Posted By:
warshawlawAnyone remember Teletrade? Then you also remember what a rip-off it was and why it died.
Some years ago I decided to refocus my card collecting and started getting rid of the odds and ends I'd accumulated over many years of random buying. Of course, those ugly little E and R cards were the first things to go, because I wanted to concentrate on my Topps and Bowman collection. I dumped a bunch of E93, E120 and E121 cards, all HOFers. I consigned them to Teletrade--which not only had ridiculous commissions (they had a minimum flat fee that escalated, which meant that a cheap card would sell for a huge commission relative to the gross on the lot), they also set absurd minimums. I actually had one lot sell where they set the minimum at a buck above their minimum commission and I netted a buck on the lot, which after shipping costs to get the cards to them actually put me at a loss. I'd have been better flushing them down the toilet. To this day I cringe when I see certain E93 cards.
On another deal, I had a collection purchase which included a large number of 1960s football cards. I hate football and don't care for the cards, so I bundled them up and traded the whole lot (hundreds) for a 1941 Play Ball Whit Wyatt. The FB cards are worth hundreds; ol' Whit ain't.