Buying on Craigslist, selling on eBay

Mescalito345

I haven't sold any cards on eBay since 2009, but I'm thinking about selling a few cards again. As everyone knows, about 90% of Craigslist posts are for large lots of low-value cards. I've checked out the "Craigslist Idiots" website a few times, and it's pretty funny.

But it seems like once in a while there are some good bargains on Craigslist, if you're willing to put in some time looking for them. Has anyone had success with buying locally (Craigslist, thrift stores, garage sales, etc.), then picking out the good cards and selling them on eBay?

bobbyw8469

The one time I looked at cards off of Craigslist, the dude had his modern cards valued wayyyyyyy too high. His one vintage card, he neglected the fact that the card had a qualifier. It was a bad deal......

Toro

It's tough, the majority of the time, if they can post on Craigslist, they can post on eBay. Saying that, if they can't post on eBay, they'll ask for way too much.

storm888

Garage sales are good, sometimes.

CL, is usually not so good for cards, but you can buy lots
of other stuff cheap on CL and resell it. The further away
the listings are from big cities, the more likely you are to
find good stuff cheap.

You can burn up a lot of gas hunting for elusive bargains;
kinda fun tho. If the ads don't have phone numbers, I email
my number and chat 'em up before I drive toooooo far.

Thrift stores are good too, but they work best if you have
a "friend" inside. I offer cash if they call me when good stuff
comes in, but you gotta be careful not to make such offers
around the managers; most of 'em don't like resellers.

Factory outlets are great too, but most get pist if resellers
buy too much, or buy all the new arrivals. Gotta be subtle
or they will bamm you; best to partner with a chick who
can work the outlets with you.

SDavid

Have you found that garage sales advertised on CL are any better/worse than their newspaper counterpart (the idea being that if they're familiar with cl they might list their best stuff online)?

twiley

I bought a 1984 Topps sealed 6 box rack pack case off CL. I got it for cheap and it was the real deal. I got a bunch of PSA 10s out of that case including a psa 10 Mattingly, Rose, and Ryan. CL isn't bad as long as you know how to wade through all the scams...

Sean1125

I do extremely well on CL in the Phoenix area, I built up most of my client base from CL that visit me at shows, regardless of what people believe I have got some pretty good buys including a "storage unit" tub that I found 3 Maravich RC's in (poor-vg shape), most of the people that sell know what they have but some do not and occasionally good things do pop up.

Mescalito345

Back in 2009, I bought a lot of cards on eBay. But it seems like the problem with buying on eBay is that there are usually a lot of other buyers looking at the same item. At least if you buy locally, there is less competition. It's true that it would involve a lot of driving-around time.

moonlightgraham

I have done well purchasing collections on Craigslist over the years. My purchases inlcude a collection of 275 1933/34 Goudey card including 3 Gehrigs and1 Ruth, a vintage collection of partial Topps baseball sets from 1952 to 1966 and complete sets from 1967 to 1979, an extensive hockey collection from the 70's and 80's and a very large 1970's / 1980's baseball collection with multiple sets from all years. The key with purchasing from Craigslist is patience and perservance as these types of collections do not appear very frequently so you have to wait sometimes years between good collections. If you are interested in the vintage material then they appear less frequently, however, if you are interested in modern cards you will have more opportunities to find what you are seeking. If you invest the time to educate the seller on current market value then it usually works out for the best in terms of finding a price that is agreeable to both the seller and yourself. Hope that helps.

Mescalito345

There are two types of Craigslist posts that I try to avoid: those with large lots of 1985-1995 cards, and those which list a few valuable vintage cards. In the second category, the seller usually wants full-book price, so there's not much room for negotiation.

It seems like the best items to check out are large lots that have a wide variety of cards, including some cards from the 1960's and some key rookie cards (along with maybe 50000 worthless cards mixed in). For those types of collections, it's hard to estimate the total value, so there's a better chance of getting a good deal.

alnavman

If your in the Cleveland area I've got a bunch of early 80's baseball and football that you can get pretty cheap....need to stop over though and pick it up.....I've got 5000 count boxes for instance of 1980-84 football and baseball....give me a holler. rc's may be missing but there is a sh--load of minor stars and other stars from the timeframes in the boxes.......fleer, topps, donruss.....topps for the football....getting ready for a garage sale and plan to blow the cards out at the garage sale.....also have some of the other notoriously overproduced stuff available....you know the 88 topps, 89 topps, etc.....

al.

Mescalito345

alnavman: thanks for the offer, but I live in Las Vegas. Your collection does sound like the type of item that I'd check out, if it was a local Craigslist posting.

alnavman

wish there was a way to get the stuff out to vegas for ya......wouldn't mind spending a few days there myself!!!

Mescalito345

When I moved to Las Vegas in 1988, the local economy was in great shape, and it stayed that way for about 20 years. When the recession hit, gambling was the first thing that people gave up. Now we're #1 in foreclosures, #2 in unemployment, and over 80% of the houses are underwater.

Dialj

I have had pretty good luck, as well as poor luck, with CL. I picked up two entire 1991 Topps Desert Shield sets for less than the cost of one. Over all, though I can't complain.