Your Philosophy : Selling rare cards (10s) in a high end '71 PSA 9 set break
seebelow
Posts: 1,643 ✭✭✭
Hi guys,
This has been bugging me for a couple weeks. But didn't want to bring it up.
As i write this on Monday evening, the auction has probably come to a close. So I wanted your opinions for a future break and start a conversation to help others for the future. And share my experience. I consigned a 1971 PSA 9 set break thru PWCC with about 12 PSA 10s in it. This has been over the last 2 weeks. Now it has come to an end so we will see.
The money value of the twelve 10s is a single percentage of the total of the 9s. So not a huge deal but we all had differing opinions on how to best sell the 10s. I spoke to several large (and small) AH's and finally Brent. Had the total gamut of opinions by everyone...
A little history.....over the years a PSA 10 would average about $1200-1500 each. Haven't really bought one recently because they are rarer and perhaps less are being graded as a 10.
I know of 2 1971 vending boxes being broken !!!!! recently and the cards submitted. Not quite sure of the results. And have only seen one new 71 vending box come on the market recently and no wax boxes. I actually sold one vending box which he immediately broke...wow...i was impressed
1. Just flood the market with all of the 10s at once. So not maximizing the total value, possibly. Some of those 10s are at 200 bucks or very low.
2. Put 6 for auction now and 6 in the next auction.
3. Sell a few here and a few there over a year thru their AH.
4. Just sell them individually over ebay....i did list two over a few months and only got a couple inquiries. With nothing serious.
5. Would you break a '71 vending or wax box....wow....much respect!!!!
I will share this with everyone here.....Brent has a feature where u follow each individuals auction....and with just a few hrs left the committed bids have realized only 30-40% of my total expenditure. A big UGH. Although I know a lot of bids, snipes come in at the very end. But like Ive said on the other board over the last couple weeks, I really haven't put in a $500 snipe for a card that was at 60 bucks right before close.
This also brings up a great point....First....I will def NOT be bidding on my own auction.....but being a seller, I hate to see a VCP $1000 card sitting at 2-300 bucks and maybe go for 5-600...There are so many that will sell for low teens and even single dollars that it brings up another great topic which ill start another thread.....we shall see.
This has been bugging me for a couple weeks. But didn't want to bring it up.
As i write this on Monday evening, the auction has probably come to a close. So I wanted your opinions for a future break and start a conversation to help others for the future. And share my experience. I consigned a 1971 PSA 9 set break thru PWCC with about 12 PSA 10s in it. This has been over the last 2 weeks. Now it has come to an end so we will see.
The money value of the twelve 10s is a single percentage of the total of the 9s. So not a huge deal but we all had differing opinions on how to best sell the 10s. I spoke to several large (and small) AH's and finally Brent. Had the total gamut of opinions by everyone...
A little history.....over the years a PSA 10 would average about $1200-1500 each. Haven't really bought one recently because they are rarer and perhaps less are being graded as a 10.
I know of 2 1971 vending boxes being broken !!!!! recently and the cards submitted. Not quite sure of the results. And have only seen one new 71 vending box come on the market recently and no wax boxes. I actually sold one vending box which he immediately broke...wow...i was impressed
1. Just flood the market with all of the 10s at once. So not maximizing the total value, possibly. Some of those 10s are at 200 bucks or very low.
2. Put 6 for auction now and 6 in the next auction.
3. Sell a few here and a few there over a year thru their AH.
4. Just sell them individually over ebay....i did list two over a few months and only got a couple inquiries. With nothing serious.
5. Would you break a '71 vending or wax box....wow....much respect!!!!
I will share this with everyone here.....Brent has a feature where u follow each individuals auction....and with just a few hrs left the committed bids have realized only 30-40% of my total expenditure. A big UGH. Although I know a lot of bids, snipes come in at the very end. But like Ive said on the other board over the last couple weeks, I really haven't put in a $500 snipe for a card that was at 60 bucks right before close.
This also brings up a great point....First....I will def NOT be bidding on my own auction.....but being a seller, I hate to see a VCP $1000 card sitting at 2-300 bucks and maybe go for 5-600...There are so many that will sell for low teens and even single dollars that it brings up another great topic which ill start another thread.....we shall see.
Interested in higher grade vintage cards. Aren't we all. 
0
Comments
There's 4 hours to go, be patient.
this ones over but do have great things to say about brent....its set up very customer friendly....its been fun following it the last couple weeks.
but appreciate the input.
<< <i>This thread is a little premature don't you think?
There's 4 hours to go, be patient. >>
Which kinda makes it spam.
