Advice on selling collection

[Joered78]

Hey everyone,

I'm probably going to be stopping collecting cards (after 30 years off and on) and have been selling cards little by little on eBay but it can be such a beating. I have a ton more to sell and was just hoping to get some input on the best avenue. I don't know if people still buy "collections" or if I'm better off just trying to sell them individually?

I have mainly basketball, some football and just a little baseball. Plenty of Zions, Luka's, etc. but I just don't know the best way to move them. I realize if someone buys them as a lot I'll probably lose some money for the convenience factor but at this point I'm almost there. I just don't know where to go looking for people who want to buy collections or large lots. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Joseph

Edited to mention that if I were to sell everything individually I would say I probably have $8-10k of cards. (just an estimate - could be more or less)

[tmar214]

It matters what your goal is when liquidating. If maximizing what you are trying to make i'd go with ebay or ebay consignment companies for your 100$ + cards. COMC for your 5-100$ cards. Comc is way behind right now so only the 3 week service is worth using. Cards sell well on there and once they are up and you've priced them its no work. Bulk out all you're lower end stuff than that on here.

Selling your entire collection is an ok way to go but people are going to look to get a big discount so it is worth their time to go through it all and resell it. Maybe its worth it for you to lot it out all at once at a 30-50% discount just to be done. Thats likely about what you'd get if selling all at once.

[oldschooldude]

I'd be interested in anything Richard Hamilton you may have.

[Joered78]

Originally Posted by tmar214

It matters what your goal is when liquidating. If maximizing what you are trying to make i'd go with ebay or ebay consignment companies for your 100$ + cards. COMC for your 5-100$ cards. Comc is way behind right now so only the 3 week service is worth using. Cards sell well on there and once they are up and you've priced them its no work. Bulk out all you're lower end stuff than that on here.

Selling your entire collection is an ok way to go but people are going to look to get a big discount so it is worth their time to go through it all and resell it. Maybe its worth it for you to lot it out all at once at a 30-50% discount just to be done. Thats likely about what you'd get if selling all at once.

I appreciate the advice and will definitely give that some consideration. I've been selling stuff since January and am definitely getting burned out by it all.

[newcollector22]

Thats what most prople dont realise and you are finally coming around to. Everything you do has a time component and your time is valuable. If you want to maximise returns it will cost your personal hours. And if you value your time you will need to accept lower returns.
What about looking at it from another viewpoint. How much is your time worth? Then decide how much hours you want to put into this exercise. Then structure the work to fit those hours. If you want 10k then prepare to put in tonnes of hours. If you want to put in less hours then outsource the work (consignments, bulk sell) but prepare to take significantly less and meet the market.

[Joered78]

Originally Posted by newcollector22

Thats what most prople dont realise and you are finally coming around to. Everything you do has a time component and your time is valuable. If you want to maximise returns it will cost your personal hours. And if you value your time you will need to accept lower returns.
What about looking at it from another viewpoint. How much is your time worth? Then decide how much hours you want to put into this exercise. Then structure the work to fit those hours.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Yeah I think I just need to maybe compartmentalize everything and sort of list them in groups. I'll start working on at least inventorying everything and once I have that done I can work on pricing. It's all overwhelming if I just stop and look at it all. I have hundreds of cards that are in the few dollar to 10 dollar range and then tons of graded stuff etc. Again, I just need to break it down into smaller sections and start listing some of what I have.

I appreciate all of the advice/help guys!

Joseph

[Joered78]

I'll show you sort of what I have and maybe I can get some guidance on if I should sell in lots, the entire thing as a collection, per player or just individually. This is more of the newer more popular stuff but I've already sold more than 3/4's of what I had. My older cards aren't as "hot" right now but I have a ton more but also some of it is football and some older baseball. I'll probably start cataloging them as well. Thanks again for the help.

