Flipping vintage baseball cards

[jcmtiger]

A little history, I have been buying and selling baseball cards and baseball memorabilia since the 1970's. This was done to build a Detroit Tiger collection. I know those days are gone. I'm not really building my collection anymore, actually have sold off quite a bit.

But, with the interest rates on Certificate of Deposits or whatever the banks are selling so low, is it feasable to make more money flipping, buying and selling. For example why put $10,000.00 into a CD and receive maybe a couple hundred dollars for the year. How about just buying and selling items you can make some money on for that year. Any thoughts.

Joe

[autograf]

Your mattress is as good as a CD..........all about what you buy, how you buy it and where you can sell it. Should always have better margins if you can find stuff and sell it. A matter of risk though.

[Exhibitman]

It isn't just return, it is liquidity and speed of return. I think right now is a great time for card buyers because prices on lots of nice stuff have dropped markedly. However, I think you are in for a bit of a wait in terms of flipping. If you can hold for 5-10 years, I think you will do very well but I don't see there being a lot of quick money out there. Unless, of course, you happen to get lucky and find a virgin collection to buy on the cheap, but that's a winner in any economy.

[glchen]

It's not easy to flip because ebay/paypal take ~20% cut, and auction houses are similar with the buyer/seller premiums. So basically, when you buy a card, you need to allocate that % when you sell the card in order to just break even. And cards are not nearly as liquid as CD's, stocks, etc. When you sell the cards on ebay, you can run into buyer problems like they don't pay, they open cases, return cards, etc.

Saying all of that, it is possible to flip and make money. You just have to be very selective in what you buy and the prices that you are buying at. And you should be in good financial position where you shouldn't be forced to sell these cards you bought when the timing or prices aren't right.

[bbcard1]

I don't think you can do it on a big scale, but I think you could parlay $1k into $2 k every now and then.

I don't get the complaints about ebay taking 20% as fees. By the time I accounted for table fees, travel and lodging in my show days, I'll bet I had more than that in it, percentage wise.

[rhettyeakley]

Most of the complaints about the ebay fees are because in the beginning days of ebay the fees were so miniscule that it was almost an afterthought. Now, however, the above poster is correct that you do have to take into consideration their fees but I've never paid anywhere close to 20% fees on ebay items, more like 8-15% depending on the size of the purchase,etc.
-Rhett

[Matthew H]

I think that if you have enough money to purchase complete sets and break them apart, you have a better chance of positive return. I have seen good deals on complete sets over the years. You have to be patient though.

If you have a wide knowledge of collectibles, you also have a better chance. I know a couple here in Los Angeles that pays for their BMW just by selling stuff they find at garage sales on the weekend. They call it their hobby.

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by glchen

And you should be in good financial position where you shouldn't be forced to sell these cards you bought when the timing or prices aren't right.

I bet the above fact will be the most important -- and sadly quite often is the most ignored -- posted in this thread.

[vintagetoppsguy]

If dealers are making money in this economy, so can you. After all, isn't a dealer the same thing as a flipper?

The profit margin may not be what it once was, but it's probably better than that CD that's only paying 1% (or less).

I like the idea that was posted above about buying complete sets and breaking them up. It's a lot of work, but there's definitely some money to be made. You may even run across a few high grade cards within a set that you're able to grade and make even more money.

[glchen]

If you break up sets into singles on ebay, be aware that you have different options, each with its own pros and cons. (1) consign to a top seller with a large following such as prewarcardcollector or just_collect. (2) sell lots with starting price at 0.99 (3) start lots with starting price of your reserve amount (4) do a reverse auction, starting with the highest price that you hope to sell the lots for, and reduce it each time the cards don't sell (5) BIN

[Matthew H]

I don't really think that you need to consign to an eBay seller. As long as you categorize correctly and make sure the auctions end at a good time. Your listings search the same. Just Collect seems to pay less attention to when auctions end. Not everyone uses snipes. They don't get as much for cards as PWCC. I've had good success selling lots timed with 3-5 minute gaps in ending on Sunday evening. (I hardly sell anything though)

[smtjoy]

I think its very possible to make some money by flipping cards and if you make anything its more than what CD's are paying these days.

