New Member Intro and question...

[Onehotchili]

Hey all, a quick new member intro... A couple of days ago, I dug back into my collection of ~6000 cards and am now trying to figure out what to do with them.

I am guessing like many here.... when I was 9 and first really got into collecting, I painstakingly put together my first set Topps 1980 through lots of bubblegum packs. I later figured out asking for a full set every Christmas was easier :). So from 1981-1986 I got full Topps sets that have never seen the light of day. Some of the top rookie cards from that era look NM/M if not better, but I don't have the training to really evaluate them.

While I did try and get some earlier cards from the 1970's, I think the best I did was a random assortment of over 100+ NM/M from 1975 that I randomly bought from the one and only card show I ever was able to get my dad to take me to. Beside those, I have a random assortment of other cards from the pre-1980's era that focused on my favorite stars and teams at the time.... Rice, Yaz, Brett, Palmer, Fisk etc.

BUT... this is where things get interesting. In 1982, I traded $30 worth of fireworks with a neighbor buddy of mine who had a paper grocery bag full of vintage cards some very random that I am trying to research. In this bag were cards like

- 1953 some Bowman Cards color and B/W
- 1955 Kaline
- 1955 Topps Double Header Cards with Williams, Banks among others
- 1957 Frank Robinson RC , Clemente, Snider, Koufax, Bunning RC
- 1958 Clemente
- 1959 Mays, Musial, Koufax, NL Hitting Kings etc. Baseball Thrills Mantle Hits for Crown, Mays Catch etc.
- 1960 Fleer Foxx
- 1960 Yastremski RC
- 1961 Fleer Baseball Greats Cobb
- 1966 Mays, Mantle, Palmer
- 1968 Seaver (4 of them), Carew, Ryan RC

After the trade I put many of these cards into sleeves and binders because I figured no matter what, they will eventually be worth more than the $30 worth of fireworks :) In looking at them, I am guessing most of the real old ones are Fair/Good and the more recent vintage cards might be Good/Very Good.... but again, I don't have an eye of a trained collector. Many cards might not be worth much at all because of the condition, I don't know.... but I do have a hunch that some might have more value than I think.

So if I were to sell my entire collection.... what would be the best approach to do so? I am putting together a spreadsheet of the standout cards, so at least I know what I have. Should I take them to a "local" shop which is 45mins away? What do you guys think? Anyhow, thanks in advance for any advice... and looking forward to learning more about some of the cards I have and some of the knowledge shared on this forum!

[chlankf]

Welcome. If you don't want to spend the time to do much research, you could put them for sale in the b/s/t section. You will get rid of them quickly and for a fair price. I'm sure there are members here that would cherish them.

Craig

[Arazi4442]

Another "welcome"!

If you're set on selling the collection, the B/S/T section here is absolutely an option, like mentioned above you should get a fair price for the lot and it's done quick and easy. Another option would be to consign the whole collection to an auction house. It will definitely take a little longer but I'd expect a little better return as well.

A good auction house will be able to advise which to get graded, which cards to leave raw, how to group lots, etc. It's a nice collection but not super high end so the AH choice should reflect that. Plenty of great options with AHs that advertise and post here.

Best of luck.

[x2drich2000]

Welcome, IMO selling generally comes down to 3 basic questions, 1) How much effort do you want to spend 2) how much return do you want 3) what is your time frame. From there your 3 options break down as follows:

Sell to a dealer (card shop) - quickest payment, little effort, least money
Send to an auction house - slowest payment, little effort, a bit more money
Sell individually yourself - quick payment, most effort, most money.

So pick 2 categories that mean the most to you and go that route.

One thing I will add, based on your specific listing and the condition, auction houses likely would not sell a grouping like this individually (except maybe a couple cards like the Ryan). They would likely package into one or maybe a few lots. Some auction houses might not take it at all. If you just wanted to get it over and done with, I would probably list it on the B/S/T (make sure put into right category) and sell as one or a few lots with some high quality pics to show the condition better.

[oldeboo]

You certainly came out on the right end of that trade. You have some pretty good cards there. Ultimately, it depends how much time you want to invest with selling them. Less time, less money. More time, more money. That's generally how it works. There are many options as others have mentioned. You'll make more breaking them into lots or individually yourself, but that's time. Of course many here would love to see them in the B/S/T, just sayin'. :D

[Jewish-collector]

I would send pictures and descriptions to auction houses to get their opinions. Once you decide on the auction house you will use, let them figure out the groupings/ways to sell it all for you to get the most money.

Best of luck.

[Onehotchili]

You certainly came out on the right end of that trade.

yeah, I think my buddy blew up the fireworks that weekend. :D Once I finish compiling my list of cards, I'll try and figure out which ones would make sense to break into lots and post them up here on the B/S/T forums. I'd love to participate in this community. I am not in any rush and am definitely enjoying learning/re-learning about the cards that I have. I'll probably end up keeping a handful for sentimental reasons. But for most of them, I would love to see them go to others.

