Graded vs. Raw Rant.......

[homerunhitter]

Ben,
This is based on my own experiences selling cards to the local LCS. I get it that they need to buy low to make a profit but most thst (of course not all) that I’ve dealt with are slimy shady people. Example, “of this box of 1954 topps, I’ll give you $50 for!” or “this 1956 topps Willie Mays is not in great condition, I’ll give you $20 for it” most take advantage of people so they can make a buck.

Greg,

I definitely wouldnt have the patience or time to list card by card for thousands of cards or deal with problem buyers, so eBay wouldn’t work for me particularly. With graded, no patience to wait a year to get my cards back! Plus most of my raw are 1950’s lower grade commons.

Greg morris might be a got fit when the time comes but i thought he only dies high end vintage? (Not sure my low end vintage fits his business model) and also don’t you have to inventory every card you send in to him. (Great if you only had a few cards but what if you are sending in thousands!)

Thanks guys! I appreciate you both.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

This is based on my own experiences selling cards to the local LCS.

I definitely wouldnt have the patience or time to list card by card for thousands of cards or deal with problem buyers, so eBay wouldn’t work for me particularly. With graded, no patience to wait a year to get my cards back!

If you're not willing to take the trouble and put in the work and pay the overhead (e.g. brick and mortar store, convention booth fees, advertising), you're not going to get top dollar. Only those who put in the effort and endure the costs get top dollar. So don't expect nearly top dollar unless you're willing to do likewise.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Ben,
This is based on my own experiences selling cards to the local LCS. I get it that they need to buy low to make a profit but most thst (of course not all) that I’ve dealt with are slimy shady people. Example, “of this box of 1954 topps, I’ll give you $50 for!” or “this 1956 topps Willie Mays is not in great condition, I’ll give you $20 for it” most take advantage of people so they can make a buck.

Greg,

I definitely wouldnt have the patience or time to list card by card for thousands of cards or deal with problem buyers, so eBay wouldn’t work for me particularly. With graded, no patience to wait a year to get my cards back! Plus most of my raw are 1950’s lower grade commons.

Greg morris might be a got fit when the time comes but i thought he only dies high end vintage? (Not sure my low end vintage fits his business model) and also don’t you have to inventory every card you send in to him. (Great if you only had a few cards but what if you are sending in thousands!)

Thanks guys! I appreciate you both.

I mean, any way you sell them you will realistically need to inventory what they are, whether graded or raw, auction house or eBay. If you have a bunch of low grade commons, you can sell them in lots the same as they are usually bought. If you send graded to an auction house an inventory list will still be needed. Low grade 50's common cards are worth less than the cost of a slab, so graded would make no sense for thousands of low grade 50's commons. Selling those cards graded would be a massive loss of money, where raw you can get about what you put into them right back. Any sale requires a little bit of work, whether that's driving to an outdated LCS you feel rips you off, selling lots on eBay, consigning graded to an auction house or any other method.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by G1911

I mean, any way you sell them you will realistically need to inventory what they are, whether graded or raw, auction house or eBay. If you have a bunch of low grade commons, you can sell them in lots the same as they are usually bought. If you send graded to an auction house an inventory list will still be needed. Low grade 50's common cards are worth less than the cost of a slab, so graded would make no sense for thousands of low grade 50's commons. Selling those cards graded would be a massive loss of money, where raw you can get about what you put into them right back. Any sale requires a little bit of work, whether that's driving to an outdated LCS you feel rips you off, selling lots on eBay, consigning graded to an auction house or any other method.

I'm going to agree with Greg on this one.

Sadly, based on what you've described of your collection (raw, low-grade, postwar) if you want to sell fast with minimal effort, then you're likely to need to take a big haircut, because someone else is going to have to put forth all the effort to market the stuff and find multiple buyers.

On the other hand, if you want to maximize your value, then your best bet is likely to require retailing them yourself, or maybe working with a consignment shop that will take a decent cut, and could take a while, unless they're running auctions with end dates, in which case you're taking a bit of a gamble with what the market will bring that week for your precise pieces, and who's paying attention and looking to buy the stuff that you're selling.

Any way you slice it, there are going to be tradeoffs, and only you can decide which of those tradeoffs makes the most sense for you personally based on your situation and hopes and dreams.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by raulus

...if you want to sell fast with minimal effort, then you're likely to need to take a big haircut, because someone else is going to have to put forth all the effort to market the stuff and find multiple buyers.

