How do you think about buying a big lot of cards?

[STL1944]

Hi... I am looking for some advice. I have the opportunity to purchase a collection of cards (~50-60k) that range from the 1950's to the 2000's. I am primarily interested in cards from the 50's and 60's but the owner wants to sell everything at once. Also, his collection is about 20% football and basketball (which I know almost nothing about).

How do you think about an opportunity like this?

Do you value what you know (i.e. baseball cards from the 50's and 60's) and offer based just on that?

If I do end up buying everything do I just sell all of the stuff I don't want all at once or card-by-card?

Any advice is appreciated.


Jim

[KCRfan1]

I think you need to give us more information. My questions are as follows: Are any of the cards graded? How many of the cards are 1960's and earlier ( anything 1976 to present does not carry much value )? There are exceptions to this ex: Jordan rookie card among others. What type of condition are the cards in ( are they beaten up or fresh from a pack )? Are there superstars in the lot, be it baseball football or basketball? What is the price of the lot for all of the cards? Keep in mind, if you sell the cards one by one, that is a lot of your time to list and mail cards if via ebay. You may sit on those cards for the rest of your life if you are trying to sell them. I would think your best bet is to sell the cards by lot as well. Book value does not equal what people are willing to pay sometimes. Do your homework, and know EXACTLY what the lot consists of. Then you can determine if the lot is worth it. Sometimes the best deals are the ones not made.....

[STL1944]

I have not seen the whole lot just a couple of pictures. I am supposed to look at things in person on Wednesday.

From what I can see, the cards look in raw, ungraded condition. However, from the photos that I have seen they appear to be in excellent shape (kind of difficult to tell from the photos).

I have no idea of the actual mix of 50's vs. 60's vs. 70's vs. 80's. From what I can tell from the pictures, the older cards look more to be semi-stars and commons. The ones from the 70's and 80's appear to be more stars and HOF's.

I know that is not enough information to figure out an actual price, but rather I am curious how others think through a situation like this. Your thoughts on selling things in lots is helpful. I agree in that I am not too excited about trying to sell cards one-by-one.

[Bestdj777]

It doesn't sound like a particularly appealing lot. The commons from the 50s-60s could be very hard to move, and, the newer stuff, even if it is stars, likely has little value. It sounds like the guy picked through everything good and is trying to push the rest of it off on you.

[KCRfan1]

I agree with Chris. This guy is unloading and has kept anything of value. If you are in the market to buy, take what you would spend on that lot, which does not sound appealing at all, and buy one very nice card. Based on your information, I would not even spend the time to go look at the lot.

[vintage954]

From my experiences, anyone who has a huge lot of cards and is trying to sell them has done their homework. When people say they don't know what they have or haven't even looked through them is flat out lying. I've looked at 5 huge lots in the last 5 months and every seller didn't know what was in the lot, but yet 3 were known collectors here in south Florida.

[mattsedate]

I would probably buy the entire collection, then have some remorse, then get happy if I find something really good.