Would you sell a nine to buy eights

Cardcounter2

I am working on a 71 set and have four nines. Two are very low pop. I am thinking about selling the nine's in order to buy more eights. Does anyone think this is a good idea or should I hang on to them and take a little longer to finsh the set. Seems like some people will pay anything for nine's right now.

MorrellMan

I'm not familiar enough with '71s to comment from a demand standpoint. I'll just throw out that downgrading my own sets for some cash has caused me some regret. On the other hand, if it gets you closer to your goal and the 9s aren't part of the scheme, by all means turn them in for 8s.


Hope I've helped.

aro13

If your goal is a complete set in 8 or better I would definately trade down.

5STAT

71's are tough....9's can bring great money.....but it's all about balance..

I sell off all my 10's to build solid 9 sets.....in sets from the 70's and 80's..

So it's the same thing. If you sell 4..9's for lest just say..$500....how many 8's can $500 buy?? Quite a bit!!!

I've had several tough 1 of 1's...yah they look nice sitting there....but the $$$$ also spends nice too!! lol

1420sports

Absolutely!
A PSA 8 can look as nice a PSA 9 or 10 for many issues. 1971 Topps is tough, but I have seen many bee-yootiful 8's out there.

sagard

If you are shooting for an 8.0, keep them to balance the tough 8s you are going to eventually run into.

Cardcounter2

5stat you are right a nine looks nice but the $$$ can go a long way. With more and more high grades coming out the selling price will be coming down in time soon. The pop. drives everthing. It's just hard to give up nice cards when only very few exist. It's kind of like saying I have it and you don't.

cmoking

If it was my collection, I'd definitely consider it. There's no shame in downgrading.

Griffins

I'd do it, but trade them (rather than sell) for a bunch of tough 8's if possible.

Cardcounter2

Why trade vs sell. Some people are spending large amounts on nines.

5STAT

pops are just that...NUMBERS...

I've had 1 of 1's that lasted 2-3 years....and then low and behold..WHAM.....pop of 6 or 7...

There are actually cards that I hold off on grading.....because they are so nice..I don't want to kill the pop report!! Everyime I grade them, I get constant 9's...and have dabbled a couple 10's in the mix. I have one number that I have graded 15 cards...12 - 9's..2- 10's and one 8.....problem is..I still have 40-50 of the same card..all from vending...all as nice...

If I grade them all....bam..the pop is killed for that card...if I grade 5 -10 a year...and trickle them...they get absorbed into the market....

How many guys do you think are doing this..with hundreds of different cards...from various years???

Of course...DSL...or 4 Sharp would send them ALL in....but that's another story!!

Griffins

<< <i>Why trade vs sell. Some people are spending large amounts on nines. >>



For some people money isn't an issue- tough cards are much harder to come by. The only thing that will pry cards you need out of them is to offer a card they need.

Agree with 5Stat- low pops for post '60 are just a matter of when the cards get submitted, with a few notable exceptions.

Stump

I agree with Anthony. If you can trade them out you may be able to get more bang for your buck. If you are going to spend the cash anyway you will be farther ahead.

DJJ

fiveniner

Send me a bunch of 8s for a couple 9s anytime especially for 60s and up.

jaxxr

Sell / trade is a fine way to get closer to your final goal, however.....

Keep at least one of your 9s, the empy feeling, or whatever might best describe the departure of a top card you have personally submitted, will probably not be worth all the 8 replacements. Even a single example of your best cards submitted will be very warming in the future. It also keeps the set average a very small bit above 8.0.

Bosox1976

I'd do it if they are commons. 9's of HOF guys would be a different story though.

RayBShotz

If any of the 9's are truly low pop, just make sure you feel like you're getting equal value in trade. Otherwise, I would wholeheartedly endorse the move.
RayB

Wabittwax

I would say to keep the 9's only if you are going to make a serious run at #1 on any set. If you are making the set for your enjoyment, then turn them into 8's to complete it.

