Advice on how to sell my T206 near set/collection

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Posted By: George

Hello,
I don't post much(once or twice I believe) but am always reading the threads on a weekly basis and love all the info and talk about baseball cards. Recently found out the wife is pregnant with our first. So the dream of completing my set I started 2 years ago will have to be postponed for a later time in life.
I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on what the best way to sell would be, individual lots on ebay, major auction house, obviously looking for the best return but would be a big job for me to do myself but an auction house has the buyer premium that bothers many potential buyers. Just looking for some feedback/thoughts. I believe I am #29 on the registry for t206 set and #19 for the t206 hall of famer so not complete set but decent size. Just looking for some advice/feedback

George

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

The best return would be selling them individually on eBay. It is a lot of work to do it yourself and if you have good feedback you should get good results. Or you could use a consignment service to list it on eBay for you.

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Posted By: Dennis

since all your cards are graded, you can do a little research on ebay and vintage card prices web site, you can check what similiar cards sold for,using that info you could list the common cards on the buy sell thread right here,with set prices you are comfortable with.probably with out scanning them. t205s and t206s are very popular w/collectors here. you can then auction the Hall of Famers/ southern leaguers / tough backs etc. on ebay or again sell here with set prices. this would save you time and put more $$ in your pocket.

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

Dennis is correct. I hope you put some on the buy/sale/trade board here. I am always looking on that board for T206 cards.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

If you were to go the auction house route, I'm sure that nearly all of the big houses would be willing to cut you a decent break on their commission rate. It sounds like you have an impressive collection, and that should make them all clamour and drool! Just keep in mind that some prices will likely be down as the result of the economy. If I were in your position, and if I felt I could, I would hang on to EVERY card that I knew would fetch a better rate in a brighter economy.

As someone already mentioned, the B/S/T is a great place for you to save all the pesky fees and deal with some good collectors on a more personal level. To save yourself the time, I would create an ad that simply says, "Selling off my voluminous T205-06 collection! Send me your want lists and I'll get back to you ASAP". Around here, transactions are relatively headache-free.

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Posted By: Sean C

for the more common cards / variations / grades, I'd say eBay them. For the better cards, I'd go with REA if you can wait until their next auction, Mastro if you can't.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I don't think a big auction house is the best way to go if you prefer to break it up, because the big houses will just regroup them. In that case, you might as well leave it intact.

I don't think the buyer's premium is a deterrent, as all bidders are used to it by now.

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Posted By: Scott T

...but I see far too many 4's and 5's (and not nearly enough 1's and 2's) for my budget.

That being said, I will merely close by saying congrats on the upcoming little one.

Scott

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Posted By: richie

Congrads. I say keep cards. Hope for a little boy. Finish rest of set with him. God Bless

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Posted By: George

In a perfect world, trust me..I would love to keep the set.

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Posted By: Eric B

Since they are graded, subscribe for a month to VCP, get an average of the last 3-4 sales of each card for the grade, and add them up. Take off 10% for recent economic conditions, and list on the B/S/T.

You easily make up the 10% by not spending a lot of time and having no auction fees. The buyer saves 10% and lots of postage by buying 1 lot.

It's a win/win deal.

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Posted By: T206Collector

I had all of mine graded by SGC -- at the end I paid $5 per card to get the last 200 or so graded. It was a $1,000 investment, but it was WELL worth it.

I broke the set down by grade and sold off lots of commons and HOFers in small bulks. Individual cards that attract a lot of attention (e.g., minor variations, better HOFers or rarities), I put those on ebay and let the bidders decide.

It takes some time and a little patience, but I liquidated about 450 T206 cards in about three weeks. It was actually a lot of fun, but I don't envy the economic climate of the current T206 market.

Good luck with your sale and the new addition to your family!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Visit http://www.t206collector.com for Net54 T206 archive, signed deadball card galleries, articles and more!

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Posted By: Ron Rice

Hi George,
I'm also collecting a PSA set of T206. I'm slightly ahead of you in the set ratings under the name RonsQuest. I still have a ways to go. I noticed that you have 54% of the set which is a good accomplishment.

