Tips for buying vintage cards?

[cardsmiths]

I'm meeting this guy tomorrow who has the following cards:

1962 Mickey Mantle, 1962 Bob Gibson, 1969 Reggie Jackson RC, 1974 Mike Schmidt and 1975 George Brett. That's exactly the details I've gotten out of him so far. He also swears they are not reprints. Said he got them from his dad long ago when they were collecting. I have no idea if he's telling the truth.

None of them are graded, but he says the 1969 Reggie Jackson is "a very clean card, no scratches, creases or fading, with nice corners and edges"

He wanted 600, I told him I was thinking no higher than 200 without seeing them. He then said 300 is the lowest he would go.

So I've been trying to research values on these cards, but obviously it's dependent on the condition or the grade if I got them graded. They can go anywhere from 10 dollars each to hundreds for some right? Any tips on what to look for tomorrow? Is this too risky for me to even mess with since I know basically nothing about vintage cards? What do you guys think? Thanks for the help.

[njterp]

I only buy graded vintage, or from people I trust, but one good rule with vintage stuff is "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is".

[dlab85]

Vintage is risky ungraded, because trimming is something you would have to watch for. Reggie Jackson 69 is heavily counterfeit as well.

[37Jetson]

The quickest way to tell if a card is trimmed is to place it on top of a known untrimmed card. Even the slightest amount of difference in size means that it has been trimmed.

The 1969 Reggie Jackson Rookie only books for $300 so it is critical that you understand the current book values of all of the cards. The card would need to be very, very high grade for it to be worth $200.

If you do not have a Beckett you can look up the book values on Checkoutmycards.com

Be cautious because vintage pricing is very soft right now for almost all cards. For example the 1974 Topps Mike Schmidt is an extraordinarily tough card to sell in anything less than NM/MT condition. George Brett Rookies only book for $80. If it is a high grade card they sell for good prices, but mid-grade ones do not fetch much.

I would suggest checking out completed Ebay auctions after you see the cards to get a feel for how much they are selling for.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by cardsmiths

I'm meeting this guy tomorrow who has the following cards:

1962 Mickey Mantle, 1962 Bob Gibson, 1969 Reggie Jackson RC, 1974 Mike Schmidt and 1975 George Brett. That's exactly the details I've gotten out of him so far. He also swears they are not reprints. Said he got them from his dad long ago when they were collecting. I have no idea if he's telling the truth.

None of them are graded, but he says the 1969 Reggie Jackson is "a very clean card, no scratches, creases or fading, with nice corners and edges"

He wanted 600, I told him I was thinking no higher than 200 without seeing them. He then said 300 is the lowest he would go.

So I've been trying to research values on these cards, but obviously it's dependent on the condition or the grade if I got them graded. They can go anywhere from 10 dollars each to hundreds for some right? Any tips on what to look for tomorrow? Is this too risky for me to even mess with since I know basically nothing about vintage cards? What do you guys think? Thanks for the help.

[cardsmiths]

Originally Posted by 37Jetson

The quickest way to tell if a card is trimmed is to place it on top of a known untrimmed card. Even the slightest amount of difference in size means that it has been trimmed.

The 1969 Reggie Jackson Rookie only books for $300 so it is critical that you understand the current book values of all of the cards. The card would need to be very, very high grade for it to be worth $200.

If you do not have a Beckett you can look up the book values on Checkoutmycards.com

Be cautious because vintage pricing is very soft right now for almost all cards. For example the 1974 Topps Mike Schmidt is an extraordinarily tough card to sell in anything less than NM/MT condition. George Brett Rookies only book for $80. If it is a high grade card they sell for good prices, but mid-grade ones do not fetch much.

I would suggest checking out completed Ebay auctions after you see the cards to get a feel for how much they are selling for.

Good luck!

Right on, good advice. Thanks. Yeah, I was going to make a little cheatsheet for myself with each card and the average sale for the different grades. Then check out the cards tomorrow and come up with an offer that I can feel safe about. It probably will be way less than the amount he wants to sell them for. I'll have fun with the process though...

[gopherfan]

Make sure you have a deal in place that if a card comes back from PSA as trimmed, or counterfeit, that you get your money back.
If the grade is bad, that is on you and your eyes.

[free2131]

Originally Posted by gopherfan

Make sure you have a deal in place that if a card comes back from PSA as trimmed, or counterfeit, that you get your money back.
If the grade is bad, that is on you and your eyes.

Oh yeah. If I spend anything over $200 from an individual I don't know, I always draw up a bill of sale and make sure to note that if any of the vintage stuff ends up being altered or counterfeit that the seller agrees to refund the purchase price.

[cardsmiths]

Originally Posted by free2131

Oh yeah. If I spend anything over $200 from an individual I don't know, I always draw up a bill of sale and make sure to note that if any of the vintage stuff ends up being altered or counterfeit that the seller agrees to refund the purchase price.

Good advice, I was just going to ask how you try to make sure you get your money back. A bill of sale will do the trick?

[free2131]

As long as the terms are spelled out and he agrees and signs off on them, then yeah it will. If he's unwilling to do that, I would just avoid him altogether TBH.

[37Jetson]

How did it go?

Originally Posted by cardsmiths

Good advice, I was just going to ask how you try to make sure you get your money back. A bill of sale will do the trick?

[RemyX266]

My opinion is that Beckett and the dreaded Ebay are only guides to card values. Meaning it is your money, what is the card worth to you. If you are only willing to pay $100, that is the value to you, if the sller doesn't like that, so be it, eventually you will get it for what you want. Sight unseen for cards gives a huge red flag to the seller as to why, not even a scan or picture would make me cautious.