I think its important to pick an area/niche you know very well and focus on it. As someone suggested start small maybe find something around 1k to give it a try. I like the set/lot breakup idea as I have done very well over the years doing the same thing. Be patience and only sell when you feel the market is right, if you cant do that then you should probably avoid flipping.

[Leon]

It is very difficult, but not impossible, to flip and make some money. You need to usually stay in your niche and try to find great buys. Not good buys, but great buys. Good buys will net you a loss more often than not. Just my experiences....and they are fairly vast, especially in the last 5 years. I applaud anyone that can buy and sell and make money doing it. It is no where near a "gimmee".....Good question.

[bbcard1]

A niche I have done "ok" on is APBA cards...my only goal is to make enough to pay for my new season cards, though, and I haven't done a lot more than break even...but I have built a nice little collection for anytime I want to shake dem bones and replay a world series. After expenses, I would probably say I am earning about a 35% return but it is also a little work and since you constantly have $ ties up in "inventory" you really don't make anything you can pay the mortgage on. Met some nice people through it, and that's worth mentioning.

[robedits]

I've been playing APBA for almost 40 years (currently replaying the 1964season...cards,dice,and newer master game,using the new 64 RR replay set)...in almost 2 years I've completed all the games for all teams through the month of May '64,using the real sked...about 460 games out of the scheduled 1,620 for 1964). Using Excel to compile stats after each game. TIme consuming as hell,but worth it and enjoyable.

I never had any idea that the old APBA sets were worth anything, until AFTER I sold all my old sets (one late 60s set, all my 70s sets and some early ATG sets...most in great condition,with original playing boards/boxes,etc) at a garage sale for about $25 bucks (back in late 90s). We're talking a couple of dozen original sets/boxes,at least. Along with orig boards,booklets,roster sheets,etc.
Then I suddenly saw spates of them online being sold for good $$. My loss!

Still love rolling a game,though,after all these years:as my wife says,it keeps me off the streets!

You probably already know this,but the "Spawn" author/McGwire/Sosa ball collector (Todd MCFarland) has what is most likely the largest collection of original APBA sets (across all sports) in existence.
I wish APBA would get more press than StratOMatic,but it's like the Mets to the Yankees, or Showtime to HBO...they'll always be second in the same market.

[bbcard1]

I actually sold a couple of APBA sets to Todd McFarlane which I thought was totally cool. I have a complete run of world series teams and a few vintage sets I plan to keep til i croak. I got a great 1961 set which is my birth year and i have an 1958 also that I intend to keep. I am trying to pick one season set per decade and sell off the dupes. I normally price the sets very low as to assure they will sell...it only backfires sometimes. Actually most sets from about 1975 though 2001 are very cheap. APBA is the betamax of baseball games. Great product, lousy marketing.

[jcmtiger]

I don't need this money to live on. Thanks for the responses. I also don't want to wait 5-10 years as one poster responded. I have actually bought and sold many items in the last 30 years and made money, but put back into the hobby. I know those good old days are over, but seems like you could make more than 2-3 hundred on an investment of $10,000. in 1 year. I know I will have to pick items that collectors are looking for and buying everything on ebay probably would not work. I would not consign, I have the time to sell on ebay and have been buying and selling on ebay for at least 10 years.

Joe

[Northviewcats]

I've been flipping cards for about eight years on eBay. I buy large groups of cards looking for decent cards to sell individually. I consider it a hobby and if you factor in the time it is probably a losing proposition. But you can build a very nice collection doing it. I've always had better luck with lots from the 60s and 70s than prewar.

Best regards,

Joe