What should I sell? Lots of 1980's crap

larryallen73

I recently sold all of my PSA cards which were duplicates. I have really enjoyed thinning out my collection and receiving a few dollars to spend on other cards. Looking for other crap to get rid of. I have a lot of early 1980's sets; stickers, credit cards, Drakes, 7-11 discs, Dodger's LAPD, Topps traded sets, etc.... Was thinking they would be easy to get rid of as I am not that emotionally attached. Are there any sets from the early 80's that do well selling on Ebay either as a set or individually? Not rare stuff. I was thinking of getting my 82T Ripken graded. Anything else that sells well?

XanaduNow

Larry,

There's always a market for factory sets. Years ago that's all I would buy (even the crap) just to piece together company runs. I think the problem with selling factory sets on ebay (at least for me when I was buying them) was the S/H fees. I think many sellers that sell of their factory sets don't have an accurate idea of what it would cost to ship it and err on the side of over as opposed to under. Typically, you're going to see S/H charges for a set run between $8 - $14. That immediately kills most buyers no matter how low the opening bid is. I mean, if Steve Hart can ship an entire case of wax product to me for $12 I don't see how it could cost more than that to ship a '87 Topps factory set.

If you're planning on putting up a large number of sets for sale you might consider throwing out free S/H. I know it sounds like a foolish idea (and maybe it is ) but most people who are looking for a particular factory set are also looking for other factory sets. You raise your opening bids a little to ensure you make some money and then advertise the hell out of the fact that your S/H is free and you'll combine lots. Ideally, you would want someone to jump in and try to scoop up as many sets as you can. You might end up coughing $20 out of your pocket for the giant box to be shipped but I bet you would end up with higher realized prices on the sets than most.

Of course, if time is of no consequence to you than you could just put them up there with accurate S/H costs and price them to sell. I think the FREE S/H thing would work even better with the single cards and smaller lots. There's always someone out there looking for what you've got no matter how oddball it might be.

If they're duplicates and you're not that attached, anything that sells would do "well," right?

Good luck!

Arthur

dontippet

<< <i>If you're planning on putting up a large number of sets for sale you might consider throwing out free S/H. I know it sounds like a foolish idea (and maybe it is ) but most people who are looking for a particular factory set are also looking for other factory sets. You raise your opening bids a little to ensure you make some money and then advertise the hell out of the fact that your S/H is free and you'll combine lots. Ideally, you would want someone to jump in and try to scoop up as many sets as you can. You might end up coughing $20 out of your pocket for the giant box to be shipped but I bet you would end up with higher realized prices on the sets than most. >>



I couldn't agree with you more. I am notorios for looking for small items on ebay. The shipping charges are the deciding factor a lot of the time. I always love to see a seller who gives free shipping on all subsequent lots. I try to take advantage of that.

The other possible way to sell is to list the sets in big groups. That too will cut down on shipping charges. Just last night I received an auction I had won with a collection of 24 small individual items for $10 plus $20 shipping. Each of these items would have cost me from $6 to $10 apiece if purchased individually on ebay. Of course the seller didn't fare too well on this lot, so maybe this isn't the answer for the seller, but it is something that collectors look for if they are looking for multiple items.

Mefer

I have been trying to thin out my collection for the last couple of years and still have a lot of crap. My goal is to have my collection whittled down to:

--Any complete set issued before or after 1981 (I am going to keep a 1987 Topps set because I loved the SF Giants team that year and that season in particular)
-- Graded cards
-- Select raw vintage singles that are 1980 or older
-- A very few modern game used cards of players and issues I particularly like (i.e., I am one card short of completing the 2001 UD Hall of Famers bat card set; I need the Mantle)

The rest I have been slowly getting rid of. For the "junk" stuff, there really is not much of a market on eBay I have found that makes it worth my time given the price involved and the shipping. Nothing like lugging around 10 800 count boxes for shipping that you maybe net $3.00 a piece on. A couple of years ago I donated over 75,000 cards to my local Boys & Girls club and am getting ready to do the same again with some last remaining junk cards. I would much rather donate them, and see some use out of them, than sell them for 99 cents per lot on eBay. I would consider the donation route on the "junk" stuff. In fact, I am now more motivated to do some more donating!

Lothar52

Can ya write it off on your taxes??

Loth

larryallen73

Thanks for reminding me about the donation route. Back in the 90's I gave about 100,000 cards to a charity. They probably weren't so happy to receive them but it was worth a $3,500 or $4,000 write off! I believe the official IRS rule is no appraisal needed if under $5,000. I just did price guide before. Thanks for reminding me of this great win-win!

Mefer

I have written them off before. Of course, be honest and reasonable in your appraised value. A box of 800 commons from 1986 Topps should not be valued at $500.00 for example . I think when I donated the 75,000 cards I valued them at well less than a penny a piece.

Buccaneer

Earlier this summer, I sold about 10 factory sets from the late 80s on eBay. I believe I sold them in lots of (3) and charged about $12 shipping (which was low). The lots sold for $0.99 to $2.99 so in a sense, I couldn't even give that garbage away. Should've boxed them to Goodwill like I did with the unopened boxes I couldn't sell.