Something Odd When Selling Cards

[callou2131]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

Great point.
I guess the reason I didn't do pictures is...I have literally, thousands of cards. And taking a photo of 5 different Wilt Chamberlain, 1970 Topps cards, didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me.

I just wanted someone to agree on paying the 35% price off of...what I determined the condition to be. If I thought it was a 7 and they thought a 5, I'd probably be more apt to go with them (as I'm new to all this).

Yet my Adrian Dantley rookie, which looks to me like a 9 or 10...if they tried to say it would be a 5, I'd tell them they were nuts.

And obviously, I wouldn't want somebody to agree to 35% off the PSA price, and then NOT send pictures, or a list of what I had. I wanted them to agree -- yeah, let's do this, at that price. And then, I go thru and eyeball what I got, send them the list, and send them photos, etc.

You keep bringing up values that dont exist within your collection. You are simply not listening to anyone, and keep repeating the same things over and over. THERE IS NO PSA PRICE OR VALUE IN YOUR COLLECTION If you think a wilt is an 8 and worth 400, and want 260 for it, (even though recent raw comps in similar condition are $135 you will never sell your cards. Now that person would have to spend twice the true value of the card, as well as spend another $200 to make it worth the $400. You will never sell your collection unless you listen to experienced collectors, dealers, and sellers. But you wont. Good luck.

As to the Dantley, looks to you like a 9 or 10 is meaningless. There could be an unseeable wrinkle under the surface making it a 5. The only thing that matters is what the card grader says on the day that they are grading it.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

Great point.
I guess the reason I didn't do pictures is...I have literally, thousands of cards. And taking a photo of 5 different Wilt Chamberlain, 1970 Topps cards, didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me.

I just wanted someone to agree on paying the 35% price off of...what I determined the condition to be. If I thought it was a 7 and they thought a 5, I'd probably be more apt to go with them (as I'm new to all this).

Yet my Adrian Dantley rookie, which looks to me like a 9 or 10...if they tried to say it would be a 5, I'd tell them they were nuts.

And obviously, I wouldn't want somebody to agree to 35% off the PSA price, and then NOT send pictures, or a list of what I had. I wanted them to agree -- yeah, let's do this, at that price. And then, I go thru and eyeball what I got, send them the list, and send them photos, etc.

Have you ever been a grader? Are you currently a grader? For a grading company such as PSA, SGC or BGS.

[Proton]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

Great point.
I guess the reason I didn't do pictures is...I have literally, thousands of cards. And taking a photo of 5 different Wilt Chamberlain, 1970 Topps cards, didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me.

I just wanted someone to agree on paying the 35% price off of...what I determined the condition to be. If I thought it was a 7 and they thought a 5, I'd probably be more apt to go with them (as I'm new to all this).

Yet my Adrian Dantley rookie, which looks to me like a 9 or 10...if they tried to say it would be a 5, I'd tell them they were nuts.

And obviously, I wouldn't want somebody to agree to 35% off the PSA price, and then NOT send pictures, or a list of what I had. I wanted them to agree -- yeah, let's do this, at that price. And then, I go thru and eyeball what I got, send them the list, and send them photos, etc.

No offense, but this doesn’t make any sense at all ? Because the order you explained is impossible to deal with.. you’re still expecting to comp price with psa graded, then when agreed to price you go through what you have, send the list, then send the photos last ? This is kind of a crazy way to deal and I highly doubt anybody will agree to this

[rebbrooks]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

Great point.
I guess the reason I didn't do pictures is...I have literally, thousands of cards. And taking a photo of 5 different Wilt Chamberlain, 1970 Topps cards, didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me.

I just wanted someone to agree on paying the 35% price off of...what I determined the condition to be. If I thought it was a 7 and they thought a 5, I'd probably be more apt to go with them (as I'm new to all this).

Yet my Adrian Dantley rookie, which looks to me like a 9 or 10...if they tried to say it would be a 5, I'd tell them they were nuts.

