Observations from a yard sale - 80s/90s junk cards

[parkplace33]

I went to a yard sale over the weekend that advertised baseball cards. The ad said over 100000 baseball cards, nothing else. No description, no pictures.

I got there early and pulled up. About 10 others guys were there, ready to go. The yard sale was about 10 folding tables. Each table had 4 5000 count boxes.

As soon as I walked up to the first box, I knew this sale wasn’t for me. The box was full of 80s/90s baseball junk. Fleer Score Topps. All commons, all picked over. I asked the seller how much he wanted. He told me a penny a card, 100 cards for $1. My guess is that this was an old dealer or store collection.

What I couldn’t believe was that the others guys there thought this was a gold mine. I heard one guy ask if he could buy the whole collection for a discount. Seller said no. Another guy was buying these cards by the monster box, not even checking what was in there. Two guys were talking about submitting these cards, getting 10s, and then selling them for “major profit”. I am sure the seller sold out and probably did well selling the cards at 100 for $1.

As I walked away, I couldn’t help but think I was in an episode of the twilight zone.

[D. Bergin]

I wonder if these guys are aware it's going to cost them $300 (assuming it's PSA), to get each one of their penny cards graded.

[Yoda]

Those guys have the fever real bad.

[obcbobd]

Interesting. I had a similar yard sale in about 2003. Advertised BB Cards. A log of Upper Deck 89-92, Stadium Club etc. Not a single person asked about or even looked at them. Off to Goodwill they went.

This weekend I went to a Yard Sale that had just started. As always, I asked if they had any old BB cards. I always ask, and have had some success with 60/70s BB Cards. Keep in mind the sale had just started. They said no cards and I was the second person to ask. That has never happened before.

[BobbyStrawberry]

I've seen stuff like this a few times. I think it may be a combination of gambling addiction and lack of knowledge.

[Johnny630]

I think this is 100% gambling. There are dumpster divers that will go out there and spend $10 on a mega box without even looking through it hoping for a hit or a mistake so I guess that’s their way of gambling. The guy asking for a discount if he bought a bunch that’s Funny they are already a penny apiece.

[BCauley]

This is going back a bit, to 2004, but before I went into the military I purged a ton of my collection. Sold probably 5-6 different auctions, each containing four 5,000 count boxes, and they all sold for anywhere from $20-$25. I made it clear that most of it was junk era cards, no stars and all commons, and the shipping cost more than the cards ended at. Everything was paid for and got positive feedback on everything. What became of those cards I have no idea but I guess there's a buyer for everything.

[todeen]

They are being cut up into slices and used for card collages of important athletes.

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[Buythatcard]

This reminds me when I first started selling on eBay and knew very little about the value of cards. I thought I saw this great deal on eBay for boxes of cards. There were 100,000 cards for about $250. I said to myself, that I would sell each card individually and get rich off of this. I bought the cards.

The day of delivery, there was a 16 wheeler parked outside of my house. They started bringing in box after box of cards. Had no room in my house, so I had them laid out in my garage. All I kept thinking, that this is my golden ticket.

I started going thru the boxes and all the cards were from the 90's and early 2000's. I started listing them on eBay and they were not selling. The few that sold, went for a penny. I then realized that this was not a good time period for cards and decided to not sell these.

I started breaking them up into smaller boxes and posted on the bulletin board at work that I was giving out free baseball cards. People started showing up that I never met before at my job. It started to move pretty quick so I posted one box per person. I discovered that some people started sending their coworkers to pick up more boxes for them. That's when I said, no more.

I was still left with about 75,000 cards when I was talking to a friend who happened to be an oncologist at a children's hospital. He said that the kids would love to have some of the cards. That's when I decided to donate the rest of the cards to the hospital. That to me was worth a million dollars.

It also opened up my eyes. I said to myself that if I want to make a little extra cash, then maybe I should try to sell vintage cards. That's what I did and am still doing it for 18 years.

[chalupacollects]

Yep, was at a garage sale a couple of weeks back that advertised 80's-90's cards so took a ride over to see if the guy had any vintage. Stumbled on a conversation with the owner and young fella negotiating price on 10 800 card boxes. As the young fella was chatting on the phone I asked how much per box and he said $50 per. I looked around to follow where this went. Young fella started to tell the owner he is starting a card business with a friend and worked owner down to $35 per box... Owner agreed and young fella was happy to peel off $350 and scoot away. I asked the owner if he new what he had in the boxes and he told me all junk from early 90's mostly and a lot of it was stuck together. Felt bad for the young fella as trying to launch a card business at this time with prices so high, it will be tough to make a dollar...

[puckpaul]

It’s not a lot of money we are talking about here. Honestly, this would be more newsworthy if no one was interested at all.

Those guys might even say it’s foolish to spend $5000 on a beater Cobb of which there are hundreds if not thousands, which you could lose $4900 on someday. What did they spend, $15?

[bobbyw8469]

Good story. I'm with you. Modern doesn't interest me.

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

This reminds me when I first started selling on eBay and knew very little about the value of cards. I thought I saw this great deal on eBay for boxes of cards. There were 100,000 cards for about $250. I said to myself, that I would sell each card individually and get rich off of this. I bought the cards.

The day of delivery, there was a 16 wheeler parked outside of my house. They started bringing in box after box of cards. Had no room in my house, so I had them laid out in my garage. All I kept thinking, that this is my golden ticket.

I started going thru the boxes and all the cards were from the 90's and early 2000's. I started listing them on eBay and they were not selling. The few that sold, went for a penny. I then realized that this was not a good time period for cards and decided to not sell these.

