Advice Needed...What to do with my T206s?

[TunaT206]

Hi All,

Been a long time since I've posted here but I'm back with a question that I need some practical advice on. It's been about 10 years since I stopped collecting my T206 set....getting married, having two kids and a mortgage will do that to the best of us. During my single years, I managed to piece together a pretty decent sized collection of about 250 cards, mostly graded, in the 2-4 range. A good number of HOFers and other desirables like southern leaguers and some rare backs. Here's the rub - I don't see myself getting back into collecting and we could use the money for so many different things. Am I better off breaking up my collection and selling individually, or selling the whole lot at once? I don't really have the time to sell them 1 by 1, but maybe sell them off in sub-groups? I don't know....any advice would be welcome.

Thanks so much,

Dave

[TheBigRedOne]

This is from a buyer's perspective: I think selling them as lots can exclude some folks especially if they've already got say one or two cards in a lot they really want. I get that individually it's a pain to sell them, but you might get more in return.

How about consignment? There were a few folks looking for large t206 lots over on the B/S/T board, maybe someone like that if they aren't looking for an extreme bargain....

[darwinbulldog]

T206s are pretty easy to move since there tends to be relatively little discrepancy between what buyers expect to pay and what sellers expect to receive. I'd try here on the T206 BST page first, but depending on how busy you are (i.e., how much time you have to deal with packaging, shipping, multiple customers, etc.) you might prefer to just consign the entire group to an auction house, especially if the cards are already slabbed.

I've been happy as a consignor with LotG and REA, though I haven't consigned a large lot of cards with either of them. I'm sure others are just as satisfied with some of the other AHs they've used.

[BobbyVCP]

Trying to put cards like the in REA or most major auction houses they would sell as a lot. If you want to get the most out of your sale then I suggest you consign it with PWCC.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

For the sake of information here's a little history. As someone who officially finished auctioneer's school today I think I can provide some perspective!

Realize that many, if not most, auction trends start with the big boys like Christie's and Sotheby's. There was a time when there was no such thing as a buyer's premium, many small general auction companies still don't charge one. But back when there was no such thing seller's commissions for the most part ran between 30 and 40 percent.

Price fixing scandal aside, competition for the best material made auction companies try and figure out a way to make themselves more attractive to potential consignors. They did this by lowering fees. However they couldn't just make less money so the Buyer's Premium was born.

That being said it was often not necessarily the dollar value of your item that determined the commission charged, though in effect that's what it looked like, it was the notoriety it could bring the auction. If a consignor had a couple of Picasso's, the auction company would indeed be tempted to give a sweet deal to that consignor knowing that it would bring eyes to their auction for the Chagall's etc... It's not because the Picasso is going to bring a high value, but rather it is going to bring bidders.

That has gotten slightly lost in the translation to the card world. Obvious items like the Wagner or a Baltimore Babe Ruth accomplish both notoriety and value, but more and more the scale has slid to value only in our industry.

Remember though, that commissions were originally 30 -40 percent. So if an auction house is hitting buyers for 20%, they are still looking for at least that extra 10%. Again on a truly epic item eating that extra money (or even giving up some of the 20%) is OK, but for a $1,000 item, with all the expenses the big houses have, it's just not reasonable to expect them to not only charge you nothing, but cut you in for a share of the Buyer's Premium.

There was a mediocre mystery novel I read a while back where one of the protagonists worked at an auction house in London. In it the character detailed that auction houses loved reselling the same item repeatedly, because they were the only ones who actually made a profit. Once they sold the item three times they had pocketed more than the item was worth. Well those days are gone, and that's a good thing, but unless you bring something truly special to the table a reasonable commission plus premium is anything under 30%. Ask me in a PM how much we charge!

[btcarfagno]

It will be more work for you to break it up and sell individually. However you should net more $$ doing it that way. It likely comes down to how valuable is your time. At the right prices you would do very well on the BST here I would think.

Tom C

[Bpm0014]

BST here, no brainer. No fees and the target audience here is ideal to buy T206s. I'd love to see what you have.

[rats60]

For high dollar items, there is at least one auction house that will not only charge you no seller's premium, but give you half the buyer's premium. With ebay and consignors, it is absurd to give an AH 30%. Anymore than 20% is too much, just go the ebay route. Just shop around and give your business to one who is treating you fair.