..those who are bidding at this level set already know and aren't entering with 2 hrs left..or even reading on monday evening with nfl and trump on
Edited to add: You edited your tantrum.
give brent props...he does make it fun...as much as u can have....so we all have nfl, trump and ninja warrior finals on here
like watching a live rip...share the fun
and thanks guys...u all have been great with the advice and support over on the other thread this past couple of weeks
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
1) If you're trying to maximize PER CARD prices on low pop commons, you should sell them yourself. List them BIN with best offer and see what happens. Just know it will probably take a long time - like maybe years.
2) I would say on this set specifically, there are two major issues that actually hurt prices in my opinion. First, the set itself is 752 cards - that is ENORMOUS, there just aren't that many people who will devote themselves seriously to a pursuit like that. Second, the rarity of higher grade commons is a KILLER, mainly again because there's so many of them required.
3) Looking at the registry, there are literally only 2 sets that are significantly greater than an 8 (and some change) average. There just aren't enough people out there doing this set in a grade above 8 for the reasons I already stated, and who in their right mind would really start this beast now from scratch at that grade level?
4) You're on the heels of the Heritage set breaks, how did that pricing go on similar stuff in those?
5) Speaking of set break..."set break" isn't really a true description here since all the cards from the set aren't being sold. If you want top dollar on "set breaks", I think the whole set needs to be there. It encourages multiple card bidding, "re-allocation" of funds to various cards, all of that. On the sets I collect, I ALWAYS bid higher when I have a chance to win multiple cards than I do when I'm only after 1 or 2 at a time.
End of the day, 1971 isn't collected broadly enough to ensure bidding wars on commons not to mention there's so many of them, it doesn't really attract new set builders.
My two cents anyway.
PS - If you happen to have a high grade 1971 MIKE COMPTON, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!? I'm a buyer. How's that for some Spam?
you're correct and i agree with you on a lot....
first, i never could find that compton. its raw on ebay and a 7.5 psa...my friend is putting the 71 set together, ill see if he's willing to part with it...are you looking for raw, an 8 or 9?
2. yeah it was bad timing...all of the sudden there where 2 or 3 sets that were recently broken. i know of a couple guys putting the set in 8s and 9s...the 9 guy only needed around 30 but threw in the towel and sold it off recently...i only had one card that could help him...
3. i started this set maybe 6 or 7 yrs ago...put a third of it within the first two yrs and most of the major stars.
4. but ur right the size of the set is crazy and now with no one ripping except those vending just not seeing new product.
5. and when i was a major collector so where a few other guys..meaning bidding wars...got tired of spending 500 to sometimes 1000 bucks on commons....it was weird when i went to stars being able to buy say a reggie or seaver rookie for the same amount of money as some commons.
6. most suggested and i agree breaking the set into 2 or 3 sections...releasing almost 800 cards at once is too much of a flood.
7. i don't have the patience to sell off the commons individually over the years...which I'm paying for but thats fine.
8. since I'm following heritage i think they got their fill used up their funds so resulting in lower prices for me...maybe
9. and thats how i was bidding also...higher when there were multiple..although on the other hand there was a limit to my funds for a set break...even if i bought 20 cards for 10-15000 there were always more low POPs that i wanted and missed out on....1-3 POPs meaning id prob never see them again.
10. i know certain guys that we have certain cards that the other has and no one else.
11. i agree also that it is becoming more difficult to build the higher grade vintage sets..time and money wise.
so thats my 2 cents and what I'm thinking....and it is good to move and reallocate to other areas of collectibles...
it was such a monster set that it almost became a burden.
..ill try to locate that compton for you....
thanks again for the reply bounce and the wishes craig44
<< <i>first, i never could find that compton. its raw on ebay and a 7.5 psa...my friend is putting the 71 set together, ill see if he's willing to part with it...are you looking for raw, an 8 or 9? >>
preferably 9. I'm good friends with one of his sons, his son probably has a few hundred of them raw (if not more), but most are what you'd expect.
been looking for one of the high grades to give him as a gift, i was the underbidder on the Heritage one which was a bummer.
For ex; If you had so 30 '71 PSA 9's commons, mid-pop, I'll take a serious run at them. Or you can sell them one by one to 30 buyers, hope to get paid, ship to 30 address, track 30 packages. If you have unlimited time, do that.
As I stated before and got crucified, I no longer look at BIN's. I don't have the kind of time to find the needle in the haystack that is correctly priced. Most BIN's I saw were trollers looking for bidiots.
Yes, use PWCC, he has the most eyeballs, and those eyeballs have money.
Collecting Unopened from '72-'83; mostly BBCE certified boxes/cases/racks.
