Aaron run - part or whole ?

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Posted By: steve

If one were to sell a complete run of regular issue Topps Hank Aaron cards, (PSA set registry Aaron Basic), what way would bring the highest price:

Sell the complete 1954-1976 run as a whole? Or part it out individually for sale?

Or any other 50's-60's player for that matter - Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Koufax, etc.

steve

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Posted By: Paul S

Steve -- Traditionally, the paradox is that a broken-up set will sell for more than a complete one, especially because of the HOFers and stars. My guess is that since you are talking HOFers then it is the same situation. Individually is the way I'd go, were I selling mine. Occasionally I wonder why people don't pay more, on average, for the basic Robinson and/or Banks, but I still think that's the way to do it. Koufax always seems to command a very nice price premium, and the Aarons keep a good steady price.

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Posted By: sagard

If you know what you want for the cards, ask for the price and then post a BIN on Ebay. If you need to experience the thrills and disappointments of Ebay auctions then list them all individually.

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Posted By: Jason L

(and we all know how much THAT is worth)
I would think that selling them individually would usually get the best price. But I suppose there is a chance you might realize a larger collective price if you were to list the run as a collection in one of the larger auction houses' catalogs, given that those venues can attract some bigger bidders that would be interested in acquiring a collection in one step.

But if you're in a hurry, I can send you $150 Paypal right now, ya know, just to help out!

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Posted By: Eric Brehm

I would guess that you would get a higher return selling the cards individually rather than as a single lot, if you are willing to do the work to find all the individual buyers. Hank Aaron cards are certainly in demand, but are relatively easy to find, so I wouldn't think many buyers would be willing to pay a premium to have the work of set assembly already done for them. And while there are some collectors who are interested in acquiring a complete run of Aaron's cards (as indicated for example by the number of Aaron sets that are currently listed on the PSA set registry), there are probably many more who are only interested in certain ones, for example if they need his card to complete a Topps set from a year in which Aaron appeared. In this case, I would say you basically have a 'wholesale' item that is best sold in a 'retail' fashion.

I know that some of the auction houses have recently offered sets, mostly of older and scarcer material, where they allow bidders to bid either on individual cards or on the whole set. The set is then awarded to the highest bidder on the whole set only if their bid exceeds the sum of the highest bids on the individual cards. I haven't tracked these particular auctions so I don't know how this has typically come out.