into this and deserve at least 20 percent of the sale. They again usually bring in that 20 percent or more anyway.

Good luck


Steve