First time poster and in over my head. Raw collection inherited.
 

I have been tasked with selling my deceased father in law’s collection of football and baseball cards from the early 50s. Approx. 1200 cards. My wife nor her sisters have any interest in holding on to these any longer and all proceeds will be split by them. He passed a few years ago but now seems to be the time they want to move on and sell these cards.

I catalogued every card into Vintage Card Prices. Best I could figure out was that system requires a grade, so I entered PSA Auth for each card to manage expectations on potential value of the collection. Nothing at all is graded, last time these have even been looked at until now was over 10 years ago when my father in law showed me his collection.

I understand different approaches have trade offs of time, effort and money. As much as I personally would like to hold onto these, it’s not my call.

I am hoping for some suggestions/advice.

Is it worth the expense (and from what I read, wait) of getting some of these higher end cards graded?

Are online buyers such as JustCollect and Deans Cards reputable and fair in their valuations? I have a local card shop that I plan on meeting with as well.

Is there a company that can help with grading submission, or selling as consignment?

If you were me, what approaches would you take regarding grading, determining what is a fair price, and looking for buyer(s), and selling? I’m willing to invest time, but don’t really know where to start.

Thanks for reading.

Sampling of of scans

Welcome to the boards. You will definitely get people's attentions with what you uploaded. You will definitely want to get these cards graded, and probably many more.
Here's a great thread that will help you get a handle on some of it. https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=213862

Surely some auction houses will help you with the process, if you agree to sell the cards through them; many will submit to the grading companies for you, and then take it out of your income later. Definitely have someone like JustCollect take a look at it, and they may give you a good enough percentage of true value for the entire collection to take it and reduce your risk and time. You're probably undervaluing cards looking at PSA AUTH prices. Probably want to look at VG-EX or better. Centering plays a role, in addition to grade.

Send me a PM if you want to chat and I can talk about this stuff for hours... ;-)

LOL, I am sure after his post he will be overwhelmed with PMs from the AHs since many many members work/own one or are dealers.:)

Welcome to the site.

With the 4 cards you have shown, you have a lot of value there! Do your homework to ensure you're not taken for a ride.

Those 4 you showed would most likely grade between 3 n 5's, maybe/likely higher based on the scans/pics just to give you somewhat of an idea on value.

Good luck. :)

Dale, this gentleman is a brand new poster. Honestly, he may not have the foggiest notion of how to do his homework. He will probably need a lot of help, beginning to end. The first auction house I thought of which I feel would be the kindest and fairest to him is Love of the Game Auctions.

And so, 8thEastVB, my advice is to contact the president of LOVE OF THE GAME AUCTIONS, Mr. Al Crisafulli. His company email is info@loveofthegameauctions.com. The phone number is (845)750-6366. Being from New York, I'm certain they are on EST.

Al himself has been a collector for over 30 years, and has been running his auction house for over 10 years. I have won one of their items before, and they were very professional. The item was precisely as described and shown. Their fees are fair.

Furthermore, 8thEastVB, nobody asked me to recommend them to you. As a senior, I appreciate good, honest guidance. So, here you are, bro. I too wish you the best. -- Brian Powell

Hi all. There are many people on this board with much more experience than myself, but I just wanted to second Brian's recommendation of Love of the Game (if you choose to go the auction house route). I got a little nervous a few months back, getting laid off when COVID hit - I got worried the economy would take a hit and I may have more need of cash vs. cards. I got in touch with Al and consigned approx. 100 cards with his auction. Great experience and very professional.

Granted, all my cards were graded vs. raw - but I'm sure they can handle or assist with a recommendation of what cards should be graded and the grading process.

Just as an aside, I was very happy with the auction house choice vs. ebay. With all the new collectors/investors, there seems to be a dramatic increase in non-paying bidders, returns (for multiple reasons), shill bidding, scams, etc. That stuff can drive you crazy! Auction houses take on all that risk. My second choice would have been the BST (Buy/Sell/Trade) section on this and a few other message boards.

Like Brian said, I am in no way affiliated with LOTG, just letting you know of a good experience I had.

Good luck and feel free to post any questions to this thread. The amount of knowledge on this board can be invaluable.

Scott

If you're thinking about selling them to 'online buyers,' just know they're going to have to low-ball you big-time, because they need to turn them into a sizable profit for themselves. It's a really bad option for you. Auction houses are a better fit. Plus, there are a lot of people on net54 with plenty of scratch to throw around, so maybe post some high-res scans in the Buy/Sell/Trade section here and start talking with potential buyers. Maybe you can move some that way (in a beneficial way to both parties).

Brain, re-read his post. He found out about this site, he catalogued every card in vintage card prices, and by the sounds of it, to me anyways, he does understand, somewhat, something about grading. Also, and I am only assuming here, however, that in all likelihood, his father in-law likely gave/provided him with some info, possible value back then, about the cards.

In hindsight, instead of writing, "do your homework", I should have wrote, "continue doing your homework" instead.

I second LOTG. He will navigate the grading process to you and is very honest, You would probably only pay a minimal fee if anything as he make his money from the buyers. He will take good care of you.

LOTG stands for Love of the Game (http://loveofthegameauctions.com/default.aspx) No affiliation, but good experiences.

