Buying of raw cards suggestions needed

mayo

Hello -

I need some advice from a dealers point ov view for buying uncertified card collections.

Let assume a collector has complete sets 78 and newer in NR-MT to MT, star singles 78 or newer in NR-MT to MT and the collector has a beckett price guide in their hands.

Assuming that I am cherry picking the specific things I like, what % of Beckett or EBAY for that matter should I offer?

I also have situations where sellers want to move everything - and I am struggling with offers that collectors will accept as well.

I have been using Ebay as a guide to determine what I would pay for their material and trying to buy below Ebay prices but I am struggling with the % below Ebay that I should use. I understand every situation is different but I am trying to be fair to the collector and make a nice profit as well.

Any advice on this subject would be great.

Boopotts

<< <i>Hello -

I need some advice from a dealers point ov view for buying uncertified card collections.

Let assume a collector has complete sets 78 and newer in NR-MT to MT, star singles 78 or newer in NR-MT to MT and the collector has a beckett price guide in their hands.

Assuming that I am cherry picking the specific things I like, what % of Beckett or EBAY for that matter should I offer?

I also have situations where sellers want to move everything - and I am struggling with offers that collectors will accept as well.

I have been using Ebay as a guide to determine what I would pay for their material and trying to buy below Ebay prices but I am struggling with the % below Ebay that I should use. I understand every situation is different but I am trying to be fair to the collector and make a nice profit as well.

Any advice on this subject would be great. >>




Nobody can answer that for you. If you know what you can sell a card for, then how much you're willing to pay for it is simply a function of how much profit you want to make AND how how little you think the seller will accept. For obvious reasons the answer is different for everyone.

Stone193

<< <i>Assuming that I am cherry picking the specific things I like, what % of Beckett or EBAY for that matter should I offer? >>


Hi Mayo

First I would like to Welcome you!!!

Now, I don't deal but have been collecting for a couple of weeks now...

I agree with Boo - everyone has a different pain threshold of what they can accept.

Having said that...

I have a suggestion - you can probably get a better price - overall if you don't cherry pick (which will annoy many) and offer a good price for the entire lot.

On what % to buy at?

Depends on the "turn-over" rate of the item:

1. If it's hot - you can buy higher since the flip is quick and painless. I know guys that would be happy picking up a quick 10 -20% on a quick flip - same day e.g. And this is a guess - not sure of exact %'s.

2. If the item is a slower mover? I would guess the most a guy would want to pay is 50% Beckett/ebay guestimates?

These are just some ideas to mull over.

You take it easy, don't be a stranger and shoes are optional!
Your friend
mike

storm888

Try to buy the "whole collection."

Have your prices in your head, not in your hand.
If you keep looking at a "price guide" while you are
trying to buy, you will probably not buy much.

Never pay more than 25% to 50% of what some
"price guide" suggests.

If you buy "collections/accumulations," be prepared
to sit on large chunks of them for a long time. The
ONLY way to make the wait worthwhile, is to buy
the stuff REALLY cheap.

storm

MorrellMan

Welcome Mayo.
You've gotten some good answers here. Back in the 80's, when I was seriously buying collections, I used the following guidelines:
50% of book, based on very strict grading. Very rarely will you find cards that merit the full "high" value.
If you're buying complete sets, go through each set carefully and note what cards and how many (stars and commons) do not meet the strict set grade. Use that as a guide for decreasing the set price percentage.
If there are just a whole lot of cards, a few stars but mostly commons, I would offer a higher percentage of the star card value and expect the commons to be thrown in. If the cards are all commons, 10% of book isn't unrealistic.
The key is to determine a grade for the cards and to be able to convince the seller that you are grading them fairly.
Some people thought I was entirely too generous. Others thought I wasn't. But it was a place to start. Remember, you're not an appraiser, you're just making an offer to buy something. You should also have a fairly good idea of what you want to do with these cards after they're yours.
Good luck.

envoy98

I usually shot for the "50-60% of what I'll sell it for" guideline. If it was something hot that I knew I could move very quickly, I might pay more for it or try to steer them to trading for something on my table, that way it's less cash out of my pocket and it's something less I have to pack up and bring home.

If something sells very well on ebay I might do the same thing. But in many cases if the user is ebay savvy, they won't want to sell something to you for 60% of what they could get on ebay. So have your ebay rebuttal speeches ready. I have one for both situations "I can buy it cheaper on ebay, and the I could get more for it on ebay"

Once you've got those down, your back in a position to possibly make a deal. Remember, you're the one offering them cash in hand on the spot and you're the one who spent money to set up so you could pay them money. you deserve something for that time, effort and investment. Some people will balk, if they do, try to negotiate...sometimes you get great deals, sometimes you'll pass them up and sometimes someone will give you the bird and talk smack about you at the next table down. nature of the biz.

-Josh

montanafan

just make sure you and him have the same standards of mintiness... if not, you could be buying A LOT of bad cards.. just something to consider.

added: i find that, assuming condition is good, it is generally a good idea to buy at beckett prices or lower and set your start price at a few bucks under SMR value to encourage bidding which results in higher prices at the end. of course, this never works for me so take it with a grain of salt.

mayo

What great advice. I always offer to buy everything because I know how I felt when a dealer years ago would attempt to cherry pick. Many times I find that collectors have unrealistic price expectations or they have such great sentimental value towards their collection, they do not want to part unless they are paid top dollar.

If we can't come to an agreement price on the whole collection, then I will ask if they are interested in selling partial. I will pull out the best and pay a string percentage of Ebay since the material is an easy sell.

As for Ebay, some sellers are savy with the selling prices but do not want to deal with selling their material themselves - and there usually is a give on their part when a cash offer is made.

Thanks for the insight. It supports many of my thoughts. Now I will put this into action and accept the fact that I will not get every collection I seek to purchase.