Have to sell my 1955 Bowman Football Set

alohaet

Because of medical bills I am forced to sell my 1955 Bowman Football Set. I feel this is a better way to go than carrying the burden of these bills over a number of years. My question is, should I consign this set to Superior's up coming June auction? I have never listed anything with an auction house before. I talked to Chris Porter at Superior and liked what he told me concerning the fees I would have to pay if I list with them. He feels the set should go over SMR because of the number of PSA 9's (10 are 1/1) I have in the set. I am missing 3 commons in the set and he feels that would not be a problem. I have delt with Chris before while I was building my set and bought several cards from him. The set break down is: 16 PSA 9's, 136 PSA 8's, 1 SGC 92, 3 PSA 7's and 1 PSA 6. You can view the set on the registry-ET's 1955 Bowman Football. Any info Pro or Con would be appreciated. Because of the on going medical condition of the person in my family it would not be easy for me to list these on ebay and deal with the numerous transactions that would be involved. You all have given good advise in the past. Thanks.

Ed

pinhigh

Sorry to hear that alohaet. I'm sure that was a tough decision for you and I'm not sure that I could have made that decision. Good luck with whatever you do.

zardoz51

Sorry to hear of this misfortune, and my best wishes to all comcerned.


You have a quality item that many auction houses would be happy to run. Grind them on the seller's commission, and if you need money now, get an interest free advance. Superior is a excellent business to deal with and I would reccommend them.

Paul

alohaet

Thanks pinhigh. Well when it comes to my only sister the decision is not that difficult. I lost my older sister to lung cancer and breast cancer and my younger sister is having the same problems. They just won't give up those cigarettes. She has now given them up, but the damage is done. I will not trivalize the smoking habit as I know from my two sisters that it is not easy to quit. Fortunately my two brothers and I never started. Instead we have diabetes. I have been putting this set together for about 6 years and to let it go was a last resort. I like being number 1 on the registry.

Ed

alohaet

Zardoz51, Chris Porter quoted me a 5% commission rate and even will pay for the shipping charges. He said they can adjust the commission for items they feel are high quality. Thanks for the recommendation. I will make my decision in a couple of days.

Ed

thegemmintman

Alohaet - I'm sorry to hear about your family troubles, and I hope things turn out well.

I think Superior would be my first choice for auctioning off your set. There are a couple of potential pitfalls though that you should consider.

First, how quickly do you need the money? Superior's next auction is June 13th. Consignors often have to wait a few weeks following the auction to receive payment. So you shouldn't expect payment until mid July. If that's no problem, well then fine.

Secondly, are you selling the whole set as one lot. Better make sure with Chris that the opening bid is reasonable or else no one may bid. It's an unlikely scenario but worth asking about. I'm sure you don't want your cards back at the end of June with no money for your effort.

Finally, have you considered using an Ebay seller or sellers to sell the set piece meal? You "may" get more money this way and sooner to boot.

alohaet

Gemmint, You have brought up some good points. I will be talking to Chis again will bring up the point you made. The time frame for Superiors auction is no problem. As far as selling piece meal on ebay I don't think I want to go that route. The reason being selling a 157 cards is a lot of work and is very time comsuming as you know. Like I said Chris is charging a flat 5% of the final price realized. Yes I will have to be careful that the set sells at the level I feel is fair. He said he a few people in mind that would be very interested in this set. Could be only the salesman in him talking, we will see. A few people have stated breaking up the set to sell and feel I will make more money that way. I have sold several cards on ebay that were duplicates of the 55 Bowman Set and it was hit or miss. A few went well below guide and few at guide. So after paying all the costs for listing and selling fees to ebay I don't know if I would be any better off than with the auction fees. If the set sold for $6000, the fee to Superior would be a flat $300. SMR is $5831.00 for this set. I really appreciate your concern and for the great infomation here.

Ed

Vargha

Ed -- Also remember that the buyer's fee is 15%. On a final price of $6,000 paid, only $5,217 of it would have been the hammer price. Your 5% fee would be $269, netting you $4,948. Why not try to sell it once or twice on eBay as a set for a $5,000 reserve and a $5,500 BIN? I sold three complete sets on eBay (give or take a couple of cards) for more than I would have gotten backing out the buyer's and seller's fees. These sets went for from between $8,000 and $18,000 apiece. If priced attractively, you can move sets like that on eBay. If it doesn't sell, then list it with Superior.


(Typo . . . )

alohaet

Thanks David. Like I said great info given here.

mikeschmidt

I would try once on Ebay, and if that does not work out, Mastro. It seems like there are a lot more high $$$ buyers who follow the Mastro auctions than the Superior auctions, but I don't think Mastro would give you quite as nice a commission rate. It would be your decision as to a higher commission rate vs. a higher expected return. Very hard to quantify objectively!

alohaet

Thanks for the info MikeSchmidt. Everyone has been giving me great guidence on this issue. I also have been contacted by 3 individuals who want me to sell to them instead of going the auction route. I have some serious thinking to do. Thanks again everyone.

Ed