Selling pre-1980 commons

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Belfast1933

I’d love to hear advice and experience from others regarding selling pre-1980 commons - I am not a set builder but have thousands of Ex+ commons between 71 and 79

Any advice on:

1 pricing - how do you find comps for common sales that is reliable for both seller and buyer?

2 organizing commons - anyone use the card sorter trays that I’ve seen on Amazon? Do they help?

3 is this worth the time??! I wouldn’t have guessed so but, for example, I have about 300-400 1971 commons I am looking to sell (many of which are very nice) and I might be willing to put some time into it… but NOT to sell $5 here and $3 there

Any advice is welcomed!

Jeff

The bottom line is that you have to decide how much time you want to put into it. The more time you put, obviously the more money you will get. I'll use your '71s for example and my advice below is for selling in lots (not individually). If you want to sell individually, that's a different story.

The card sorting trays (which I don't personally use) would only be beneficial if you want to add the card numbers to your listing description. If you do, then obviously they would need to be sorted into numerical order. That takes time. Then, it takes even more time to type out individual card numbers in your listing. Then you'll want to be sure to add the names/description next to the more valuable cards (assuming you have some HOFers, Leaders, Checklists, etc. in the lot). Or you can count the total number of cards and not include the individual card numbers in your listing and save a whole lot of time (i.e. "For Sale 376 1971 Topps Baseball Cards").

Then you have to decide how you want to describe them. Do you want to spend time looking at each individual card's condition? If so, and you list the individual card numbers, do you add the condition next to the card number? That takes time. Or do you just shuffle thru them quickly and get an overall idea of condition (i.e. "Cards range from Ex to Nm/Mt, but average Ex/Mt").

Once you've decided that, then you have to determine how you're going to scan them. There are many ways to do it. Do you scan them all (like in groups of 9)? That takes time. Do you scan the first X (pick a number) cards in the lot to get a representation of the condition? For me personally, I usually scan like the first 6-9 cards and the last 6-9 cards to get a good representation.

As far as pricing, that's just up to you. The more time it takes you, the more you can get because your listing will be more thorough. Don't be afraid to charge for your time. That's just my advice.