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

[Exhibitman]

I've decided to focus my collection to the years I collected as a kid (I quit in 1981), so I have a few thousand star cards from 1982-2020 that I want to get rid of. No major rookies or chase cards, just stacks of pack-fresh HOFers. I thought about boxing them up for my LCS but that seems like a costly way to get rid of it. I don't mind doing retail sales. I'd also not mind consigning to an AH.

There are some full and partial sets; I'd probably sell them together.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[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.

[bbnut]

Donate them, give them a generous RETAIL appraisal amount, and take the tax write off.

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[butchie_t]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I've decided to focus my collection to the years I collected as a kid (I quit in 1981), so I have a few thousand star cards from 1982-2020 that I want to get rid of. No major rookies or chase cards, just stacks of pack-fresh HOFers. I thought about boxing them up for my LCS but that seems like a costly way to get rid of it. I don't mind doing retail sales. I'd also not mind consigning to an AH.

There are some full and partial sets; I'd probably sell them together.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Remove any emotional attachment to what you have left. Carve up what you are sure to provide you a return, and either donate or ditch the rest. Yes, I said ditch the rest! They are worthless as a whole and are a boil that you just need to lance.

I have been doing this now as I am freeing up and releasing dead weight for an upcoming move. I have dumped a HUGE amount of junk dead weight and it felt cathartic as hell!

Check your local area and see if you can donate the chaff cards to an organization focused towards kids. They can then hand them out to the kids and get them interested in the hobby.

Regards,

Butch...

[Exhibitman]

I've recycled a lot of cards in the past. I once bought a collection that was 80% junk wax. Really junk, like Pro Set hockey. I basically told the collector that I was not going to pay for them but I would haul them away (he was moving and needed the space cleared) for free. I tried to give them away but no one wanted 5000 count boxes of them, so I dumped them into our recycling bin.

I've done some looking and there are quite a few cards in there with sold prices between $3 and $10 each, so there is value, just not the sort i wish to turn out at retail. I am probably just going to take it to my LCS and see what I can get.

The eye-opener is how worthless this stuff is with the exception of a handful of players and even then the really big money is gem mint slabs. I mean a Topps Gallery Players Private Issue Griffey is a $20-$50 card, raw, but in a 10 holder it gets into four figures. Otherwise, busting wax is like taking delivery on a new car: you open the pack and it loses value immediately unless you get a big hit.

[swarmee]

I've done some looking and there are quite a few cards in there with sold prices between $3 and $10 each, so there is value, just not the sort i wish to turn out at retail.

Well, this is the perfect group to send to COMC and have them do the work for you, in order to make the most from the cards over time. If you've already done the sorting on your lots, take the boxes of these cards and mail them to COMC.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I've recycled a lot of cards in the past. I once bought a collection that was 80% junk wax. Really junk, like Pro Set hockey. I basically told the collector that I was not going to pay for them but I would haul them away (he was moving and needed the space cleared) for free. I tried to give them away but no one wanted 5000 count boxes of them, so I dumped them into our recycling bin.

I've done some looking and there are quite a few cards in there with sold prices between $3 and $10 each, so there is value, just not the sort i wish to turn out at retail. I am probably just going to take it to my LCS and see what I can get.

The eye-opener is how worthless this stuff is with the exception of a handful of players and even then the really big money is gem mint slabs. I mean a Topps Gallery Players Private Issue Griffey is a $20-$50 card, raw, but in a 10 holder it gets into four figures. Otherwise, busting wax is like taking delivery on a new car: you open the pack and it loses value immediately unless you get a big hit.

I am looking for late 80s junk wax, especially blue borders, like Donruss, and the 87 Topps wood border. I've got a project in mind. I'd take a few thousand from you. And if you have any Cincinnati Reds cards I'd take those also. We could strike a deal.

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[cannonballsun]

There's a dealer on eBay who is not averse to buying stuff like this. As long as it's not junk wax era commons. He will make you an offer for Hall of Famers and Stars. His eBay user name is Sewell, and his name is Chris Sewell. You may know him ?
He has a you tube channel called "baseball card collector investor dealer". Some of his videos show stuff he buys at shows, and he will buy from his viewers of his channel. He does buy stuff like this, puts them in large lots, and sells them on ebay.
I would say look into it. He does all the work of sorting and his viewers almost always find his offers to be fair.

[gawaintheknight]

I would also potentially be willing to pay shipping for cards from 1984 or earlier, assuming they're in nice shape, for someone looking to get rid of them but not wanting to throw them out....

[Rich Klein]

A few things about donating cards (and as a person who has accumulated and given away nearly a 1/2 million cards as part of our Adat Chaverim show I can say a few words of wisdom.

1) Obviously we accept any and all donations, and from a friend of mine I found out that shipping was also tax deductible. Since Adat is a Synagogue it is a 501-C with the EIN the accountants ask for (I know this from direct experience as well)

2) I never assign a value to the cards but always let the donor use his/her values. Everyone I've done that for has been very good about the real value.

3) The advice you have received is very good and one which does affect tons of collectors so this is a good thread. We're stil dealing with the overage of 1986-94 cards so as noted figure out what is best for yoiu

Rich

[Exhibitman]

My LCS (Burbank Sports Cards) told me they are not buying anything made after 1969 unless it is a key card or rookie.

I'm just going to bust them into coherent lots and list them on eBay at very low starting prices and see what I can get.

[nwfsteve]

When my brother passed away a couple of years ago, he left behind a large, and I mean large, quantity of junk wax era cards, 1982-1992. Ended up being like 3 monster boxes. Because it was my brother's, I didn't want to go the dumpster route.

I pulled together one complete set ('89, I think) and sorted everything else into teams or star cards (HOFers plus Murphy, Bo, etc.). I'd sell like 20 Johnny Bench or Yaz cards on ebay as a cheap lot, and usually get a couple bucks for them. The rest I took to flea markets and sold a stack of Braves cards, for instance, for a buck or two, or the 89 set for $10.

I got rid of most everything and made a little money, but it was more about not trashing them in total. And I kept a handful of commons to maybe send and get autographed if I ever get around to it.

[Jewish-collector]

Does anyone have any junk wax basketball to give away, but mainly looking for cards of players in their college uniforms ?

[ewomack]

I couldn't get anyone to even look at my stash of cards from the 1980s-1990s. If memory serves me right, I eventually pulled out anything over common value and just tossed the rest. They were literally worthless.

[Exhibitman]

I'm taking a table at the Burbank show in August and will be putting out a lot of the better cards in dollar boxes.

https://www.burbankcardshow.com/

Anyone in SoCal, come on by and say hello. I'll have the table full of all sorts of crap and the Glamazon helper (my 5'10" daughter is visiting from NY and I am drafting her to help me).