Prefer to buy in bulk.
sdub.....i forgot...that was another option that an AH mentioned...i was hesitant.....yes, thats how i started some psa sets but the prob with this set is that I'm not sure someone would want to buy an extra 5 cards for and extra 5-900 bucks then having to re sell them..its tricky....i was ready to bundle them but didn't want to bundle the entire set...it def has its advantages...like selling those difficult hard to get rid of cards...im not sure I've seen brent do that...tho I've never looked in his auctions for bundles.
CONCLUSION......ill be open and frank....started this about 7 yrs ago, put 1/3 of it together within 2 yrs, then weekly to monthly purchases until about 2 yrs ago where it became sporadic...although I've found some notes where i purchased some 9s this past spring/summer. a bundle, single and set breaks primarily thru ebay, pwcc and everyone u could think of on ebay, then stars thru AHs and some individual deals for the stars and the 10's.
...even distribution of POP 1s,2s,3s to 15s etc and stars, rooks etc. So basically had the majority for 4-7 yrs.
Looks like i ended up losing about 25-30% of what I put into it...wow....maybe into the 30s after auction fees etc.....my gut says 25% loss in round numbers...ugh...thats a solid five figures...i def was prepared for a loss...i may be off a bit and have to look at the individual numbers....glancing, i saw some very low POPS go for crazy low numbers and 10s and a little low on the stars....I think it had good exposure, a lot of advertising etc......It is a hit but its fine...maybe the timing was off and didn't have those 3 or 4 big set collectors competing against each other at this particular time. The stock market, a full moon etc... And granted this is a higher end break. A higher end set that not a lot of people are collecting....Not very liquid.... and those '71 9's aren't cheap....well, weren't cheap....ha...they are now....
Those are the hard numbers without going into the joy of the hunt, the appreciation of the cards, meeting and making friends, was a beautiful set to look at etc.
oh, maybe factor in that when i bid i really go all out and probably overbid most of the time. So when I say it a set cost me X, your cost may actually be 5-10% cheaper. At least.
This is just one sample size but am sharing this with you guys since most everyone we know are putting together sets. Thanks all for the support. Moving on.
I just think this set is too thin on serious collectors to be consistent at all
It's why I mainly do 50s sets, there is never a shortage of bidders on those and the set sizes are manageable
Only thing I'm working that doesn't conform to that is 1975s, but I'm doing that one in 8s. It's still "affordable" in 8s.
Hope it winds up better than you thought
If you were collecting for enjoyment, let's break it down. Some people like to go out for a nice dinner once per MONTH and spend $150.00. Do that for a year and they spent $1,800.00. Do that for 7 years and it cost them $12,600.00.
You have had the enjoyment of this set for 7 years. You stated you may have lost $10,000.00 or so.
Do you think you got as much enjoyment out of this set as the person who went out to eat ONCE per MONTH? If you are like the average collector on these boards, I'm going to say MORE!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
There doesn't SEEM to be enough people out there with the same goal, so when you gave it up, you reduced demand (or just the demand at a high price) enough so that some of the cards are not reaching as high a price.
I looked at some completed auctions and am guessing that your (?) cards went for between $400.00=$1,200.00 with a high of $2,000.00. I must say there were some extremely low prices paid for 1971 PSA 10's!!!!!
It's obvious that most of these players are not HOFers or rookies, so you lose bidders here. I think what has happened is that other set builders have come to the same conclusion you have. It's simply too hard (impossible?) and expensive to build a PSA 10 set.
Sorry to see that you haven't been able to sell your cards for as much as they "should" have gone for.
Unless you really need the money, I would simply sell them myself on ebay with a minimum bid. If they don't sell, hold on to them. If you have decided to get rid of them no matter what, you are going to lose money on them with such a low demand.
Beautiful cards!
From the prices realized and odds on getting 10's, much less 10's of superstar players or rookies, I would NEVER break any unopened 1971 product. It sure would be fun though! What would a Clemente or Ryan 10 go for?!?!?!?!?!?!?
it woulda went higher, however i was being nice and did not bid on her as another board member was interested (who did not win her, btw
anyways, as w/ many set breaks, if you are looking at it as you've got to break even or profit from every card, you'll simply will lose everytime.
i have found that it's usually 10 cards that do extremely well and help make the overall break a win.
again, have not perused the entire thread, but hope you slept well last night.
edit: by the way, did you not notice that your 71 ryan 9 was originally posted w/ a psa 8? i text to confirm which it was and the original listing was ended and the correct one done.
so you could have possibly taken a HUGE hit as it was listed for 3-4 days w/o anyone noticing. or at least any one that wasnt trying to make off like a bandit.
<< <i>have not read the entire thread, but looks like you did decently off the 71 ryan 9. >>
If the OP bought it last year, he made ~$1000 profit. If he bought it before 2014, he doubled or tripled his money, as all other sales of this card are $3-4 k.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
i knew this one would do well as it's one of the better centered 9's out there!