My first experience at selling my cards

[billyb]

I am 67 years old, and have been collecting, on and off since 1984. My collection consists of mainly 1970 and 1980 cards, with some 60s thrown in, but not many. I have about 75,000 cards, and have decided to sell off my collection and always wanted to run a baseball card store, but in Northern Michigan, in a small town, just did not make any sense. But I wanted the experience at selling, so I got a space in our local antique store and with no advertisement, decided to just let happen what may happen.
I have been pleasantly surprised. I cannot tell you how many people, while looking for antiques, actually spent a good amount of time going though binders I have displayed, and looking at the stars in a display case. Sales are better then I thought, and now have collectors coming from a good distance away, just because in northern Michigan, there is not many locations to buy cards.
Now, for the kids, another surprise. Many kids are not collecting, they are children of the 1980s youths, where their parents had a bad experience collecting in their youth. But these kids want to collect. I do not sell any modern day cards, I have some cards in the early 90s, but these kids do not care, they want to collect.
I have about 1000 sport flics of various years, and because of their movement, I decided to hand these cards out to the kids. The kids love them, I also had several boxes of 87 and 88 donruss cards, and if the kids were extremely happy, out came an unopened pack of cards for them to open.
The look at these kids faces is worth the freebees, but many times, the parents came back, or that very day, bought more cards from me for their sons, or daughters (yes daughters). I have been doing this for about four months and am having a ball.
So to make a long story short, I truly believe, this hobby is still strong, it just may need a little nudge in the right direction.
Just my experience.

[DHogan]

Bill, sorry to hear that your selling your collection. I guess we all will end up doing that at some point. It sounds like your having fun doing it your way. Kids in a antique store ? That's a new one. Take care.

[billyb]

Dave,
Yea, it sounds funny, kids in an antique store. Their parents drag them along and handing out free cards to the kids serves a dual purpose. When I hand out the cards, the sportflics are new to them. So they are busy studying the cards, and they don't handle the antiques so much....lol. And their parents don't have to keep telling them to put things down. It all works out good.

[PolarBear]

Sounds like fun.

[billyb]

Don,
It is fun, and Dan, I am only selling off my collection to start collecting prewar cards. So I am not done with the hobby.
Here is the kicker. Now that I am trying to sell, I have fellow antique collectors wanting to sell me their cards. I told them not really interested, but I could not turn down one offer. Numerous binders of cards which included many cards from the 70s. And some from the 60s. About 8 to 10 thousand cards, most in binders, many stars, all for $150.
So instead of getting smaller, the collection grew quickly to about 85 thousand. Yea, I am stuck with a lot of early 90s proset football cards and a lots more cards from the 80s, but those 70 cards were well worth the $150. I even sold a complete binder of basketball cards already. As long as the price is right, they will buy, and I am close to making the $150 up already just from the cards I bought.
I don't want to do that too often, but other customers have asked if I am buying cards. Nothing form the 80s or later, is my answer.
My first full month without any advertising, I sold over $700 in cards and memorabilia.
Yes, an antique store. I know you cannot make a living on that amount, but being retired, and I don't really need the money, it is just a hobby and I am having fun, and getting a few sheckles for my pockets. Why not. And I only work there, one or two days a week. Other antique dealers sell my items for me as well as I sell their items. If they need me to give an answer regarding an offer to buy some of my items, they just call me.

[almostdone]

Really cool story. Sounds like a great and new spin on our hobby. I would love to set up as a part time dealer but life and time constraints don't make that possible at this point but maybe someday
Keep up the impact on those kids.
Drew

[SAllen2556]

Bill,
Where's the store? When are you there? We have a place near Harrisville, so I drive through Standish quite often.

[billyb]

It is in Gladwin, about 45 minutes west of Standish. Come on by and lets talk baseball.