Sell entire set or individually? (Possibly OT)

[Archive]

Posted By: Dave Yoken

Hi Folks,

I'm sorry if this is a little OT because it is concerning a 57 Topps set, but the fundamental question is relevant to card selling, so excuse me in advance!

Quick question: I have a very nice, high-grade 1957 Topps master set that I've put together over the past year, but I am forced to sell it for financial reasons. I am wondering if I could get more money for the set if I sell each card individually (on eBay, for example) or as one piece, and if I sell it as one piece, what would be the best auction house to use? Would eBay be a good place to sell it? (And if not eBay, do I need to watch out for high commissions that might kill the return on my investment?)

Thanks for your time!
Dave
P.S. Edited for the OT reference and spelling...

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

I would think that you might get more by breaking it up, but you need to ask yourself if it is worth the time to sell 400+ individual lots on ebay if you are not a full-time dealer. That is a lot of work. If it is truly highgrade (nm or better), I would sell it through one of the big auction houses.
JimB

[Archive]

Posted By: DJ

I agree. If high grade, gotta go with Mastro or REA.

It will be a lot of work and if you accept Paypal, there's more bite from the bottom line. Not to mention the time to scan each item, write up copy and then the work on getting the cards out.

Not to mention dealing with who paid and who didn't pay and perhaps being disappointed that a 1957 Topps common in PSA5 form doesn't sell for what you want or reach your minimum bid and then the time to relist them and such. Also, what if half the cards sell. Basically then you only have the eBay auction, selling in bulk or singles.

Or you can try selling the whole set on eBay and place a reserve on it. You could always test the waters and if you aren't happy with the lack of bidding action, try again and return to the original question- Break up or send to a glossy catalog!

DJ

[Archive]

Posted By: warshawlaw

How fast do you really need the money? If yesterday, you need to go to Rosen or a big dealer and wholesale it. If you have a couple of months, the big auctioneers are good. If you need money in a couple of weeks, ebay is probably better than wholesaling the set.

A lot of this depends on what you define as high grade. No offense, but most collectors overgrade their cards. You will only pull top dollar on ebay or at auction if the key cards are slabbed and high grade. If you have 9s and 10s for the registry crowd, I'd sell those individually. As long as those folks are paying through the nose for them, what the heck.

I'd also consider breaking out rare variations and selling them individually and selling the base set as a stand-alone base set.

Ebay is good to start and for a quick cashout. If you want to move the whole set at once, maybe you should do a listing for it with a reserve or a minimum bid reflective of what you minimally want to get. That shouldn't take much time or effort. If it doesn't sell, consider other routes and/or breaking it up.

If I really needed some cash, I would pull an advance on a credit card rather than wholesaling a significant set. I would probably sell via ebay if it was me because I am a cheap bastard and I hate the idea of giving away 30%-40% between the consignor and bidder fees, plus I am a control freak and do not want to give someone else the ability to set my minimum price. Ebay runs on average about 7% of the transaction (saw a show on one of the cable news channels the other night about ebay and that is what they found). So, even if the set pulled in 20% less than the combination of auction price and hammer fee, you would still win out overall.

If you go the auctioneer route, remember that everything is negotiable. Check out the different auctioneers. Some offer lower or even no consignor's fees for significant lots.

[Archive]

Posted By: Bryan Long

Take out the big names and sell apart from the commons. People right now are paying very large sums od cash for partial sets that do not include the HOFers. Just ask jimivintage who visits this board every now and then. He parted with a good portion of his post-war sets but took out the HOF cards. He made a good amount of dough with the partial sets that he sold on ebay.

[Archive]

Posted By: Alan

Consign it to the big auction houses (ie Mastronet, Robert Edwards Auctions, etc,...)

[Archive]

Posted By: WP

I think if time is not a factor you need to break the set up. Look at John Branca, he strived to build the best sets in the years he collected. When it was time to sell he chose to break the sets up rather than auction them intact.

[Archive]

Posted By: tbob

I have had great success selling nice complete sets on ebay. The key is to have good scans of the key cards in the set plus a realistic condition breakdown of the set. I sold several late 50's, early 60's sets on ebay about 2 years ago and did very well.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

You could always sell it on ebay and not take paypal, thus saving you a couple of points. Or you could determine what you think the set is worth and try to sell it to someone on this board without having to pay any points at all.

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Evanov

Three keys: [1] Are the cards graded? Graded cards are much easier to sell on EBAY...raw cards are headaches since buyers might question your grading standards and return the cards. [2] Condition. Higher grades are easier to move and 1957's are red hot on EBAY now. [3] Time. Do you have the time to do all the listings? BTW, people are mentioning Paypal's cut, but Mastro takes 15% off the top, so factor that in also.

Frank

[Archive]

Posted By: jay behrens

I always find it interesting that when items start commanding bigger prices that they start getting worried about the money they are losing in PayPal fees. You actually lose a smaller percentage on a large transaction than if you do a bunch of small transactions. No one seems to mind 30 cents and 2% on a bunch of $50 cards, but 30 cents and 2% on $2000 item has people all worried about the moeny they are losing in fees.

40 cards $50each=$2000 less paypal fees $52
1 transaction $2000 less paypal fees $40.30

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

The thing with a complete set is that you can offer it as a set first. If it doesn't sell you then can sell it as singles.

[Archive]

Posted By: BcD

I would be interested in it~

Cardknowledge@earthlink.net

[Archive]

Posted By: steve k

You state "high grade" but "high grade" can mean different things to different people. Since this is a pre-WW2 forum I can't ask you to post scans of the key cards. You're more than fine selling that set on ebay. Do a ten day auction that ends on a Sunday night. You'll get good value for it.

As to whether or not to sell it by individual cards or the set? Just as a quick guideline: If the cards are basically PSA 7 equivalents and up - sell the cards individually or in small lots of four to nine cards. If the cards are basically PSA 6 equivalents and down, ie EXMT type cards or lower then sell it as a set.

Steve

[Archive]

Posted By: T206Collector

...that there are more people who can afford a small lot of cards than there are who can afford a complete set. There are also tons of set builders out there who prefer to put a set together themself. Most people who buy complete sets are in it to break it up and sell the parts for more than they paid for the whole. If you are willing to go through the effort, I would recommend that you break it up yourself and sell it for more than the whole.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

First, is it really high grade? There are a dozen or so sets with a set rating of 8.00 or better on the Registry. Are we talking about largely psa 8 and better or a lot of 6s and 7s(mid-grade).

If indeed high grade, you would of course have every card graded by PSA and probably sell them one by one on ebay or to buyers who will hit an ebay type price.

If more mid-grade, then probably grade just the stars or ones that you think could "8" and sell it via an auction house.

Dav

[Archive]

Posted By: tbob

There's a high grade '57 set selling in Hunt's Auction, you might want to watch how it does.