What's The Best Way To Sell 1980s-1990s?

[swarmee]

COMC or sportlots? I don't think auction houses would be interested in selling your junk era wax base for you, in any kind of way that makes you any money. Sportlots could be a long road for not much pay.

COMC you're looking at paying 50 cents per card you submit, but then you get to price them however you want and they'll sell over time.

Otherwise, you're looking at local card shops/antique malls, but with cards under $5 each, that's a slog, and your overhead will be much more than COMC I'd bet. Or clearancing out at flea markets, where you probably have better use of your time.

Are you a person who takes the standard deduction? If not, you might make the most from them by just donating them to charity and claiming the donation on your taxes.

[Elberson]

Try local Craigslist or Facebook marketplace,

[G1911]

For a few thousand star cards, packaging them as player-specific lots can sometimes get them to move. There are a number of player collectors for 80's and 90's stars that will buy such lots.

[Dandor]

Unfortunately, this may not be worth your time. I have boxes of HOF players from 1980 to 1996 from my childhood and I am thinking of just recycling them. I could work an hour at McDonalds and make more profit than the money I could from these cards spending 10 hours. HOF cards on COMC go for $0.50 and below a lot of time. With the 50-cent fee to just list the cards, you will probably never recoup your money unless you have a bunch of Jordan's. Dealers don't want to deal with these types of lots either. If you have $1000 of card value, they will offer you $20 to $50. Really not worth their time.

The way people make money off of these cards is to make mystery packs and rip people off. I have a soul, so I can't do this.

[John1941]

Originally Posted by Dandor

Unfortunately, this may not be worth your time. I have boxes of HOF players from 1980 to 1996 from my childhood and I am thinking of just recycling them. I could work an hour at McDonalds and make more profit than the money I could from these cards spending 10 hours. HOF cards on COMC go for $0.50 and below a lot of time. With the 50-cent fee to just list the cards, you will probably never recoup your money unless you have a bunch of Jordan's. Dealers don't want to deal with these types of lots either. If you have $1000 of card value, they will offer you $20 to $50. Really not worth their time.

The way people make money off of these cards is to make mystery packs and rip people off. I have a soul, so I can't do this.

It depends on the cards, but if you're just going to throw them out I'd be interested in paying shipping for some of them. I don't like seeing cards getting thrown out.

[Deertick]

Originally Posted by Dandor

Unfortunately, this may not be worth your time. I have boxes of HOF players from 1980 to 1996 from my childhood and I am thinking of just recycling them. I could work an hour at McDonalds and make more profit than the money I could from these cards spending 10 hours. HOF cards on COMC go for $0.50 and below a lot of time. With the 50-cent fee to just list the cards, you will probably never recoup your money unless you have a bunch of Jordan's. Dealers don't want to deal with these types of lots either. If you have $1000 of card value, they will offer you $20 to $50. Really not worth their time.

The way people make money off of these cards is to make mystery packs and rip people off. I have a soul, so I can't do this.

If maximized profit is the goal, of course. But there is some satisfaction to be had helping others complete a set, or fill a hole. In the end, this is still predominately a hobby. Most days I won't get out of bed for a work order under $25/hr, yet I have spent 6-8 hrs searching, measuring, grading, scanning cards for deals that netted me under $100. No one, in the history of the hobby, has made more than minimum wage actively selling commons. Yet 2 for $1 common boxes still exist in shops and shows, mainly as a service.

[swarmee]

We still should give honest advice when someone plans to piss away their time for nickels.

Throw them in your campfire. There's a much better use of your time.