Are there any Common buyers anymore?
easydoesit
Posts: 547
I have an opportunity to buy a huge collection of about 1.2 million cards. Of that amount about 100k are vintage and about 400 are prewar. There is absolutely tons of stuff through the 70 s and 80s and up to current. Great stars, great game used etc etc. BUT, of course, there is a huge amount of commons as well. 5000 ct boxes of 81 topps 82 topps 83-current topps. I mean with 1.2 mill you know there are lots of commons I dont have the room for. Does anyone buy them?
Chris
Chris
"I put my pants on just like you... One leg at a time. The differences is when I put them on, I make gold records."
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MY GOLD TYPE SET https://pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/complete-type-sets/gold-type-set-12-piece-circulation-strikes-1839-1933/publishedset/321940
Mark
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
Or, if you have a lot of time on your hands, you could list them on sportlots.com. The guys on there make a killing from set builders.
Lee
One man's junk is another man's treasure. I am certainly willing to pay for common cards I need, so some people are just throwing away items which they could get compensated for (as opposed to taking a 100% loss by tossing them) if they were willing to take some time to look through those piles of junk and help out fellow collectors whose true love of cards and collecting doesn't involve a quest for only mint PSA 10 cards.
I have spent more than a little time myself looking through my boxes and boxes of commons to help fill holes in sets or player collections for others--and even if the actual monetary return I get is really small or nothing--just the experience of helping someone out is usually reward in itself. The only thing I might lose is some time spent looking through the cards--and for me, looking through cards is something I enjoy doing anyway--so its a "no-lose" situation. Plus, with all the times I have done this, even my boxes of common cards are pretty well organized at this point--and each time I do a search for someone, I am getting them even more organized.
Sorry for my little rant--but I have seen posts about commons being "junk" and "worthless" a few times--and wanted to confirm that there are collectors who need them. Please consider this the next time you throw any away or start a bonfire.
<< <i>As a player collector of many common players, it saddens me when I see other posters talking about just throwing away commons as junk into landfills. The only way I can get the ones I need are when I find a seller/trader who has a multiple cards I need--or sites like sportlots or sims classic. I can't buy singles off eBay because the $2-$3 shipping on each card is ridiculous if I am buying one 20 cent card--so I can only get ones I need when I find someone willing to either trade with me, or buy from someone who has at least a half dozen or more cards I need and will combine shipping. The cards I need are for my raw collections, so I don't need PSA 9 or 10 quality--just cards with no major creases, OK centering, and overall nice eye appeal.
One man's junk is another man's treasure. I am certainly willing to pay for common cards I need, so some people are just throwing away items which they could get compensated for (as opposed to taking a 100% loss by tossing them) if they were willing to take some time to look through those piles of junk and help out fellow collectors whose true love of cards and collecting doesn't involve a quest for only mint PSA 10 cards.
I have spent more than a little time myself looking through my boxes and boxes of commons to help fill holes in sets or player collections for others--and even if the actual monetary return I get is really small or nothing--just the experience of helping someone out is usually reward in itself. The only thing I might lose is some time spent looking through the cards--and for me, looking through cards is something I enjoy doing anyway--so its a "no-lose" situation. Plus, with all the times I have done this, even my boxes of common cards are pretty well organized at this point--and each time I do a search for someone, I am getting them even more organized.
Sorry for my little rant--but I have seen posts about commons being "junk" and "worthless" a few times--and wanted to confirm that there are collectors who need them. Please consider this the next time you throw any away or start a bonfire.
The OP was wondering if there is a market for '80's commons, and by and large there is not. There are some guys, like yourself, who may have use for a few cards from that era, and that's great, but this alone shouldn't be enough to persuade somebody to buy 180 5,000 ct. boxes of these cards. Also, consider the time cost. Speaking for myself, I know I wouldn't be willing to dig through 1 million common cards in hopes of making a $15 sale, and I would suspect that many other collectors wouldn't be willing to either.