On the few small 70's sets that I am making, I definately want to be #1 on all of them. So, whenever a PSA 10 hits ebay, I bid much more agressively since I know most of them are Pop 1's and if my competition gets them, I won't be able to catch up. I NEED those cards in my set so that people can't catch me. If I was just making a nice set for me to look at, then I would buy all the cheap 9's and not spend the money on the 10's.

ArchStanton

I have done that for my '76 set, and I have no regrets. I sold a low pop common for about $60. That paid for about a dozen 8s.

The few 1971 PSA 8s I own are some of the best looking cards in my collection.

RipublicaninMass

absolutely, prices have been going so crazy for my set in 8 I have thought about dumping 8's for 7's!

markj111

I had a 1/1 9 common in 1965. I hated to part with it, but somebody offered me a grand, so out it went. I must confess that I got over my pain rather quickly.

FB

I've had a couple of Ft. Washington shows where I graded out 40 - 50 cards and wound up with a pop 1/1 or a real low pop 9 that covered my entire raw purchase price AND grading for the evening. Well worth trading down if as Ray says - you get equal or better value.

Frank

ArnyVee

I would and have downgraded 9s to 8s for my '72 set to make it a straight 8 set. But, that's a personal preference.

Frank, by the way, might want to edit that third line in your sig

flatfoot816

I would sell the 9s--unless of a major star--and reinvest in 8s. If a major star...I would hold off for major $$--and you'll get it sooner or later

FavreFan1971

I collected the 1972 football issue for nearly three years. I had one PSA 10 1 of 1 that I sold to the Mint State for $385. That bought me the same card in 8 and 27 other cards for that set. I also traded my 9's to LU Champions for his 8's and some $$$ and was able to complete the set minus two cards.

Trading down is not a problem in my mind.

NickM

In '60s and '70s Topps, yes.

Another reason to consider trading rather than selling/buying is that many card collectors are in a position to offer more in trade - whether it is being strapped for cash, having a spouse who complains about large purchases, their "profit-taking" on a card they have little invested in, not wanting the IRS hassle, or having unneeded duplicates.

Nick

cravetopps

Sagard is absolutely correct. You will find some of the low pop 8s impossible to find and you will have to settle for 7s. You will end up paying more for some of the low pop 8s than buying 9s. So, keep the 9's to offset the 7s you're going to have to settle on eventually.

djspann

I think it all depends on your motivation for the set.

If you are competing to get higher in the set registry, and the competition is strong, then you need to keep the 9's.

If you are satisfied with great looking cards, and just want to fill out a great looking set, trade or sell the 9's to get 8's, or nice 7's or whatever you can find that keeps your interest.

You could, perhaps, keep a mixture, and just have some 9's for icing on the cake, or a 'wow' factor.

I don't know much about '71s, but in my experience, I'm not going to be #1 in anything, so I collect what makes me happy. I'd have a hard time trading/selling even a single "9", but if it provides me the means to complete a set that I would otherwise need to wait a long time to complete, I'd probably sell/trade the 9.


Doug

rbdjr1

<< <i>I am working on a 71 set and have four nines. Two are very low pop. I am thinking about selling the nine's in order to buy more eights. Does anyone think this is a good idea or should I hang on to them and take a little longer to finsh the set. Seems like some people will pay anything for nine's right now. >>



If it was another set, well, maybe ok, trading down may work for many. But the '71 set (i.e., baseball) is so tough that regardless of how many raw cards "out there", you may not see more 9s of the four cards in question.

Keep them.


rd

Cardcounter2

Thanks for all the great advice from everyone. I have decided to keep the nine's. Selling would help me finsh the set sooner but I have no money in the set so far. Last Jan. I started selling off toys I had as a child Tonka, John Deere etc. made about 3 grand in 6 weeks and jumped on the 71 set with both feet. I would have been farther along had I not been bidding against Craveking when he was doing the set.

NHLfightguy

I'm always a quality over quanty type. Nice decision......