newb wants to Cherrypick a large hoard

unclebob

At heart, I'm a cherry picker and treasure hunter. I do okay with coins but want to expand into cards. A customer of mine mentioned he has a card collection of nearly 1 million cards. Some he showed me are 50's and 60's but the bulk are surely common fill. I know very little of card collecting, but I'm interested in buying some of her boxes and ripping thru them looking for treasure. What approach should I take and what should I be looking for (years, condition of boxes, packs... etc.)

I know it's a totally newb question so if there are any books or websites that can help with the terminology and collecting approaches for the newb card collector, any advice is appreciated.

LarkinCollector

A good place to start with terminology is here: PSA Grading Standards In general with cards, the older and more recognizable the name, the better.

If looking to rip boxes, I would start with something from the 'junk era' (roughly 1987-1993) as they're usually pretty cheap when you don't have to deal with shipping. 1989s are a good choice to chase after Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards or 1993 for Derek Jeter rookies.

JHS5120

I did this once and regret 90% of the effort I put in.. The most cost efficient way to handle bulk baseball cards is: separate out everything older than 1980 from the group. Sell 1950's and 1960's star cards separately. Sell the rest in lots seperated by year (one lot of 1958 Topps, one lot of 1959 Topps, etc.). For the cards from 1980-2015; if they are in order, great. Sell complete sets from 1980-1985 (if they exist and are already assembled). If the cards are in order, but no complete sets, pull the major rookie cards and A++++++ stars (Jeter, Griffey, etc). Don't waste your time on fringe Hall of Famers. Sell everything else as one lot - a million cards from 1980 to 2015 should bring in $200-500.

MULLINS5

Margins are way too small in trading cards, IMHO.

thebaseballcardkid

I wouldn't even waste your time with the "junk era" 1987 on up. Especially since its nearly 1 million cards. You state your a cherry picker and I agree with JHS5120 "he regrets 90% of the effort". Id cherry pick the 50s and 60s he showed you. And up to the 80s. Of those, go for the stars and names that you'd recognize. Your time is valuable. Especially with this amount of material. No sense combing thru 20 thousand cards looking for a 10 dollar card. Cherry pick. Get familiar with condition. And weeks or months later if you have time maybe take the major rookies and complete sets in the junk era if they're much cheaper than you see them selling for. Since he showed you them, I'm not sure why some are worried about shipping costs. He'll bring the rest to you or visit him on the weekend. Ask him to put some of the sets in order so that you can pull out what you're looking for.



But in reality, Im hard pressed to find anyone that has found success picking 'junk era' cards. Especially all the time and effort that you'd have to put in. Except for 3-5 major stars post 80s, remember that you may also have trouble selling them. It may take a long time. Theres a lot of junk out there to compete with in quality and price. Since your new to cards, focus on the major names and quality that stands out to you after a little education. And since you stated boxes and packs. Id put some focus on what he has in that area. Like you stated, cherry pick the million cards. Have fun.



So in a nutshell. Ask to see anything pre80. Educate yourself and cherry pick that. Then if you still enjoy the effort and time then decide if you want to tackle the post80s.

NJ80sBBC

Agree with most of what was said already. If you have fairly easy access to the collection and can take some pics of at least the unopened boxes and older cards (50s/60s), that should go a long way toward eliciting some valuable insight from the forum.

vintagefun

Pretty much agree...Prioritize the pre-80s for the more thorough investigation, with a focus on quantity, stars and overall condition, and if possible cherry pick from that group or make offer for that lot. But I'd also look at the rest, which is likely the lions share. With a focus on 80s if in year order. If number order, or complete sets, that's an added bonus. Assuming not, you need to grab random handfuls and get some idea as to years, and sports, and whether or not stars and RCs have already been picked through. Chances are, it's in your best interest to pass, with the caveat that it's a totally different discussion if chock full of multi-sport RCs or you see that 1K of the 1M are 86F BK, or something like that. Anytime I get a chance to view an 80s collection, I'm immediately looking for the tell tale 86F BK red, white and blue side view in 800ct. boxes, or the red tops if in 3-5000 ct boxes. I've yet to find that...and without it, I'd turn away most post-80s bulk lots, unless I had to take a lot to get at what I wanted. Nowhere near the scope, but I recently chose to agree to buy a binder of 80/90s stuff that I really didn't need or want, but the only way I was gonna get the 3 Mantles he had was to buy it all. We found a happy medium, where I paid a bit more and he didn't have to take anything home. I pulled a handful of cards from the binder, and gave the rest to my friends 10 year old.



Good Luck

unclebob

Thank you for the replies. It gives me alot to think about. I will keep you all updated.

BLUEJAYWAY

It would help also and serve you well to educate yourself to error/variety card types. !990 Topps Thomas no name on front,reverse negatives,inserts, etc. Also to vintage varieties and high number issues.