Question for experienced sellers, auctioneers,etc.

[J.McMurry]

I was thinking this morning, what are the "cant miss" sets out there as far as resell potential? This is mainly for the dealers/auctioneer guys to draw apon their experience, but what set do you hate to see walk in the door because you know it wont sell very easily,and what set gets you excited because you know people will line up to bid/buy? Lets consider sets from late 1800's through 1970, all sports, graded/not graded.

To summarize,

What sets can you "sell all day",and what sets can you not get rid of easily?

[ctownboy]

Not to be a prick or anything but do you REALLY expect an honest answer to your question?

I say this because, in a bad economy, if a dealer or seller has one or two "sure fire" cards or sets that will "sell every time" then WHY would they want to share this info with you or anybody else? If they did this, then YOU would be looking on eBay or any other place you could think of to get these same cards and/or sets.

This means THEY would be giving YOU inside info which YOU could use to compete against THEM. Which I don't think many (or any) smart business person would do.

Just my opinion,

David

[Leon]

I agree with David somewhat. Trade secrets are what makes for profit in selling and trading cards. That being said...and I don't know if I fit the mark of "experienced" but have sold a few things and have been having fun in the auction business. It's really kind of a simple question. Whatever the hot cards are, are what are hot commodities. So....a few might be - really neat postcards with top tier HOF'ers and that aren't too common. Any of the T213-1 Coupon (sorry Ted...I still think they are different than T206...or please show me a paper stock T206 and I will change my point of view) series in half way decent shape.....T211's are really hot right now as well as some of the series of T210's....add in some of the PCL caramel cards...ie e99,e100,e221,e222.....and you start to get the idea. Also, major HOF'er T206's with rare backs and T206 (and other) weird printer scraps. All of those I just named (and there are some others too) are like having gold....If I have them they sell for good prices and quickly....hope this helps a little bit....best regards

[hcv123]

What is the purpose of your question?

[DaveW]

OK, I can agree with your point about not telling the "hot" sets for fear of driving
up the demand/prices. But what about the sets that don't sell well? Please mention
the sets that I collect so that nobody will want them anymore and I won't keep
getting outbid. I assume that the 1920's black and white sets and strip cards
aren't too popular. What else?

[dstudeba]

Originally Posted by Leon

....add in some of the PCL caramel cards...ie e99,e100,e221,e222.....

While I am biased I don't think you can "sell these all day". I had a probably 15 cards from each of the e99 and e100 issues at the National and I think I sold a total of 3 cards. These were to a dealer who needed to fill a client's wantlist. As for the e222 and e221 issues there are so few of these traded who knows what the demand is for them?

[Anthony S.]

Sets that "sell all day" today may well not sell all day tomorrow or next year. All it takes it takes is 2 or 3 aggressive buyers pursuing a set to skew the sales prices for that set for a short period of time. Once they have their sets, unless other enthusiastic buyers take their place, the prices are going to drop. It's a bit like noticing that a stock has climbed 30% in the past year. Do you really want to be the guy who buys at the top if the market?

I also agree with Dan that e99 and e100 sales prices aren't what they were a year or two ago.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by dstudeba

While I am biased I don't think you can "sell these all day". I had a probably 15 cards from each of the e99 and e100 issues at the National and I think I sold a total of 3 cards. These were to a dealer who needed to fill a client's wantlist. As for the e222 and e221 issues there are so few of these traded who knows what the demand is for them?

Of course you can't sell anything all day if the price or condition isn't right....but if I want to sell my e99's and e100's that I bought 7-8 yrs ago I can make multiples of what I paid...If I bought some 2 years ago I won't get what I paid. So, definitely it is about timing. As for the E221 and E222...same thing....I am quite sure the 2 E221's I have I can double (or close to double) my money on them....as for the E222's .....probably triple......but I have had them for several years. There is no way to answer the original question unless pricing is also called into play. I am just saying the demand is there (I will buy them if no one else) if the price is right...and I am not talking about giveaways and steals.....Here are the e99's and e100's in my collection with what I paid...

1910 E99 Bishop-blue Delmas vg+ 215.
1910 E99 Bishop-red Delmas gd -mk 130.
x1910 E99 Bishop-gold Delmas sgc50 107
x1910 E99 Bishop-blue Hitt sgc30 165
Gilliam Squires on back
1910 E99 Bishop-purple Melchoir vg 135
1911 E100 type 1 Powell /printers scrap pr 645
1911 E100 type 1 Tennent scrap pr 645
1911 E100- Red Cutshaw gd+ trimmed 285
horizontal >>
1911 E100/type 2 green Steen PSA 1 1250
x1911 E100 green Suter sgc40 300.
x1911 E100/type 2 Orange Suter sgc20 737.
x1911 E100 med.blue Pearce gd+ 60.>>
x1911 E100 Yellow Steen fr-corner chips 60.

[Bridwell]

I'd say T206's are a safe investment. The demand will always be there, and there are enough at reasonable prices that new collectors can enter the market. T206 Hall-of-Famers and rare backs have escalated in the last 5 years and I would say are likely to keep going up.

[J.McMurry]

ok,ok, Wow, there are obviously too many variables to this to get a clear answer, but I wasnt viewing this from an "insider investment secrets" viewpoint,but more from a collector's viewpoint. let me try again.

If a collector asked your opinion on what set he should attempt to put together,that would hold it's relative value over time, what set(s) would you recommend or warn against,based on your selling experience?

[Bosox Blair]

One fairly "cold" set is T202. They don't seem to get much respect, despite the unique design and condition-sensitive nature of the cards. I find a lot of these sell for under "book".

Now whether you interpret that as a signal to "buy" or "avoid" depends on your philosophy. Some would view this as an opportunity...

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by J.McMurry

ok,ok, Wow, there are obviously too many variables to this to get a clear answer, but I wasnt viewing this from an "insider investment secrets" viewpoint,but more from a collector's viewpoint. let me try again.

If a collector asked your opinion on what set he should attempt to put together,that would hold it's relative value over time, what set(s) would you recommend or warn against,based on your selling experience?

Put together what you like, as a collector. Mainstream HOFers are always marketable.

[dstudeba]

Wow Leon it looks like you overpaid for your printers scraps.

As for the e222s I would happy to help you realize your profit.