lately on social media/message boards, I see so many graded cards and pelican cases talk everywhere. It makes me wonder if in the future raw cards will be frowned upon by collectors as it seems everyone in the hobby likes psa graded cards! like many of you, growing up, graded cards werent a thing. you had raw cards and raw cards only! I miss that simplicity of collecting. I say that because back then, raw cards were it! nowadays too many people in the hobby are in it to flip and go! meaning tons of fake cards, altered cards, trimmed cards, etc, etc. so graded cards do safe guard these issues somewhat (I know not 100% but thats a whole different topic and a whole different thread!) I love raw cards but dont want to be stiffed with altered fake cards! I almost wish the hobby would go back to raw cards being cool (instead of graded cards being the go too) I know, I know collect what I like, but again. dont want to get stuck with fake cards! make raw cards great again!

Al, I deal in raw cards and they sell just fine. The percentage of collectors who care about slabs is a fraction of the total base. That said, I would not sell a grade-worthy card raw: no reason to leave money on the table.

I also noticed on eBay that sometimes I can buy a graded card for cheaper than what it costs to submit it for grading on my own! So in those instances, for resale value or ease of resale in the future, I now almost always buy the graded card.

That is a conundrum. I have a box of graded cards that fit that description. It is also why I shy away from submitting mainstream cards--no point in paying $15+ and shipping both ways to get something I can find for ten bucks and one-way delivery.

It’s all so confusing, but the needle is swinging back to raw cards!

I have never sent cards in for grading. I did it previously for a small handful of nicer coins - mainly to get confirmation on authenticity and variety for some silver dollars. I am ok with my cards being in top loaders or one touch holders. I do have some graded cards, and they were bought that way with none of them being high end. I have two 1958 Omaha Cardinals Bob Gibson team issued cards that I will probably get graded at some point (maybe when I decide that I am going to sell them).

I just recently switched back to raw and I must tell you, raw is awesome! I have rekindled my joy in raw cards. The only thing I think I will miss about graded cards is that if I ever decided ti leave the hobby and sell everything, with graded I could just put in a box and send them off to be sold by a consignment service vs with raw cards, being ripped off by some LCS offering to pay me crap for my cards. I feel that when it comes to resale, LCSs will pull your pants down to your ankles and go to town!

I have never understood this. Do people actually think businesses sell items for even remotely close to what they pay for them.:confused:

You can sell raw cards for their value too. 1) you can list and sell yourself, 2) you can send them to someone like Greg Morris and have them sold for you, 3) you can get them graded in trendy-slab-of-the-moment by the auction house upon consignment if that is more profitable. Just some of the options. Just as you buy raw cards at ~market value so too can they be sold as such, which is how you are able to buy them. You need not get engage as a receiver in disgusting acts to sell raw...

Ben,
This is based on my own experiences selling cards to the local LCS. I get it that they need to buy low to make a profit but most thst (of course not all) that I’ve dealt with are slimy shady people. Example, “of this box of 1954 topps, I’ll give you $50 for!” or “this 1956 topps Willie Mays is not in great condition, I’ll give you $20 for it” most take advantage of people so they can make a buck.

Greg,

I definitely wouldnt have the patience or time to list card by card for thousands of cards or deal with problem buyers, so eBay wouldn’t work for me particularly. With graded, no patience to wait a year to get my cards back! Plus most of my raw are 1950’s lower grade commons.

Greg morris might be a got fit when the time comes but i thought he only dies high end vintage? (Not sure my low end vintage fits his business model) and also don’t you have to inventory every card you send in to him. (Great if you only had a few cards but what if you are sending in thousands!)

Thanks guys! I appreciate you both.

If you're not willing to take the trouble and put in the work and pay the overhead (e.g. brick and mortar store, convention booth fees, advertising), you're not going to get top dollar. Only those who put in the effort and endure the costs get top dollar. So don't expect nearly top dollar unless you're willing to do likewise.

:rolleyes:

I mean, any way you sell them you will realistically need to inventory what they are, whether graded or raw, auction house or eBay. If you have a bunch of low grade commons, you can sell them in lots the same as they are usually bought. If you send graded to an auction house an inventory list will still be needed. Low grade 50's common cards are worth less than the cost of a slab, so graded would make no sense for thousands of low grade 50's commons. Selling those cards graded would be a massive loss of money, where raw you can get about what you put into them right back. Any sale requires a little bit of work, whether that's driving to an outdated LCS you feel rips you off, selling lots on eBay, consigning graded to an auction house or any other method.

I'm going to agree with Greg on this one.

Sadly, based on what you've described of your collection (raw, low-grade, postwar) if you want to sell fast with minimal effort, then you're likely to need to take a big haircut, because someone else is going to have to put forth all the effort to market the stuff and find multiple buyers.

On the other hand, if you want to maximize your value, then your best bet is likely to require retailing them yourself, or maybe working with a consignment shop that will take a decent cut, and could take a while, unless they're running auctions with end dates, in which case you're taking a bit of a gamble with what the market will bring that week for your precise pieces, and who's paying attention and looking to buy the stuff that you're selling.

Any way you slice it, there are going to be tradeoffs, and only you can decide which of those tradeoffs makes the most sense for you personally based on your situation and hopes and dreams.

Nothing quite like a double post.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting your exclamation point, but I guess I'm always confused when raw card acolytes get excited about others getting into raw cards.