I started breaking them up into smaller boxes and posted on the bulletin board at work that I was giving out free baseball cards. People started showing up that I never met before at my job. It started to move pretty quick so I posted one box per person. I discovered that some people started sending their coworkers to pick up more boxes for them. That's when I said, no more.

I was still left with about 75,000 cards when I was talking to a friend who happened to be an oncologist at a children's hospital. He said that the kids would love to have some of the cards. That's when I decided to donate the rest of the cards to the hospital. That to me was worth a million dollars.

It also opened up my eyes. I said to myself that if I want to make a little extra cash, then maybe I should try to sell vintage cards. That's what I did and am still doing it for 18 years.

[Frankish]

If you enjoy sorting through the cards, I imagine it would possible to make a little profit from lots like that. Of course, it depends how thoroughly picked over the cards were. My very limited experience (buying a couple of boxes to go through with my five year old son) is that they weren't THAT picked over. The obvious big money (admittedly, a relative term here) cards were pulled, but there were plenty of errors or print defects present.

It seems unlikely there would be "major profit" in boxes like these...but, again, that's a relative term. If sorting through cards is something you enjoy in and of itself, then your cost of time is essentially zero, and if you make $50/hour all told that might be great for you. On the other hadn't, if you are a hedge fund manager doing it solely for profit, scouring garage sales each weekend would never really be worth your time (financially) even if you found a $0.05 52T Mantle each month.

Happened to read this thread because a friend of mine is leaving the country and dumping boxes of 88-92 cards. It would never be worth my time from a financial perspective, but I'll probably sort through these with my son to see what we find. Admittedly, these haven't been picked over, so I know there are at least a few desirable cards. We'll just donate the commons to a local kids' organization.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

I was still left with about 75,000 cards when I was talking to a friend who happened to be an oncologist at a children's hospital. He said that the kids would love to have some of the cards. That's when I decided to donate the rest of the cards to the hospital. That to me was worth a million dollars.

It also opened up my eyes. I said to myself that if I want to make a little extra cash, then maybe I should try to sell vintage cards. That's what I did and am still doing it for 18 years.

I donated 40,000 cards to the YMCA about 2005; told the director to give them away or auction them, I could care less. I left in some big name stars so the kids would be excited to get a card of someone they knew. I was young, a bachelor, and knew I could never unload those cards any other way. I walked away stress free. Now I look back, and I think, "Maybe I'd have liked to have maybe 100 of the cards I gave away." But it's somebody else's problem.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by todeen

They are being cut up into slices and used for card collages of important athletes.

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Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Perhaps he is a supplier to the folks that cut up these cards to make artwork that depicts cards. I imagine these artists need a lot of cards to create just one piece.

Brian

Great minds not only think alike, but we are both probably thinking how we can get into this lucrative hobby supply business.

Brian

[TedWill1939]

Dumb question: Is it possible that junk wax could have some value in the future? After years of being trashed, cut up, ect, the circulation could be limited due to decades of attrition?

[insidethewrapper]

What is considered the #1 junk wax box ? 1988 Donruss ? I see the 1988 Topps Wax Boxes are now selling in the $25-30 range on ebay. I thought these were junk when I was buying at $ 5-10 a box per case.

[oldeboo]

I get the appeal of buying unopened junk wax boxes. For some, it's hard to beat the nostalgia factor and the ability to rip a bunch of packs for $20 or whatever. It's not for me, but I get it. It's much like those buying monster boxes of junk. There is a chance the box wasn't completely picked over and still has a few decent cards. There is also a chance that a few good cards are in there from outside of the junk wax era. There are even some hoarding junk wax while they watch others throw the cards in landfills and burn pits. It's going to take a lot of burning until there is significant value, but "one day" is the hope I suppose. Junk wax isn't for everyone.

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

What is considered the #1 junk wax box ? 1988 Donruss ?

I think 88 and 89 Score are battling for #1

[maniac_73]

Originally Posted by TedWill1939

Dumb question: Is it possible that junk wax could have some value in the future? After years of being trashed, cut up, ect, the circulation could be limited due to decades of attrition?

Junk wax actually has a bit of a lift in the last year with the rookies getting a bump but over time it will go back down there is just way too much out there. Even in a hundred years the product wont dry up

[todeen]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Great minds not only think alike, but we are both probably thinking how we can get into this lucrative hobby supply business.

Brian

Actually, I want to buy some 1987 Fleer so that I can try to create my own pinterest fail! Wanna try to make the T206 Speaker. Anyone want to unload some 1987 Fleer? I need to cut them up for the blue background.

[ocjack]

Are there actually people who know all of the print errors/variations in junk years, that can go thru a 10,000 count box of random years without having to look up every card on a spreadsheet?

[buymycards]

Originally Posted by ocjack

Are there actually people who know all of the print errors/variations in junk years, that can go thru a 10,000 count box of random years without having to look up every card on a spreadsheet?

I don't know anything about the errors and variations, so I'm sure that I missed some that were in my purchases, but I don't enjoy going through the 1989 Topps commons looking for them and I am not going to take the time to learn about them.

Hopefully, the person who buys the commons from me will find some cards that are worth a few bucks.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by todeen

Actually, I want to buy some 1987 Fleer so that I can try to create my own pinterest fail! Wanna try to make the T206 Speaker. Anyone want to unload some 1987 Fleer? I need to cut them up for the blue background.

No 1987 Fleer, but hope the T206 Speaker is a fun project for you. Just don't get desperate and start cutting up vintage cards just to get the right color!

Brian

[jayshum]

I had a large group of Topps cards from 2002 to around 2012 out at a yard sale last month, but there was absolutely no interest in them. Are they too new to be of use to anyone?