And obviously, I wouldn't want somebody to agree to 35% off the PSA price, and then NOT send pictures, or a list of what I had. I wanted them to agree -- yeah, let's do this, at that price. And then, I go thru and eyeball what I got, send them the list, and send them photos, etc.

Sorry, but nobody is going to agree to that without a list and pictures. Also, to sell on here you have to post a price. Just trying to be helpful.

[RogerGodahell]

Are the cards in top loaders, penny sleeves, binders? Or are they loose in shoe boxes? I guess what i'm asking is how have they been stored? No one can give you an idea on the condition until they at least see some pictures

[exclusively_nba]

The big problem here is that you’re thinking that you can eyeball cards and determine their grade accurately. But then you’re also saying you’re new to this part of things and that you store them poorly. For all of us who have sent in cards to get graded, we’ve learned from experience to judge cards more accurately. I can tell you that when I first started grading years ago up to now, my eye for detail is day and night different. That’s the reason that raw cards don’t sell for “what they would likely grade” - unless an experienced submitter can look at them in person before buying.

You might be right that your Dantley rookie is in pristine condition, but i doubt it. And that’s not a slam on you, but i think we’ve all been guilty of being overly optimistic about the condition and value of our cards. It definitely sounds like you’re sitting on some cool stuff. I would recommend you either grade it yourself to maximize profit or come to grips with the fact that people won’t be willing to pay PSA 7 prices for a raw vintage card when recent eBay sales don’t command that price. Because then we’d just buy the cards there instead.

I’m not trying to beat you up on value so I can get a deal either. 1990s is about as far back as my collection goes. I’m just trying to give you some helpful info. Good luck and it sounds like you have a pretty awesome collection!

[callou2131]

Originally Posted by RogerGodahell

Are the cards in top loaders, penny sleeves, binders? Or are they loose in shoe boxes? I guess what i'm asking is how have they been stored? No one can give you an idea on the condition until they at least see some pictures

"..this is what I wanted to avoid. Going thru my shoeboxes (yeah, I keep them stored poorly, but hey...I was a kid when I collected). I guess this is what I'll have to do when I sell."


Earlier he said they were in shoe boxes

[ExpFacilitators]

I know this isn’t the BST sub forum but I would genuinely like to know the total asking price for everything and what everything actually entails.

What I can tell you OP is I am not someone interested in flipping at all. I have bought vintage collections in all sports, including some enormous football ones that had 12 Walter Payton RCs and 10 Montana RCs etc. basically, the football equivalent to what you seem to have.

Because I am a collector I don’t have to build in extra room for me to profit from spending my time selling later on. In short, I am the type of buyer that could offer a higher total than many others. But the more I read this thread the less interested I am, which could be a lose/lose. I think if you begin by acknowledging the flaws in your initial approach to selling these, it would be a first step. I don’t get a strong sense that you feel you’ve been wrong initially.

As an alternative we could assume your shoebox collection is PSA 1 or 2 and use that as the condition against which we apply a 35% discount.

[RogerGodahell]

Originally Posted by callou2131

"..this is what I wanted to avoid. Going thru my shoeboxes (yeah, I keep them stored poorly, but hey...I was a kid when I collected). I guess this is what I'll have to do when I sell."


Earlier he said they were in shoe boxes

While i was typing that i was thinking of when i was a kid. My cousins that lived down the street from me their dad had like every Topps baseball set from the 50's from 54 up in binders. I remember him showing them to me when i was about 12. Which is great but i also vividly remember his daughter making pyramid card houses out of a shoe box of cards with a Joe Namath rookie, Henderson rookie and lots of other cards like that. Those cards were pretty beat up as you can imagine. They were just tossed in a shoe box and that's what they were used for, card houses.