Ja Morant:
3x base Prizm RC BGS 9.5 True Gem (all 9.5's or higher)
1x Prizm RWB raw
2x Optic base RC
1x Optic Silver Wave - currently at BGS
4x Optic base RC - currently at BGS
1x Optic Blue Velocity - currently at BGS

Zion Williamson:
3x base Prizm RC BGS 9.5 True Gem (all 9.5's or higher)
6x Optic Silver Wave - currently at BGS
3x Prizm Silver Wave RC raw
4x Optic Base RC raw
3x Optic Base RC - currently at BGS
1x Prizm Red Cracked Ice RC raw
1x Prizm RWB RC raw
1x Optic Blue Velocity - currently at BGS
1x Hoops Arriving Now Gold - currently at BGS

Luka Doncic:
1x base Prizm RC PSA 10
1x Prizm RC Silver PSA 9
1x base Prizm RC BGS 9.5 True Gem (all 9.5's or higher)
1x base Optic RC PSA 10
2x base Optic RC - currently at BGS
1x Optic Shock RC BGS 9.5
1x Chronicles Obsidian Preview BGS 9.5 True Gem (all 9.5's or higher)
1x base Optic RC raw
3x Status Orange RC - currently at BGS

Trae Young:
6x base Prizm RC BGS 9.5
3x base Prizm RC BGS 9.5 True Gem (all 9.5's or higher)
6x base Prizm RC raw

Giannis Antetkounmpo:
2x 2013-14 Panini RC BGS 9.5
1x 2013-14 Panini RC BGS 9.5 True Gem (all 9.5's or higher)

DeAndre Ayton:
1x Prizm Silver RC PSA 10
2x Prizm Silver RC PSA 9
2x Prizm Silver RC raw
1x Prizm Silver RC Auto PSA 9
2x base Prizm RC raw
1x Red Cracked Ice RC raw
1x Prizm Silver RC Auto - currently at BGS

Pascal Siakam:
1x 16/17 Optic Holo RC - currently at BGS

[letsgocapitals]

That's not that many cards. Post up pics and prices here. Sell at 90% to 95% of sold listings price. Ebay takes 10% anyways. You might move some quickly.

[BreaultCards]

Most of that would sell on here at 90% of eBay within a day or two. What doesn’t drop to 85% and you’ll be out.

[Panthersfans]

Sell here. I’d rather do with BO members than eBay any day

[Joered78]

Originally Posted by letsgocapitals

That's not that many cards. Post up pics and prices here. Sell at 90% to 95% of sold listings price. Ebay takes 10% anyways. You might move some quickly.

Awesome, thanks. I'll try to do some comps and see what they look like. I appreciate it guys.

[Joered78]

Originally Posted by Panthersfans

Sell here. I’d rather do with BO members than eBay any day

100% the reason for this post. Completely fed up with messing with eBay and it's wearing me down, hah.

[Vinny1984]

Another question to ask yourself is do you absolutely need the money right now? With the cards you have, you might be sitting on a 5 year gold mine. It all depends on your view on the future of the market.

[Old Chesapeake]

Late to the game since I'm fairly new here.

After trying to sell on here for about a year I've come to the hard conclusion that this is the wrong place to sell if you're trying to get fair value for your cards. Most buyers here are either flippers, or retail shop owners. They are trying to buy cheap so they can make profit. Nothing wrong with that of course. Just know that if you ask for fair value, 99% will say "pass."

I am in the process of pulling all my posted cards now and preparing to put them on ebay. Best of luck.

[slyguy]

Originally Posted by newcollector22

Thats what most prople dont realise and you are finally coming around to. Everything you do has a time component and your time is valuable. If you want to maximise returns it will cost your personal hours. And if you value your time you will need to accept lower returns.
What about looking at it from another viewpoint. How much is your time worth? Then decide how much hours you want to put into this exercise. Then structure the work to fit those hours. If you want 10k then prepare to put in tonnes of hours. If you want to put in less hours then outsource the work (consignments, bulk sell) but prepare to take significantly less and meet the market.