For gauging the price range for the cards or sets, would you guys recommend going to eBay and looking at past "Sold" auctions for raw cards and the estimated grade as a starting point? Maybe focusing on the lower range given that many of these cards have been well loved?

[oldeboo]

For gauging the price range for the cards or sets, would you guys recommend going to eBay and looking at past "Sold" auctions for raw cards and the estimated grade as a starting point? Maybe focusing on the lower range given that many of these cards have been well loved?

That's your best option probably. Just do your best to match up the condition to other raw cards. Corners, centering, surface, edges are the big ones. Typically items sell for less on here too because of all of the Ebay and Paypal fees, so it's good to factor that in. On Ebay you can sort by low to high price of sold items and generally for commonly available cards you can pinpoint about where your card fits in. You seem to have a good feel for it. It's common for people to think that their $50 card is worth $1,800 and they are convinced. Certainly try not to undervalue them either though.

[toledo_mudhen]

Your local card shop will be the place that has the highest overhead and as such will probably offer something less than 50% of actual (based on recent sales) value.

Maybe you should get some "good" scans on a couple of the cards and see what happens on BST here.

for instance - what does the 75 Topps Brett RC look like on a scan?

[todeen]

I would separate the hall of famers and sell those individually on BST with price + OBO. Then group the other cards by year, player, or team. For instance, the Frank Robinson cards interest me, but I'm not really into the others cause it's just not what I collect. If you have a bunch of commons, consider selling those on NET54 auction, or ebay. You won't get a lot of money that way, but there are plenty of set collectors on this site that it might entice. Make sure to advertise ebay sales on this site. Since you graded your cards as good, and have mentioned they are well loved, I don't know if it's worth getting them graded. The return time for grading is long, and it's money coming out of your pocket. Maybe leave that burden up to someone else. There is one individual on this site whose rule of thumb is "cards will grade 2 grades less than what you imagine they should be."

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[Elayne1454]

I am in a similar boat with 1,600 cards from 1957 - 1962 but I have learnt a lot in a short amount of time. PSA grading seems to be the key to maximizing value, if you know which cards to get graded and you are not in a rush. They are very back logged, from what I read.
Can anyone suggest which auction house takes the smallest commissions?
Thanks!

[todeen]

Another issue you have with grading are the cards that are in screw down holders. For some reason, cards in screw down holders don't grade well. I'm sure another member could instruct you about why that is, as I never had to employ screw down holders with my introduction to the hobby 1991 Topps collection.

[x2drich2000]

Another issue you have with grading are the cards that are in screw down holders. For some reason, cards in screw down holders don't grade well. I'm sure another member could instruct you about why that is, as I never had to employ screw down holders with my introduction to the hobby 1991 Topps collection.

Tim, the issue with screwdowns is that is compresses the corners of a card, thus altering the stock. Basically, the card has some thickness and the screwdown, went tighten, tried to lay completely flat. The screwdown being harder forces the card to deform as screwdown is tightened. This is most likely to occur on screwdowns that don't have a recessed area as the card being in a recess allows the screwdown to be tightened without touching the card.

I am in a similar boat with 1,600 cards from 1957 - 1962 but I have learnt a lot in a short amount of time. PSA grading seems to be the key to maximizing value, if you know which cards to get graded and you are not in a rush. They are very back logged, from what I read.
Can anyone suggest which auction house takes the smallest commissions?
Thanks!

Each auction house is going to be different and the commission they charge will vary by the size/value of the consignment as well as the amount of effort they need to put into it. Many AH charge a 0% seller commission and make their money strictly from the buyer's premium. Depending on the value of the collection, you may even be able to negotiate part of the buyers premium as well. Without knowing the value of your collection or what is in it, I would probably reach out to Scott at (Brockelman Auctions (https://www.brockelmanauctions.com/)) as he has advertised 0% sellers commissions in the past and has a really low buyer's premium.

[Onehotchili]

All.... thank you for the advice and follow ups. I did contact one AH as I will be close to them when I go back East to visit. I might chat with them next week.

Having said that, I spent some time today really looking closer at the cards and I would say most of the older cards are GD or maybe VG at best. Many are worse than that. Probably not too surprising since they were kicking around in a paper bag :D. I am definitely not going to get any card professionally graded... out of principal just not worth the time and effort.

Anyhow, learning lots as I dig into the cards. Here are a few scans I took today of some of the cards people have shown interest in.

- 1957 F. Robinson
- 1957 Koufax
- 1966 Mantle
- 1966 Palmer
- 1968 Ryan
- 1976 Brett

Am I fairly accurate in that these are probably GD to VG at best? Could any be considered EX to VG? Am I over-grading?.... Just trying to get a handle on my estimates as I finish my cataloging. I am leaning towards putting them up on BST and trying to price them fairly. I am not bent on trying to make top $$$, but would just love to give back the community and hobby which brought me so much fun in my childhood. Again, thanks!