Selling pre-1980 commons

[Belfast1933]

I’d love to hear advice and experience from others regarding selling pre-1980 commons - I am not a set builder but have thousands of Ex+ commons between 71 and 79

Any advice on:

1 pricing - how do you find comps for common sales that is reliable for both seller and buyer?

2 organizing commons - anyone use the card sorter trays that I’ve seen on Amazon? Do they help?

3 is this worth the time??! I wouldn’t have guessed so but, for example, I have about 300-400 1971 commons I am looking to sell (many of which are very nice) and I might be willing to put some time into it… but NOT to sell $5 here and $3 there

Any advice is welcomed!

Jeff

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Belfast1933

I’d love to hear advice and experience from others regarding selling pre-1980 commons - I am not a set builder but have thousands of Ex+ commons between 71 and 79

Any advice on:

1 pricing - how do you find comps for common sales that is reliable for both seller and buyer?

2 organizing commons - anyone use the card sorter trays that I’ve seen on Amazon? Do they help?

3 is this worth the time??! I wouldn’t have guessed so but, for example, I have about 300-400 1971 commons I am looking to sell (many of which are very nice) and I might be willing to put some time into it… but NOT to sell $5 here and $3 there

Any advice is welcomed!

Jeff

The bottom line is that you have to decide how much time you want to put into it. The more time you put, obviously the more money you will get. I'll use your '71s for example and my advice below is for selling in lots (not individually). If you want to sell individually, that's a different story.

The card sorting trays (which I don't personally use) would only be beneficial if you want to add the card numbers to your listing description. If you do, then obviously they would need to be sorted into numerical order. That takes time. Then, it takes even more time to type out individual card numbers in your listing. Then you'll want to be sure to add the names/description next to the more valuable cards (assuming you have some HOFers, Leaders, Checklists, etc. in the lot). Or you can count the total number of cards and not include the individual card numbers in your listing and save a whole lot of time (i.e. "For Sale 376 1971 Topps Baseball Cards").

Then you have to decide how you want to describe them. Do you want to spend time looking at each individual card's condition? If so, and you list the individual card numbers, do you add the condition next to the card number? That takes time. Or do you just shuffle thru them quickly and get an overall idea of condition (i.e. "Cards range from Ex to Nm/Mt, but average Ex/Mt").

Once you've decided that, then you have to determine how you're going to scan them. There are many ways to do it. Do you scan them all (like in groups of 9)? That takes time. Do you scan the first X (pick a number) cards in the lot to get a representation of the condition? For me personally, I usually scan like the first 6-9 cards and the last 6-9 cards to get a good representation.

As far as pricing, that's just up to you. The more time it takes you, the more you can get because your listing will be more thorough. Don't be afraid to charge for your time. That's just my advice.

[savedfrommyspokes]

I generally use ebay for comps on 70s (semi) common cards, otherwise most low #d 70s commons are $1 cards.

For sorting, I sort by 50s (1-49, 50-99, etc) then use a mat that is prenumbered with #s for the final sort. It is 5 high and 10 wide....I used a poster board to create my sorting mat..

Your final question is the key...is it worth the time to sell $1 commons individually? For most people the answer is no, it's not. Selling them in lots is MUCH easier. Sure you make less money in the long run selling in lots, but the time saved by selling in lots is astronomical when compared to selling as singles.

Higher end 71 commons , unless they are PSA SPs, semi high or high #s, still are best sold in lots.

[BobC]

If there are any small card shows (or even flea markets) ever in your area, you could try going to and setting up at one of them. Assuming most of your cards are raw, and you aren't planning on sending any away to a TPG for grading, you can somewhat quickly and easily sort them in card boxes by year. I'd pull out any of the cards showing stars, HOFs, rookies, and maybe some of the team cards, as well as hi # cards from the very early 70s sets. and put those aside to be sold separately. You can then just put out the boxes to have people go through and buy what they want. You can set a base price per card, and that way you don't have to worry about individually pricing everything. And maybe even throw in a volume discount, like $0.25 a piece, or 5 for a $1.00. That way you get cash, don't have to worry about typing in all kinds of info on Ebay or elsewhere, no stress from mailing and delivery issues or running back and forth to the post office, no worrying about feedback and Ebay or other platform fees, and no 1099 at the end of the year. You can take the HOF/star/rookies and other special cards and individually price those then, and maybe put them in a separate box, or lay them out on the table or in a case if you have/find one. And for something like say common hi # cards from earlier 70's sets, you can put them in separate boxes and charge a bit more per card than you are asking for the bulk of the commons. So instead of say $0.25 a piece and 5 for $1.00 for the commons, maybe you go $1.00 a piece and 6 for $5.00 for hi #s, or something alone those lines, depending on what you're looking to get out of the cards.