He no longer advertises and I think it's his daughter who now keeps the business running. How busy?
Don't know.
Chris
My intuition tells me you would be stuck with more crap than good - in terms of resale power? And you're talking to the King of Krap!
The 100K in vintage would have to be very strong. I was just wondering - what is the asking price?
Have you looked at the collection?
If you plunge? Good luck!
mike
If you can buy the lot cheap enough...keep the good stuff, sell off the rest.
Of course it all depends on what people want to sell. I had a guy last week that called and wanted 3 cents each for all his mid-80's through 1994 cards. He had 60K cards and wanted $1800. I can buy 900K cards for that price...
To each their own I guess..
<< <i>There is a small market for bulk commons..and YES it takes alot of time to dig through....but anyone looking to free up space..my offer still stands..$10 per 5000 ct box. As long as they are the same sport...
If you can buy the lot cheap enough...keep the good stuff, sell off the rest.
Of course it all depends on what people want to sell. I had a guy last week that called and wanted 3 cents each for all his mid-80's through 1994 cards. He had 60K cards and wanted $1800. I can buy 900K cards for that price...
To each their own I guess.. >>
5STAT - PM sent...
My comprehension of the inital post was that among the 1.2 million card collection there were included lots of modern commons as well vintage, prewar, stars and gameused. I certainly would not endorse someone buying just a million commons and nothing else.
I know my rant was not really addressing his main question, that is why I said I was sorry. But I wanted to throw out my thoughts regarding how some collectors think of/treat/dispose of commons, since I had seen those sentiments expressed in the past on this board--and since the topic of commons was being talked about in this thread, I decided to go ahead and speak my thoughts. Again, these thoughts are not meant to encourage someone to go out and buy hordes of commons--it was addressing those who already have them, those who continue to pick up quantities of commons cards as they rip wax boxes or cases of cards from the 1980's to the present, or in this case, a buyer who may get a lot of them included in a major purchase.
a hasty-generalization, but is almost always correct:
When somebody offers you a huge pile of collectibles at
a fixed price, go immediately into cherry-picking mode.
The thought of a million+ of something is exciting, until you
load it up, unload it, start to sort it, and try to sell it.
Many people with huge accumulations can be talked into
selling ONLY the good stuff at what seems like a "fair" price.
Paying for their garbage is NOT the way to profit from their
good stuff.
It really comes down to why you are buying the cards. If you are buying to flip them then the commons will be the hardest and most time consuming to get rid of. If you are buying the cards to collect and build sets or team sets then some of those commons may be worth their weight in gold. I guess it boils down to a collector vs dealer perspective.
Thanks
Mike
Pete Rose PSA Basic Set
Johnny Bench PSA Basic Set
I did not buy the collection. He did have about 150 tobacco cards and maybe another 70 Churchmans. The Churchmans were nice, the tobaccos were poor average at best, many with missing paper, burn marks, water damage etc.\
The large group of vintage was close to 5000 cards and not nearly the quanity or quality as I was told on the phone. There were some stars but no big Mantles or Mays, just guys like Berra, Ford, Aaron etc. The condition varied but in the several 100 I looked at I did not see a single one that grabbed me as gradeable.
He had lots of nice old hockey and football. The hockey was in great condition many grade worthy cards, but footbal was like the baseball.
He did have close to a million cards but mostly from 1980 and up, I just didnt see anyway for me to move the stuff especially when he revealed he was looking for close to 30k in price. I was thinking more in the lines of 5-8k without much thinking and maybe 8-12K if I looked through more boxes and took my time with numbers of cards. I didn't even offer because we were just too far apart.
I did offer to help him move some stuff so I may be back in touch with a few of you. Thanks again for all the great responses
<< <i>He did have close to a million cards but mostly from 1980 and up, >>
You, me and just about everyone else too.
<< <i>He did have close to a million cards but mostly from 1980 and up, I just didnt see anyway for me to move the stuff especially when he revealed he was looking for close to 30k in price. >>