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

[RobertGT]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I've bought several collections over the years, some from people with no hobby connection, most from collectors. A few things I've found helpful:

Decide why you are buying the lot. If for resale, you have to be utterly ruthless in assessing the lot. You can buy anything and make money--just about--if you get in on it at the right price point. If you miss your price point you will lose money.

Go through the material and cull all of the stars. Separate the really big ones--Mantle, Mays, Koufax, Aaron, and rookies of lesser HOFers--from the rest of the stars. Evaluate the big stars carefully for condition. Assume worst case scenario if you try to grade them; that 'tweener will be a 6 not a 7. Then figure value. If 'book' on a big name card in near mint is $100 and the card is vg, its wholesale price is $10-$15 because it will sell on eBay for $25 and you have to cover your fees and time and materials and still make a profit. I recently bought a presentable vg 1961 Koufax for $21 shipped. eBay prices are retail. Wholesale is a fraction of that. If the guy wants eBay prices let him waste his time selling the stuff.

Lesser HOFers and stars from the 1950s-1960s are worth $2-$5 a card, no more. You simply will not make any money on them otherwise.

1970s cards are worth a dollar each at best unless they are stellar condition. I live on the dollar boxes at the National and that is what they are filled with.

Commons are worth very little--a few cents each--unless they are from tougher series and in great shape. Retailing commons is a miserable experience, BTW. The work is difficult, the customers are bigger PITAs than guys who buy $10,000 cards, and you have to move volume to make a meager profit. Odds are you will end up accumulating the commons and consigning to an auction house for sale as shoebox lots or as partial sets, so you have to assume a very low value or you will lose money when the AH fees are factored into it.

Anything made after 1981 is worthless for acquisition purposes. I will repeat that: anything made after 1981 is worthless for acquisition purposes. The seller is lucky you are willing to haul them to the dump for him. The only exceptions are HOF rookies in slabs in 9 or better. Assume that any raw rookie you see will get an 8 and not even redeem your grading fees when you sell it off. Anything else you will end up selling off in 5000 count boxes for $20 a box at your garage sale. Been there, done that...

This is perfect advice, for the most part. The key to making a deal with any quantity is in the BUYING, not the selling. You better be low or be prepared to be creamed by someone who has cherry-picked the collection.

The only thing that I would disagree with is the final paragraph. You can still make money off of post-1981 cards if bought cheaply enough and you know where to move them. You can do very well on 1980s unopened material too - that stuff is hot.