OT/ Question about selling on B/S/T

[ethicsprof]

I like to think of B/S/T as BEST, as it has been a great experience for me for several years now.
I would note that after all these years, I generally know who offers the fair prices and upon seeing the name, I take a look at the wares of Option one.
With Leon, option 3 doesn't work for me---kind of like asking what I'd offer for the
fancy sports car. Option 2 works somewhat in the same way as option one for me,
in that I generally know who offers the high,unrealistic prices with the result being quite different in that I most often don't take a look at the wares.

all the best,
barry

[Bocabirdman]

Two weeks ago I won a couple of 1956 commons over on the Bay. The set that I am building kinda stalled at the 275 card mark. I spent the next 12 days actively pusuing the set and scored, I believe, three more cards. Not long ago I posted a "B" BST request for T206s and was flooded with offers. This success led me to decide to put the remaining 30 common/Medium Dawgs that I needed into a list and put it on the BST. Less than 24 hours and two transactions later (Thanks to Dave and Brian), I have 29 out of 30 on the way. I am blown away. I need to put together at least 4 more lists. I think one of the greatest advantages to the BST is the ease of communication between buyer and seller.

[smtjoy]

I agree with the 3 guy example but I think there is a 4th not often talked about.

Guy #4 prices his cards too low and they are sold within minutes/hours on the BST with the possibility of them soon showing up on ebay and/or AH. This is not always a mistake as it can be done for quick cash flow and no hassle if you are ok leaving money on the table.

IMO this is who guy #2 is trying to avoid being by setting his price high and then reducing over time.

Proper pricing depends on a lot of factors, I use VCP and it can be a big help assuming the card has past sales, on mainsteam Topps/Bowman cards you can use this or you can probable find closed ebay sales for free that are the best. For raw mainstream cards I judge what I think the card would grade if slabbed then reduce it by about 10%. SMR and book pricing are terrible and imo not worth even looking at. For scarce seldom seen cards that have little to no past sales I think you are much better off going to ebay or AH.

[glchen]

For fair pricing, I would look at completed auctions on ebay (or other resources like VCP), and price accordingly.

[ctownboy]

Thanks for the info.

Here is the history of most of these cards.

Back in the early 1990's, I stopped buying the shiny stuff and started to focus on completing my earlier sets. I was also looking for the real OLD stuff but it was hard to find. Remember, this is pre-internet days and I was living in a small town in Indiana. Anyway, I put some ads in some local newspapers saying I was interested in buying older baseball cards. I received some phone calls and eventually bought cards from three different guys.

The guys I bought these cards from were the original owners. They had collected them as boys and kept them all these years. By buying these three collections, I put a large dent in completing my 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961 Topps sets. I probably overpaid for the cards because they used the Beckett monthly price guide.

Anyway, the doubles from those collections have been sitting in my closet for the last 15 - 20 years. On a side note, I learned how LOVED Mickey Mantle was from these three guys. All three had Mantle cards in their collections and all three would NOT sell their Mantles. Those were the ONLY cards they wouldn't sell.

I am going to scan a few cards to show what I have. Then I think I will make a list of the cards I have and check eBay for prices and then see whta I can do on B/S/T.

Thanks again for all of your help and ideas.

David

[tonyo]

I don't sell that often but when I do, I start with "what I have in the card" unless I see that they are selling for more on ebay (which is rare)

[buymycards]

Hi,
I have sold a lot of stuff on the BST. Sometimes I will put something on at $40, and if it doesn't move I gradually drop the price. Sometime the lower prices results in a sale, sometimes not.

My goal is to make 40% on the cards I sell. If I buy it for $10 and sell it for $14 then I am happy. Sometimes I make more and sometimes I make less and sometimes I lose money but if I average 40% then I am happy.

Sometimes when I list something it is sold in a few minutes which leads me to believe that I priced it low, but that is OK. If I bought it for $10 and sold it for $20 and it shows up on ebay for $30 I am OK with that. If someone has a market for my cards and they can make a few bucks on them hopefully they will come back for more. The object is to move the cards, make a few bucks, and use the profit to buy something for my personal collection.

Don't worry about what other people think about your prices. Put them on the BST with some good scans and see what happens. If they sit around for a week then lower the prices and try again.

Good luck with your sales!

Rick