There is still work involved, but it is not ongoing like if you continue to put things up on Ebay or some other platform. Plus, it gives you a chance to interact and talk with fellow collectors and can be fun for you, as well as letting you make some money. And when you leave the show and go home, you're not worrying about anything, watching the internet, mailing stuff, etc.

Plus you never know, you might come across someone looking to buy entire boxes off you at a reasonable price. You might get a little less money, but you save all the time and hassle involved in trying to sell them individually or in small groups. Again, it depends on what you want to get out of the cards, and how much time you are willing/able to put into selling them.

One other thing to consider though is the possibility that in all your cards there are likely to be at least some known and collected print variations buried in there. I personally don't spend any great amount of time going after these, other than maybe ones that have for decades been recognized and listed in most checklists out there. So depending on your available time and inclination, you may want to look for such variations as well as you're sorting through your cards. There are some collectors who love going through boxes just to find those hidden variation gems when they can. Again, this is your call as to how much time and effort you want to spend.

And if you don't have any local shows/flea markets, or just don't seem to get much success and buyers that way, you can still always go the Ebay route then. Good luck and gave fun with it.

[Belfast1933]

Fantastic advice all… the Net54 community never lets me down with great advice!

I’ve decided that I am going to pull the non-base cards and then sell the rest as a starter lot. It’s just too much work to try and sell cards individually.

Thanks again for all of the great advice

(and look for some postings from me soon &#128521

Jeff

[mortimer brewster]

Also if selling in lots, make sure you specify if there are duplicates on the lot.

Ex: for sale 350 different 1971 Topps cards (no duplicates)

or

for sale 350 assorted 1971 Topps cards (duplicates exist)

or

for sale 350 assorted 1971 Topps cards (200 different)


If 1973 or earlier maybe specify what series the cards are from.

[Belfast1933]

Originally Posted by mortimer brewster

Also if selling in lots, make sure you specify if there are duplicates on the lot.

Ex: for sale 350 different 1971 Topps cards (no duplicates)

or

for sale 350 assorted 1971 Topps cards (duplicates exist)

or

for sale 350 assorted 1971 Topps cards (200 different)


If 1973 or earlier maybe specify what series the cards are from.

Yes, thanks. I was thinking the same thing.

[Belfast1933]

Last question for this group (and thx again, super helpful already)… I came across this “SportscardPro” site that looks like it’s an aggregator of sold car data from eBay but it includes both raw and graded cards, including commons.

If this seems reasonable, I might use this to roughly price out my commons, make an adjustment for the overall grade of the cards in bulk and then perhaps offer an additional discount in my asking price when I sell as a lot of base commons.

Here is the link below,… Does my pricing logic makes sense do you all?

https://www.sportscardspro.com/conso...ies-only=false

[swarmee]

I would say most of those cards could probably be found on sportlots or COMC for under 50 cents, while the cheapest you can list a BIN for on eBay is 99c. So the numbers from eBay sales are already skewed towards the high side, and selling in bulk does not lead to getting the highest prices for a group. There's no chance you'll sell 350 commons from a year in the 70s for $350, which is what your aggregator will tell you they "sell for" on eBay.

A better comp would be a "starter set" lot lookup, so see if 1971s in bulk normally go for 20c each, or 40c.

[Belfast1933]

Originally Posted by swarmee

I would say most of those cards could probably be found on sportlots or COMC for under 50 cents, while the cheapest you can list a BIN for on eBay is 99c. So the numbers from eBay sales are already skewed towards the high side, and selling in bulk does not lead to getting the highest prices for a group. There's no chance you'll sell 350 commons from a year in the 70s for $350, which is what your aggregator will tell you they "sell for" on eBay.

A better comp would be a "starter set" lot lookup, so see if 1971s in bulk normally go for 20c each, or 40c.

Yep, good call by you.. I did the same thing and looked up starter sets and you’re spot on Glad I asked - would not want to post at silly asking price based on the aggregator numbers

Again, thx all for the helpful advice.

Jeff

[mintacular]

I'd say there is a pretty big drop off from 74-80, and pre-74 obviously the semi-high and high numbers can bring some bang for the buck.

[Belfast1933]

Helpful advice ends well… just sold the lot of comments (to a fellow Net54er to boot!)

Thx again all

Jeff