Precisely! If you want a quick sale, you'll have to take a big haircut. That's the way it works.

[homerunhitter]

What im trying to do/say with my collection is, what will be the easier, less painful way to liquidate my collection in the future when I am an old fart and too old to deal with eBay and too old to handwrite (or type) a inventory list of thousands of cards or too old to walk into a LCS to sell (can you imagine how a LCS will take advantage of a 80 or 90 year old trying to sell his or her collection) so for me graded is the easiest because I can just put it in a box (no inventory sheet needed) and send it to a consignment company like probstein) or if it’s graded as an old fart a LCS can’t say “this card is in horrible condition” when I can day , im it’s graded a 3, 4 or 5. So graded is easier but I love raw cards! So trying to figure out the best route to go with raw cards.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

So trying to figure out the best route to go with raw cards.

Keep 'em raw. That way their presence will comfort you on your death bed. That worked for Angelo Savelli.

[homerunhitter]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Keep 'em raw. That way their presence will comfort you on your death bed. That worked for Angelo Savelli.

Not helpful!

[raulus]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

What im trying to do/say with my collection is, what will be the easier, less painful way to liquidate my collection in the future when I am an old fart and too old to deal with eBay and too old to handwrite (or type) a inventory list of thousands of cards or too old to walk into a LCS to sell (can you imagine how a LCS will take advantage of a 80 or 90 year old trying to sell his or her collection) so for me graded is the easiest because I can just put it in a box (no inventory sheet needed) and send it to a consignment company like probstein) or if it’s graded as an old fart a LCS can’t say “this card is in horrible condition” when I can day , im it’s graded a 3, 4 or 5. So graded is easier but I love raw cards! So trying to figure out the best route to go with raw cards.

Based on what you've shared about your collection, it sounds like you're stuck.

It's not economical to get them graded, at least not based on current values and costs to grade. And yet you don't want to have to deal with the process of cataloguing and marketing them yourself once you get too old for this [stuff].

Assuming that you're still a ways off from that day, I would probably vote for putting off any decision, and instead worrying about it when you get closer. There's really no easy solution today, and it's possible that something will change between now and then where a better solution will arise. Values for your items could spike or costs to grade could fall (either of which could make grading a better option), new selling channels could appear for raw cards, thermonuclear war could make it all moot, or the computers could stage an uprising and destroy all of humanity. Lots could happen that might change your calculus and approach.

So in the meantime, I'd just enjoy what you have, and reserve that problem for another day that is hopefully well into the future. And if you put it off forever until it's everlastingly too late, then hopefully your heirs will have the energy to manage it. And if not, then my guess is that you probably will have more important things to be worried about.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

What im trying to do/say with my collection is, what will be the easier, less painful way to liquidate my collection in the future when I am an old fart and too old to deal with eBay and too old to handwrite (or type) a inventory list of thousands of cards or too old to walk into a LCS to sell (can you imagine how a LCS will take advantage of a 80 or 90 year old trying to sell his or her collection) so for me graded is the easiest because I can just put it in a box (no inventory sheet needed) and send it to a consignment company like probstein) or if it’s graded as an old fart a LCS can’t say “this card is in horrible condition” when I can day , im it’s graded a 3, 4 or 5. So graded is easier but I love raw cards! So trying to figure out the best route to go with raw cards.

It really comes down to how much you want to spend, how many cards you want, and how easy they are to sell. Like the old saying goes, pick the two you want because you can't have all three.

Raw cards are way cheaper and you can easily have 3-5X of the same exact card for the price of a singe graded version. So you can get a very impressive collection for the price of a small stack of cards in plastic slabs. Could also enjoy a few cards you really like that are easy to sell. Heck you can even do a little of both.

[homerunhitter]

Thank you both for some very good advice and thoughts on this. I appreciate you.

Yes, I am stuck but Ben, you have an excellent solution as mentioned, I can collect t my raw cards bit also maybe get a few graded cards of my favorite cards such as a 54 Hank Aaron or 55 Clemente or a 68 Seaver and I really like a 64 Pete Rose. Then I can have the best of both words. I can leave the 51-59 topps to my heirs one day to do whatever they want with it. If they put the box in the trash so be it but at least the nicer bigger cards will be slabbed for resale. I think this is the perfection solution for what I want to accomplish with my collection. Thank you!

[raulus]

Nothing quite like a double post.