A few years later i remember seeing a Bart Starr that looked like it just came out of a fresh pack. It was so crisp it still had the tiny particles of paper along the edges from when it was cut from the factory. I couldn't really understand how he had a card like that just lying around or where it came from unless he still had some packs that he saved for decades and then opened some. I'd never seen a card that old before in such nice condition. I never thought to ask at the time, this was like 30 something years ago.

Anyways OP could have both like this but it's hard to tell without seeing them.

[ninjacookies]

Riveting.


Encino Man is so much better in paperback.

[Mahomie]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

So, I've made it known I'm selling my entire basketball card collection. I'm probably going to start posting things next week. I've got every player from 1968 and up, and multiples.

Nice - avid vintage basketball collector here.

I'd be interested in seeing your postings - I don't have time to read through this entire thread right now (running back and forth from the grill, cooking some late night burgers), but definitely send me a PM once you get some pics/prices up somewhere. Thanks!

[cboog3105]

Originally Posted by ninjacookies

Riveting.


Encino Man is so much better in paperback.

[cowboyzqna]

Just say you don't understand how to price cards and ask questions.


You have no psa value. Non at all. Others have tried to explain this to you. You cant ask for 35 percent of a psa value. Well you can and have but you see the results.


Either grade them or understand what you have. If they grade well you'll make alott more. If you sell them raw you'll make alott less... and in both cases you will get what they are worth.


Glws.

[Basketball B]

Okay, I will admit it then. I don't know how to judge what I have or price it.

Now, that being said -- ExpFac -- I'm going to spend the next few days going over everything I had. I just finished all the '68/69/70 Topps.

Milkshake -- great points.

Glen87 -- the Wilt thing you posted. My response is this. Obviously, you can't just buy by looking at those photos. And if it comes to me doing that, I'll post a photo (front and back), and describe the flaws, and we'd come to a price. I just didn't want to do that with EVERY SINGLE CARD I had. I thought selling them all at once to someone, would get them a large collection of great stuff. At a great price.

Regarding the Adrian Dantley rookie card -- yes, there could be some small flaw I don't realize, as I'm not a grader. It just had perfect corners, perfectly centered, and...no ink blotches or anything else I thought would make it a lower price.
But the ONE THING I did not want to do....was send stuff to PSA and wait a year, and pay $200 a card to do that. I did it with the Russell rookie card.
But, for the Magic/Bird/Erving rookies I have (I got two of them), it just seems silly when -- you and I, and everyone here -- could look at them and say "yeah, that would probably be graded a 7." Why pay PSA $200, to wait a year, and have them tell me that? Because then I could ask for $10,000 for it, instead of...instead of what price?

So, if another Bird/Magic/Erving rookie that is graded a 7 sells for...(let's just say -- $5,000 at the next auction or eBay or where ever)....I think knocking 20% off that price sounds fair to me. If I'm wrong (which most of you tell me I am), that ... is wild.
If somebody buys the entire collection, I would knock that card (or both of them, hell, all of them) 35% off what the value (we both deem) them to be.

[Bobbyplaza133]

I've read all 3 pages and still have no idea what is going on.

[mc1]

My LCS has been sending cards to PSA and theyve been graded and returned in about a month.

Why do you keep saying it will take a year?

[DajuanWagner]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

You guys rock! I especially like the digs. I get that, and deserve that.
A few things. First, I stopped collecting in 1985, so...using terms like "book price" or whatever...I guess I meant the PSA website where you can look up values.

In regards to me selling some of my stuff elsewhere, yes...an auction house was interested in my 8 Pete Maravich rookies ungraded, my 2 Erving rookies, and Alcindor and Russell rookie cards, so...I figured I'd go that route with those, and my unopened '61 Fleer packs (two which had Elgin Baylor rookie cards on bottom that you can see).