Correct.

If you have any kind of decent job/income/biz and make fair money, just end the hassle and send the cards to a consign place like Probstein, ComC, DC Sports 87, or many many others. They have the scanners, listing software, exp to do it fast and well. You - anyone regular - won't.

You could sell the big cards yourself, but if your whole collection is only worth $10k or so, you don't really have those.

If you are hard up for money or out of work, then you have time and can try to sell one by one. GL

[Asian62150]

Originally Posted by Old Chesapeake

Late to the game since I'm fairly new here.

After trying to sell on here for about a year I've come to the hard conclusion that this is the wrong place to sell if you're trying to get fair value for your cards. Most buyers here are either flippers, or retail shop owners. They are trying to buy cheap so they can make profit. Nothing wrong with that of course. Just know that if you ask for fair value, 99% will say "pass."

I am in the process of pulling all my posted cards now and preparing to put them on ebay. Best of luck.

I've bought and sold a fair amount on here. Like it a lot better than eBay. Less hassle, less fees, and way less chance of scamming.

If you're selling something that goes for $100 on eBay, how much are you asking for it on here?

[MasonAsher]

Originally Posted by Old Chesapeake

Late to the game since I'm fairly new here.

After trying to sell on here for about a year I've come to the hard conclusion that this is the wrong place to sell if you're trying to get fair value for your cards. Most buyers here are either flippers, or retail shop owners. They are trying to buy cheap so they can make profit. Nothing wrong with that of course. Just know that if you ask for fair value, 99% will say "pass."

I am in the process of pulling all my posted cards now and preparing to put them on ebay. Best of luck.

What’s “fair value” to you? Last comp on eBay?

[Old Chesapeake]

Originally Posted by MasonAsher

What’s “fair value” to you? Last comp on eBay?

Fair value is as close as possible to average of comps on ebay, 130pt and beckett. If you suggest comps from elsewhere, I'm all ears but those comps seem pretty accurate.

Also, many buyers on here actually do preface their offers with claims like they "can't offer full value because they need to be able to resell" so there's that too. Again, I have nothing against it. It just means "seller beware."

[MasonAsher]

Originally Posted by Old Chesapeake

Fair value is as close as possible to average of comps on ebay, 130pt and beckett. If you suggest comps from elsewhere, I'm all ears but those comps seem pretty accurate.

Also, many buyers on here actually do preface their offers with claims like they "can't offer full value because they need to be able to resell" so there's that too. Again, I have nothing against it. It just means "seller beware."

Yes - eBay sold and 130point is the way to go.

Also remember that if you sell a $100 card on eBay you're only making $83-$84 on that deal. If you buy a $100 card on eBay you're paying $110+ for that card.

So it makes sense that people are looking to pay $70-$75 for a $100 card. The spread gets even tighter as you go down the list.

I'm not paying more than a buck or two for a card under $5 because if I sell a card for $5 that I buy for $2...I'm making like a buck on that sale total.

But, I understand where you are coming from as well.


I never preface my offers with "I need room for resale" I just offer what I feel comfortable and if it's a no then I move on. Most people understand and it's their right to say no.

[Old Chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Asian62150

I've bought and sold a fair amount on here. Like it a lot better than eBay. Less hassle, less fees, and way less chance of scamming.

If you're selling something that goes for $100 on eBay, how much are you asking for it on here?

Agree 100% and not saying there aren't fair deals to be had on here. Just few and far between.

It comes down to your goals. If you're just looking to move stuff, unload excess inventory or are hard-up for money then this is a great place for that. No arguments there.

BUT. If you're like me? I spent a lot of time and effort and money on these cards. Some I'm willing to let go cheaper than others. But for most, I am looking to get fair value. Sometimes there a good comps, sometimes not and have to go by Beckett or some such.

You guys are saying, well then go to ebay or consign and you are correct. And that is what I'm doing now.