Auth
 

I think valuing things as AUTH could potentially give him a very low estimate of the actual value here. I would not just walk into a local shop with these cards you could accidentally leave with a bad deal. I think you should go with a consignment place where you get a percentage of final sales therefore you know you are not leaving a lot of $ on the table, if you get 80% of the sales or whatever from a good company you know you won't get your clocked clean

Dale, I realize the man has truly done a lot of cataloguing, but you and I both know, in today's collecting world, he should at least get the better cards professionally graded by PSA and submitted to a reputable auction house such as Love of the Game, if he has any real hopes of maximizing the financial benefit from the collection.

Sure, he knows something about grading and mentions a couple firms, but looking closely at his statements and pleas for help and advice, he sums up that he "don't really know where to start".

Getting his cards graded and on the auction block is a service provided by Love of the Game, at a price of course, but if he allows them to get them graded, he of course will allow Love of the Game to do what they do best----provide good write-ups, photo scans of the cards, and a reputable and worthy auction experience for collectors who will definitely want part of the man's collection. My five cents. --- Brian Powell

Consider this post to be me adding myself to the list of people who think contacting Love of the Game Auctions would be a great idea.

Doug "and I would only get them graded if LOTG says to" Goodman

Auction is not always the best or most financially optimal way of selling
 

First off this is not a knock to any auction house as I know lotg and others are great reputable houses.

This is raising the point that auction is not always the best route to sell. Most buyers figure in the 20% buyers premium, shipping and sales tax when placing bids - assuming a collection like this would garner a 0% sellers commission - which is not a guarantee depending on the other cards in the collection. That nets the seller 20%+ less than current market. I know as a dealer I would and have offered to buy the pictured cards at 80% of current market right now.

If the cards were truly unique in some way - rare, condition anomalies, etc then I would agree that auction would be the best route. The cards pictured are not that and have as good a chance of selling a bit under market as at or over it. Likely netting the seller under 80% of market. It is very short sighted to think buyers are willing to pay the auction house 20% premium ON TOP OF market price on cards that are readily available.

That all said I certainly agree at least all pictured cards should be 3rd party graded prior to sale - likely more from the collection.

If anyone here has similar cards my offer stands - 80% of current market. My email is hcv123@att.net.

Doug-- that is the closest I have ever seen you get to "endorsing" grading, even if it is only if Al C says so :)

But I too would trust his judgement

Love of the Game. Definitely for ungraded cards.

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who read, responded and sent PMs.

I appreciate the insights and thoughts. I still have a lot to learn and more work, homework, due diligence, etc to do. I will say this doesn’t feel like work and I’m looking forward to what the short and long term future will yield.

I feel more confident I’ll find someone or multiple people to help shepherd me through the evaluation phase, determining what to grade or not to grade and how to get these cards into the hands of people who value them.

Glad to have found this board and more to come.

These cards have gone untouched for decades and this isn’t about getting cash fast. That would be the exact opposite of what my father in law would have wanted.

Just sharing a few more as I’m starting to appreciate these more and more- thank you all again.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7392c76bd1.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...81bde3630a.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c2d28aea6d.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The way these cards look, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor by getting them graded if you sell them yourself. I think if I was going to use an auction house, I'd let them grade the cards for you, because it is a hassle to get cards graded. Plus, it's been reported that PSA is backlogged and taking months to get cards graded.

You have some beautiful cards, and I wish you luck in selling them. Many here know much more than I do, on what the best avenue would be to sell them. I am very envious of practically all those cards you've posted though :D. Especially those Mantles!

Well, Adam, some of us have advised him to get his collection PSA-graded, and you're saying Love of the Game is best for ungraded, which means you would have another auction house in mind for graded cards. Hey, I am no expert on the current auction house scene. In my day, it was Mastro Fine Sports, which is now caput. Please, by all means Adam, advise this gentleman who you believe are the top 2 or even 3 best for GRADED CARDS.

After all, he gets one chance to sign with one auction house, to get it right the first and only time.

I actually could use the same advice, sir, so when you have a bit of time, ponder the matter, and present your case, please:o. --- Brian Powell

Whether the OP ultimately sells them graded or ungraded, Lee Behrens will Sterling would be a great avenue for selling them. What a terrific guy!

Hmm, this is how a new collector starts sometimes...Other than the issues with the split between sisters, it would be a heck of a way to jump into collecting sports cards.

I can't tell you how many fantasies I had (I'm sure everyone else who collects too) about finding an old card stash with someone who had no interest and would end up giving it to me or finding a long lost collection of an older relative.

Of course, harsh reality sets in and nobody I am aware of in my family collected and saved any cards prior to me getting started, never found anyone with cards that were any good and/or that wanted to give them to me!

My best card "gift" I received was a 5K box of 1988 Fleer baseball that a coworker gave me that belonged to her son, who apparently no longer wanted them. There were a few bundles of decent players (I recall Edgar RCs, as he was a local favorite), but it was 88 FLEER after all!

Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

Hell, Brian, any auctioneer can sell a graded card; just takes two scans, a rudimentary command of English and the small skill set needed to upload the scans; I can do that. Al is very good at figuring out what to grade and recommending which grading cos. to go with to do it. What I meant was that whatever isn't graded will get treated properly instead of thrown into a massive pile/grab bag/shoebox lot for dealers to buy and break down at a large profit on eBay.