Also, I didn't mean my entire collection, including common players, I would want top dollar for. I was going to sell those cards, for next to nothing (especially as the condition of them isn't perfect). It's the star players, that I thought -- if somebody bought the entire lot of star players (multiple stars from every year from '68 and up), I would want 35% off what the listed value is of that card.
Now, that being said...if you guys are telling me...that a 1970 Wilt Chamberlain card, which would be valued at $400 (if it's graded a 7, and mine isn't graded)....but it only sold on eBay for $25 last time somebody sold one -- then I didn't realize that's how you priced cards. And my bad for that.
I guess I sort of figured that in a way, as I have two Bird/Magic/Erving rookie cards, and saw they went for $500,000 and $800,000 in recent auctions, but were on eBay for much less. So yes...that's on me for not doing my homework.

I'm also not one of those collectors that is emotionally attached. I was years ago, but stopped collecting a long time ago, and want to sell them.

And, it was just the frustration of -- selling my entire football/baseball/hockey lot all at once for $500 -- that was the way it should go. A few people asked if I'd sell it for less, and I said no, unless I got no other offers. Then I got an offer, and someone took it.
And I literally listed, every single card in the collection!!!! With my basketball cards, I would do that, and list EVERYTHING, but...I want someone to agree that, they'd pay what PSA says the value is for the star players, MINUS 35% off that price, since it's not graded. That means the $400 Wilt card, they'd get for $260 (unless my math is off). Now, the Cavaliercards guy (as one example, as someone I was dealing with), could have easily said to me, "Yeah, well...we don't really go that high when we buy." But he responded, "No offense, but we don't pay the book value for cards that aren't graded." Yet I said 35% off, I didn't say "I want book/PSA value." Once I list them on these forums, I'm going to take 20% off what the PSA value is. And if I do this with cards, and they don't sell...I can decide if I want to go lower. But, if somebody wants to buy lots of cards, I would definitely go lower on prices.
I just think Cavaliercards could have explained his/her process to me on what their mindset is, so we could continue the conversation, or realize it wasn't going to happen.

Now, I got a handful of private messages, and one person asked about 15 different cards. I have everyone of them, but...this is what I wanted to avoid. Going thru my shoeboxes (yeah, I keep them stored poorly, but hey...I was a kid when I collected). I guess this is what I'll have to do when I sell.

So, right now...I got all the rookie cards separated from 1968 to 1984 if there's a player you're looking for. I also got all the Maravich, Kareem, and Erving cards separated, so...shoot me a message and we'lll see if we can work something out.

Wrong section.......

[Bobbyplaza133]

You sold one lot of vintage cards already. What's the issue with this lot?

[asujbl]

OP is dumb

That’s what this thread has taught me

[Basketball B]

I was told by a few people that PSA is so backlogged, it takes almost a year. Perhaps I was wrong on that.

Ninjacookies -- I didn't get the Encino Man ref. at first, and just moved on. But I was just now brushing my teeth and it hit me -- and I laughed so hard I spit toothpaste all over the mirror. Well done, sir! Although, I think of it more as another Brendan Frazer movie -- Blast from the Past (a much better film, too). In that, he and Christopher Walken, and family...come out of their bomb shelter, as they thought there was a nuclear bomb dropped in the late '50s and took shelter. He comes out in the '90s, and is this square guy that...the women dig, and...finds that his dad bought stock in Apple and...he has all these valuable baseball cards that he doesn't even know the value of !!!!

Even though I realize I've been rather redundant in this thread, I guess what worried me was this. I was offered to sell someone a Maravich rookie card. They wanted it for $150, as it wasn't graded. I looked at the value of Pistol Pete cards, and my eyeballs popped out. Again, I don't expect to get those prices if they aren't graded, and I don't expect ANYONE on here, to pay me, without thoroughly looking at that card to see just what kind of condition it was in, but...I figured (and perhaps wrongly so), that me and the buyer could dissect the photo, and agree to what it would be graded, and come up with a fair price. Which to me, didn't seem like $150 for a Maravich rookie was it. And that's when my brain started coming up with the numbers I did, based on what PSA pricing was. Now that I realize that was naive thinking on that...I'll try and tackle all this in a different way.

