Thinking about going to the National.

[avalanche2006]

Since I live in Colorado, the vintage market is really tough.

I would like to get the most I can for my entire collection for a down payment on a house.

I have talked to a couple of people who have sold their cards to the dealers, since they need inventory.

Any thoughts?

[savedfrommyspokes]

You many want to add some more details about your collection....

If you need "quick" cash, there are many dealers who would be interested in a vintage collection buyout. Depending on the size of your collection, they may travel to you.

However, if you are looking to liquidate all or parts of your collection and your need for the funds are not immediate, there are many reputable auction houses to consign to. Depending on what you are consigning, advances are available also. IMO, you will maximize your ROI by going through an AH versus selling to a dealer. If you do consign, be sure to negotiate on the consignment rate, in some cases it may be nothing(depending on what you consign). Again, you do not need to leave CO to consign to an AH.


Finally try the BST here on this site.

[avalanche2006]

ok thanks for the input.
The main things I will have to sell are complete sets of 1959 and 1960 topps baseball in nrmt condition. And many high grade vintage commons.

[swarmee]

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=240667&highlight=caprice

[avalanche2006]

Rephrase the question.
Is there a good chance of selling nice vintage cards to someone for a fair price at the national?

[swarmee]

You need to define "fair." Is it 20% of the raw value of an ungraded collection, or 40%, or 60%, or 80%? There are vendors here on the board (like Sean Bassik's Invest In Baseball) or JustCollect that will make you an offer on your entire collection.
If your cards are sorted and in investor grade, you should have no problem selling them. But your version of fair and a dealer's version of fair may not be the same. If you want to make the most out of your collection, you'll have to put some money down to grade your stars. Why sell your Mantles raw for $200 each when they could be worth thousands if they pull NM-MT PSA 8s?
Taking it to the National and shopping the whole collection (or just parts to each dealer) sounds like a great idea, but you need to be realistic with eBay pricing, not book value. If you're not willing to take the time parting out your collection, that's what the dealers you'd be selling to would have to do, so you'd have to be willing to let them have their profit margin.
So do your research. Call some of them before the National to get a feel for what they'd offer in person for a collection like yours.
The more work you put into it, the more you'll get for your collection. The shortcut is to sell it for much less than it's worth to get rid of it.

[avalanche2006]

Thanks John.
I appreciate your input. I'm in no hurry to sell.