I mean, if you were looking to sell today and you had a large collection of raw cards, then I would definitely understand your excitement.

But if you're still very much in buying mode, then having other people jump on the raw card bandwagon seems like it will drive up prices overall and add to the population of buyers you get to compete against when you're buying, all of which should make it harder for you to find raw cards at reasonable prices, and none of which seems like it would excite me if raw cards were my jam.

But maybe we all crave the validation that comes from having other people doing the same things that we're doing because it makes us feel better about our own choices?

I don't know if excited is the right word but I have always prefered ungraded cards over graded for personal collecting. But admittedly value has not been a driving factor for me in collecting.

Precisely! If you want a quick sale, you'll have to take a big haircut. That's the way it works.

What im trying to do/say with my collection is, what will be the easier, less painful way to liquidate my collection in the future when I am an old fart and too old to deal with eBay and too old to handwrite (or type) a inventory list of thousands of cards or too old to walk into a LCS to sell (can you imagine how a LCS will take advantage of a 80 or 90 year old trying to sell his or her collection) so for me graded is the easiest because I can just put it in a box (no inventory sheet needed) and send it to a consignment company like probstein) or if it’s graded as an old fart a LCS can’t say “this card is in horrible condition” when I can day , im it’s graded a 3, 4 or 5. So graded is easier but I love raw cards! So trying to figure out the best route to go with raw cards.

Keep 'em raw. That way their presence will comfort you on your death bed. That worked for Angelo Savelli.

:)

Not helpful!

Based on what you've shared about your collection, it sounds like you're stuck.

It's not economical to get them graded, at least not based on current values and costs to grade. And yet you don't want to have to deal with the process of cataloguing and marketing them yourself once you get too old for this [stuff].

Assuming that you're still a ways off from that day, I would probably vote for putting off any decision, and instead worrying about it when you get closer. There's really no easy solution today, and it's possible that something will change between now and then where a better solution will arise. Values for your items could spike or costs to grade could fall (either of which could make grading a better option), new selling channels could appear for raw cards, thermonuclear war could make it all moot, or the computers could stage an uprising and destroy all of humanity. Lots could happen that might change your calculus and approach.

So in the meantime, I'd just enjoy what you have, and reserve that problem for another day that is hopefully well into the future. And if you put it off forever until it's everlastingly too late, then hopefully your heirs will have the energy to manage it. And if not, then my guess is that you probably will have more important things to be worried about.

It really comes down to how much you want to spend, how many cards you want, and how easy they are to sell. Like the old saying goes, pick the two you want because you can't have all three.

Raw cards are way cheaper and you can easily have 3-5X of the same exact card for the price of a singe graded version. So you can get a very impressive collection for the price of a small stack of cards in plastic slabs. Could also enjoy a few cards you really like that are easy to sell. Heck you can even do a little of both.:D

Thank you both for some very good advice and thoughts on this. I appreciate you.

Yes, I am stuck but Ben, you have an excellent solution as mentioned, I can collect t my raw cards bit also maybe get a few graded cards of my favorite cards such as a 54 Hank Aaron or 55 Clemente or a 68 Seaver and I really like a 64 Pete Rose. Then I can have the best of both words. I can leave the 51-59 topps to my heirs one day to do whatever they want with it. If they put the box in the trash so be it but at least the nicer bigger cards will be slabbed for resale. I think this is the perfection solution for what I want to accomplish with my collection. Thank you!

The following approach worked for me in a similar situation.

At one point, I had over 10,000 comic books. It was really just a mountain of boxes. I derived no pleasure from having them all.

I made the decision that it was time to downsize. I started with a single box and began going through the comic books, one by one. With each book, I asked myself a rather simple question:

If I never see this book again, will I really care?

If the answer was yes, I held it off to the side.

If the answer was no, I put it one of two piles:

1. Sell individually
2. Sell as part of a lot

Fast forward three years, and roughly 85% of the books have sold. I made a little money and cleared out a whole lot of space.

The best part? I still have every single thing that I really like. The collection went from 10,000 plus books down to less than 300.

I realize this doesn't help you with the logistics of selling your cards. However, it may help you when starting to whittle down your collection.

Hey Eric,
Yes, this actually helps out tremendously so thank you for your thoughts on this.

It helps out because it gets me to start thinking that quality vs quantity might actually be a better approach. I wonder if there will be more jou and happiness in simplicity? Meaning having a smaller more awesome more focus collection versus a bunch of cards. Kind of like the old saying of would you rather have four quarters or one hundred pennies. I also read somewhere on here the following quote which might be the key secret to all of this. It read “Top to bottom, your collection will be way more impressive, easier to store and keep track of, and easier to sell when the time comes” thank you again. I appreciate you.

10,000 comic books is quite the collection! Fun to hear about your adventures in thinning the herd.

I know that Adam (exhibitman) has a rule that if he hasn’t looked at it in a year then it’s time to get rid of it.

My own personal rule is that if I forget that I have it, and when I stumble across it realize that I’m not really attached to it, then it’s probably time to find a new home for it.

Fun fact:

Comic books are often kept in “long boxes” - a standard sized storage solution for that hobby. When full, a long box weighs approximately 50 pounds. 10,000 comic books, when stored in typical bag/board holders, will fill approximately 40 long boxes.

So, I’ve sold a literal ton of comic books. That’s 2,000 pounds I’ll never have to lift or move…ever again.