When you buy for resell, what percentage do you try to buy at?

[wdwfan]

I love a good conversation. So how about this one.

I know myself and most all of you love collecting cards, but I've also started buying to resell. So, my question is this: when you're buying to resell, what percentage of comps do you try and buy at? Is it based on years? Or liquidity? For instance, if it's a modern hot QB, will you pay more than say a vintage card? Of if you already know you have a buyer, will you pay a little more since you're not going to sit on it as long? If it's a hard card to move, or not rare, do you typically pay less? Do you factor in what you're going to do with the card i.e., grading, giving it to someone? Just genuinely curious.

[jchcollins]

Are you supposed to actually sell cards for more than you paid for them? LOL. I seem to barely stay afloat lately just selling covering PC purchases I should have stayed away from in the first place.

Oy, maybe 2025 will bring new hope.

[wdwfan]

Yes, there's tons of flippers in this hobby, especially when it comes to modern cards. Can't tell you how many times I've heard someone at the Dallas Show say ... "well I've got to get this for it because I paid this for it." Too many flippers.

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Are you supposed to actually sell cards for more than you paid for them? LOL. I seem to barely stay afloat lately just selling covering PC purchases I should have stayed away from in the first place.

Oy, maybe 2025 will bring new hope.

[swarmee]

Since I'm a regular flipper on COMC, I really don't buy anything I don't expect to sell for at least double. If I'm grading it myself, I expect the grading value to increase the cards value by at least triple the grading fee. $20 fee means card value has to grow at least $60 as a result.

[bnorth]

It varies greatly by the value of the card and how easy it is to resell. I have paid 90% before and turned down cards at 10% of value for reselling.

In general the cheaper the card the lower the percentage paid. The easier it is to sell the higher the percentage of value paid.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by bnorth

It varies greatly by the value of the card and how easy it is to resell. I have paid 90% before and turned down cards at 10% of value for reselling.

In general the cheaper the card the lower the percentage paid. The easier it is to sell the higher the percentage of value paid.

I'll vote for this answer.

For the most part, if I'm buying something with an eye towards selling it in the not too distant future, I'm probably buying oddball stuff that is hard to move. But I usually feel like I get it for a screaming deal, so I'm okay sitting on it for a while, until I can find the right buyer.

A few examples come to mind, just because we're having fun here.

A few years ago, I purchased a complete set of the 1968 Bazooka Complete Boxes, all graded and ready to go. Kept a couple for my PC, since they had my favorite players. Put the rest on eBay.

Immediately sold the Mantle piece, for an amount that equaled 100% of my cost to buy the complete set. I've been very slowly working to sell the rest. Most of them are still for sale, and could continue to sit. It's a thin market, and it probably doesn't help that I'm asking museum prices, but it's worked out just fine for me so far. My guess is that I'll end up with triple my original investment, maybe more if I ever sell off my PC pieces.

A few years ago, I purchased a complete set (minus the Mantle) of 1969 Globe Imports Checkerboard Back cards. Paid $500 for the set in raw form, and turned around and got them all graded for $20 apiece.

Since I already had one that was higher graded, I sold off the Mays for $3,000. Sold another one to a player collector on this board for $1,000. And I've been slowly selling off the rest, including some recent price reductions, which have helped to move them a lot faster. So far, my total sales are probably around $7,500. I'm guessing that I'll probably end up with around $15k in sales by the time I sell the last one off.