In building my set, I acquired many of the cards through Ebay. I'd say Ebay prices are down 10-15% currently, but should increase with the 100th anniversary of the set occuring in 2009. So hang onto some of them if you can. Your having 54% of a set is a problem for consigning to the big auction houses in that it's not quite a set but its too big of a lot to get maximum value.

You can sell them individually on Ebay and you can generally predict what 4's and 5's will sell for. However it's a tedious process. Knowing the approx. value, I'd use the B/S/T board but also I'd contact other PSA set builders and try to make private sales first. Through PSA you can see which collectors are actively buying PSA T206's. Cut out the middle man by selling directly to other collectors, instead of re-sellers. I've had other set registry guys contact me when they were selling, and it worked out. Then use Ebay to sell the remainder separately, or consign lots of 100 or so to an auction house.

Ron

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Posted By: Scott Levy

Good advice from Ron. On that subject did you get my email George?

Regards,
Scott

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Posted By: Anonymous

Some good suggestions. But I believe the 100th anniversary will have absolutely no influence on prices.

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Posted By: George Leidemer

Hello,

After some great advice from many of you I have begun to get my feet wet and list some of my collection on the BST. At the risk of sounding computer illiterate, what is the easiest way to post, say 50 or 100 pics on a bst thread or is that not recommended. I just did my first BST post with 4 cards, do I have to attach each link for each card or is there a way to send the person to a site that shows everything. Sorry if this is unclear.

George Leidemer

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Posted By: Sean

George,
I think if you set up a Photobucket account you can post your photos there and link to that for the photos...I think you're right about the number of photos, if its over 10 it will take a while to load and people might pass.

Good Luck!

Sean

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Posted By: George Leidemer

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Posted By: JimB

Ebay could be good, but you should consider how much your time is worth. Selling a few hundred cards individually on ebay is a big time commitment. I would consider consigning to one of the smaller auction houses like Barry's that will divide it up into multiple lots (perhaps organized by team or grade or whatever). One other suggestion that would probably sell a good chunk of them is to put a big list on the BST here. Be clear that prices are firm, include shipping in the US, and go on a first come first serve basis. You will probably sell a lot of them that way at the price you want and without consignment fees. Set the prices at fair levels. If you set them too high, you will just be wasting your time. Then consign the rest.
JimB

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Posted By: Ted Sherman

Hi George,

in anticipation of one day selling my collection, I scanned and uploaded almost my entire collection directly into the PSA set regustry. Now I can provide a link to every card/set or the entire collection very easily

My Sets

http://www.psacard.com/SetRegistry/OtherSets.aspx?m=1114

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Posted By: Steve

Ted's advice is sound just do not name the set " My 206's for sale"

They frown on that.

But sending the people there to look at them is a great way.

Steve

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Posted By: Jim VB

I know little (or nothing) about registries, but wouldn't using the PSA site only work for cards that were PSA graded? Several of the cards George listed on the B/S/T are SGC.

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Posted By: George Leidemer

Jim,

In this case, for my situation, it would work as the two cards I have listed on the bst were my only SGC cards in my collection. If split up across grading companies, I agree, it would be a little more challenging.

George

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Posted By: Steve

Sorry, I was under the assumption they were PSA graded cards.

Only those can be registered.


Steve

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Posted By: Doug Bacon

George. 2 years ago when graded cards where at they're highest I sold all my PSA graded t206's. I had a great set with about 400 cards with a bunch of 6's, 7's and some 8's. To avoid any fees at all, I e-mailed all the people in the registry stating that my set was for sale. Within 1 day half the cards were sold. A few of the big buyers paid by check so there were no fees at all. I'm talking $15,000 to $25,000 checks.
Just make up an e-mail and copy and paste in into all the e-mails you send. You will get responses.

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Posted By: George L

Guys,

How many scans can be posted at once in the bst..anyone know. Or should I just send scans to potential buyers if they need to see them?

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Posted By: Tim

George,

I would either send scans upon request, or upload them to a Photo Bucket album and then post a link.

As soon as you list them on the B/S/T I'll request scans of the 14 Boston National players.