Selling a set vs. selling the cards individually

[tbob]

Yes, I lost out on a Joe Jax about 11-12 years ago to one Keith Olberman on a last second snipe on ebay. This was back before everyone was using snipe services. It was a very solid card and now the price is out of sight for that card even in lesser condition. I think that may not be a concern because the near set is pretty nice but you never know. I once sold a complete set of T207s through Mastro and they "lost" the Lowdermilk during the photographic procedure (???) which was a beautiful card. They reimbursed me for the card promptly but I always wondered if the set had been intact whether it would have sold for more than the final price plus what I got for the Lowdermilk.

[Matthew H]

I've never purchased a complete set before but I do keep track of prices.
Most of the prices realized on complete sets still have break value IMO.
The rare or super high grade is the exception. If you sell your complete set
of e90-1, there is a chance that the bidders will be dealers that will stop bidding
when the possibility of profit disappears. 119 cards will take some
time to sell and sometimes a chunk of money is more useful; it really depends
on what you need.

One feature that I think needs to be added to VCP is set break price average.
You can already set the page to show the average VG-EX price per card,
now they just need to add it up for you It wouldn't be exact but at least
you would have a ballpark.

[fkw]

SET- You will exclude many collectors who dont have a few thousand $$ laying around (ie Me), and also exclude many collectors who are part way through their set and only need certain cards. And you will make quite a bit less $$ overall IMO.
But its easier and faster to sell in one group too.

Best (if using eBay) would be to sell singles, a few at a time to not overflood the market..... so there will be more bidding wars, instead of each collector choose a different card to bid on. This is more important if the cards are tougher "type cards", but I dont think E90-1 has much demand in the "Type Card" field.

I always love it when someone breaks a very rare set up, all at once on eBay (ie those R314-5's on eBay a few months back), I placed low snipes on every single card and won 20% of them.
Same with all those 1921 Herpolsheimer cards a few years ago. I won 1/8th of the known population, and didnt spend more than $150 an any of them (some as low as $60 at the beginning).

[bcbgcbrcb]

IMHO you will do better (if you have the time to wait it out) to sell each card individually.

[tbob]

Thanks for all the comments. You've given me quite a bit to think about.
Best regards,
tbob

[sox1903wschamp]

Tbob:

You could do what lew (Lipset) did a few years back in one of his auctions. If memory serves me correct, he broke down an e90-1 set into lots based on scarcity. He had the really scarce cards in single lots and then some small groups of scarcer cards and then a couple big groups of the commons. Some of the breakdown was based on condition.
It seemed to work out well for him. Just a thought.

[teetwoohsix]

Originally Posted by tbob

Yes, I lost out on a Joe Jax about 11-12 years ago to one Keith Olberman on a last second snipe on ebay. This was back before everyone was using snipe services. It was a very solid card and now the price is out of sight for that card even in lesser condition. I think that may not be a concern because the near set is pretty nice but you never know. I once sold a complete set of T207s through Mastro and they "lost" the Lowdermilk during the photographic procedure (???) which was a beautiful card. They reimbursed me for the card promptly but I always wondered if the set had been intact whether it would have sold for more than the final price plus what I got for the Lowdermilk.

Wow tbob,,,,,,,,,they "lost" the Lowdermilk ?! It sounds like they made things right with you, but I can imagine what went through your mind when they contacted you to tell you this

Clayton