Could use some guidance for long time Ebay vets

[kailes2872]

I have a near set from 1970. It is missing 27 cards - 3.8% of the cards - but there are a couple of heavy hitters in the 27

It is missing Bench, Rose, Pilots team, Munson, the Ryan playoff card and the rest are commons.

By value, the missing cards represent 13.4% of the set.

It is a nice mid grade set. There are several very nice, well centered cards and there are a couple of stinkers. (the banks has a crease).

I had a 450 card lot from 70 and broke it out and sold about half of them, but the demand dried up. I would like to sell this as a near set lot. i.e. if by this condition, this would be an 800 dollar set when complete, then 86.4% is 691 dollars. So, I think that I could get $600-$650 for it and someone could quickly complete it and have it complete pretty cheaply. A dealer would probably want to be in the $350 to $400 range, but a set collector might see value and get to $600.


So here is the question -
Should I do this as a no reserve auction and hold my breath and hope that it doesn't end up selling for $150 because there are no views and no action? Should I put it up for $650 OBO and know that it could sit for a while waiting for the right buyer?

I would really like to move it. I don't want to give it away, however, I already have it complete, so there is no joy in holding onto it - just want to do the right price in the right format.

Another option would be for me to spend a hundred bucks to buy the 27 cards and sell it complete. I am not against that plan, but it doesn't seem very appealing if I am just going to turn right around and sell it - however, it might capture a lot larger market (and retail buyers versus wholesale) if it is sold as complete.

Thanks for any input.
Kevin

[savedfrommyspokes]

IMO, starting with the best offer option would be your best bet. Missing many of the key cards will likely cause you to still receive lower offers from collectors, but you are more likely to find the one person who does see this near set's value by offering it in the BO format. After X number of days, if you are not receiving many or strong enough offers, you can send the near set to auction. Ebay bucks are paid out on this Friday, so with the best offer option you may catch someone who can pay a good amount of what you are looking to get from this set from the ebay bucks they have earned.

[vintagetoppsguy]

You're probably going to get a few different answers to this - none are wrong - just different. If it were mine, the first thing I would do is to go throught the set and try to upgrade your other set if possible (if you haven't already). Then, I would buy the missing cards (and replace any trash cards) to complete the set, and then sell it as a complete set.

If you decide to complete it, let me know. I have a buddy that has many mid grade commons.

[Beatles Guy]

You're probably going to get a few different answers to this - none are wrong - just different. If it were mine, the first thing I would do is to go throught the set and try to upgrade your other set if possible (if you haven't already). Then, I would buy the missing cards (and replace any trash cards) to complete the set, and then sell it as a complete set.

If you decide to complete it, let me know. I have a buddy that has many mid grade commons.

I'm with David on this one.

[parkerj33]

Kevin, one other option, is to list it as-is, highlight the troubled and missing cards. Then set your initial bid at the 299 (or wherever you want) level. it will still be free as an auction listing. if it doesn't sell, then you have to make it more appealing by adding in the extra cards to complete it.

I would replace the missing cards with psa 5-6 graded examples so that when someone does buy the complete set they get some sort of confidence that some of the key cards are ok (ryan bench rose munson).

i think it will sell in the 500 range as-is.

[digdugdig]

Start at what you're hoping to get. If it doesn't sell, just re-list, again and again if need be.
Or drop the price a bit and re-list.
Depends on how patient you wanna be.
Doesn't always work but sometimes being a bit patient and "sticking to your guns" pans out.

[Econteachert205]

Kevin, I bought a higher grade near set that was almost the same exact story as yours, it was even missing the bench and about 15-20 others including some stars. I bought it on ebay about 9 months ago for 550 dollars and spent like another 150 to complete it. You already have a complete 70 set so I hope you already used some cards to upgrade. If it was me I would probably complete the set in the same condition, I think it might run you a bit less than you think. The near sets in my mind don't bring quite as good a value as complete sets. If you did break it up, I would sell the stars and high numbers separate then run the rest as one big lot. Good luck.

[mintacular]

I sold a complete EXMT set a few years ago and was disappointed with the sales price, something like $700 or less at auction. I had it as a BIN/BO for a few months but didn't get an offer so I auctioned it. I would open it up with a starting bid that you could live with....I wouldn't buy any more cards unless you could trade away cards to acquire some more of the stars. I think your $800 estimate if complete might be a little high considering it has fillers

[kailes2872]

Great information all - and exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

David - I sent you a note (got the 72's - thanks - and looking for a price on the commons that I am missing in this 70 set).

Patrick - thanks for the info. I only used $800 because I bought mine in auction format for $828 - however, I am quickly finding that I am the overpaying dead money at the table - in the poker game of baseball cards, I am the rake. My expectations have officially been reset - so now, it is just a matter of trying to get $500 as is or trying to complete it and getting a bigger audience by selling it as is. My challenge was trying to hunt it down card by card and dealing with card by card shipping, etc. - but if I can get the majority of the commons from David and then buy Bench, Rose, Munson, and the other two then, I might be able to get it complete quickly and get it listed by this time next week.


Thanks again, I think I have a plan formed and now it is just a matter of execution.