I appreciate you guys listening to my (sometimes bizarre) rants on all this. And appreciate all the advice (even if it was making fun of me).

[jmeryllman]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

So, if another Bird/Magic/Erving rookie that is graded a 7 sells for...(let's just say -- $5,000 at the next auction or eBay or where ever)....I think knocking 20% off that price sounds fair to me. If I'm wrong (which most of you tell me I am), that ... is wild.
If somebody buys the entire collection, I would knock that card (or both of them, hell, all of them) 35% off what the value (we both deem) them to be.

Forget about that PSA 7 (it does not apply to your raw cards)... just get the raw comp and take off your 35%.

[RetailHitsOnly]

Lol this happened to my this morning.

It reminds me of a pawn shop mentality. “Hey, I gotta make a profit too!” Which to me sounds like the flipper always gets the better deal and the seller can kick rocks.

I dont mind paying more for a good card as im not going to flip it, but thats part of the hobby. When I sell I go by ebay/auction hall comps, because thats a record of what people are paying. Very simple. Just because a book tells you how much they think it should sell for doesnt mean people are paying that. The book if you mean Beckett, usually lists for more and probably would be more appropriate for sellers with better reputations.

In the case of shill bidding, if available, I go by the lower to mid comps and ignore anything silly.

I understand people legit will pay more for a good card, but my mind is on the other people who are checking comps to come up with something fair. Unless it’s a rare card, it’s likely not going to sell for top dollar and I’m fine with that. Not too high not too low. When the market is saturated, it’s probably time to either hold or get competitive. To each their own.

Just ditch the book and go for where the actual money is. I hope im not being too blunt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Archangel1775]

If you want PSA prices, get them graded. Do the Russell and Bird/Magic cards and see how you do. Turnover is faster than I thought with the $200 price

[3124508 on COMC]

Originally Posted by 3124508 on COMC

First post in what will be a fun thread.

I am not disappointed.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by Basketball B

I was told by a few people that PSA is so backlogged, it takes almost a year. Perhaps I was wrong on that.

Ninjacookies -- I didn't get the Encino Man ref. at first, and just moved on. But I was just now brushing my teeth and it hit me -- and I laughed so hard I spit toothpaste all over the mirror. Well done, sir! Although, I think of it more as another Brendan Frazer movie -- Blast from the Past (a much better film, too). In that, he and Christopher Walken, and family...come out of their bomb shelter, as they thought there was a nuclear bomb dropped in the late '50s and took shelter. He comes out in the '90s, and is this square guy that...the women dig, and...finds that his dad bought stock in Apple and...he has all these valuable baseball cards that he doesn't even know the value of !!!!

Even though I realize I've been rather redundant in this thread, I guess what worried me was this. I was offered to sell someone a Maravich rookie card. They wanted it for $150, as it wasn't graded. I looked at the value of Pistol Pete cards, and my eyeballs popped out. Again, I don't expect to get those prices if they aren't graded, and I don't expect ANYONE on here, to pay me, without thoroughly looking at that card to see just what kind of condition it was in, but...I figured (and perhaps wrongly so), that me and the buyer could dissect the photo, and agree to what it would be graded, and come up with a fair price. Which to me, didn't seem like $150 for a Maravich rookie was it. And that's when my brain started coming up with the numbers I did, based on what PSA pricing was. Now that I realize that was naive thinking on that...I'll try and tackle all this in a different way.

I appreciate you guys listening to my (sometimes bizarre) rants on all this. And appreciate all the advice (even if it was making fun of me).

You cannot tell what a vintage card will grade from a photo. Vintage stock can sometimes have very small paper wrinkles that are nearly impossible to see when they card is in your hand. I doubt there is anyone who has sent in cards to be graded that has not been stung by these in the past. They will almost automatically make a card that looks to be an 8 or better a 6 at best.

If you want to best price then YOU HAVE TO DO THE WORK YOURSELF.