How to move bulk lots without losing too much $$

[the_nange]

Hello,

Just want to get opinions on this. Is there a way of moving lower end cards without having to lose too much (ie liquidate them for 25% of even ebay selling price)? I'm thinking of stepping back on the hobby to focus (and save money) for a bigger project so any opinions are welcomed.

Thanks,
Nange

[BillInDallas]

If you're looking to move everything in one shot, you're going to be hard pressed to get away from bulk pricing.

What kind of cards are you talking? Lower end could mean base, inserts, dollar jersey cards, almost anything. Knowing what sets the cards are from would help too.

[Tivo32]

There really isn't anyway of moving bulk without bulk pricing. Maybe it's worth checking out Check Out My Cards. It costs some money up front but at least you get rid of the clutter and you can set prices and watch them sell. And they do all the work.

[centrehice]

Nange:

You are lucky, you still live in Canada, where 65% of all Hockey Sales are. My bulk business is gone forever. It now would cost me $16.00-$18.00 to ship a full set of 1997-98 Donruss - 225 Cards from the USA to Canada.

Less than 16 months ago, this would have cost $8.00 tops.

[30ranfordfan]

I've been thinking of using COMC myself. Have read great things, and have bought there a few times. The pricing structure looks pretty simple to follow, and I think reasonably priced:


You pay $0.25 to list a card (or less, if you take advantage of some promotions, or more if you want express service). You have to pay this upfront, via store credit you buy, before I send the cards in.

After 90 days, and cards still in your inventory will cost you 1 cent per month in storage fees


When you cash out, they take 20%. If you don't cash out, and just spend the money on COMC instead, you keep it all.

You send them all the cards upfront, they scan, list, and ship everything. You just price it once they've got the cards loaded (which I gather typically takes a few weeks).




But really, getting around bulk pricing - it's going to be tough. I don't know exactly what cards you're talking about..... but if you mean a pile of inserts / rookies that all "book" for $2-$5, and sell for $1 each (give or take) it's probably impossible. Finding someone that will buy 5 of them for $5 + s/h might be doable, but if you want to sell 300 of them at once, I can't imagine anyone giving you much more than 25% of sale value, becuase they're just going to be buying to flip (I find it unlikely you're going to sell a bulk lot to someone who wants 75%, or more, of the cards in it for their collection)

[centrehice]

Now, if I could depend on bulk purchases from customers here in the USA, no problem. But nowadays besides the Upper Deck Set collectors, card collectors don't much go for sets like they did in 1985 or even 1997.

You have Player and Team specific collectors today, simply because the Re-Sale market for single cards is active and many times very affordable. The bulk cost of shipping is like a boat anchor, once you decide to sell Internationally from the USA.

I loved always having a ton of cards around and helping people fill spots in sets. Hell, I cannot even send 12 cards to Canada to help somebody complete a set without paying $7.25 in a bubble to do so.

[the_nange]

Thanks for your opinions guys. Just to clarify, when I say bulk, I don't mean 1000+ cards. I'm a small time collector that's amassed a few boxes of inserts, dollar jerseys, lower end autos etc the last few years.

What kind of cards are you talking? Lower end could mean base, inserts, dollar jersey cards, almost anything. Knowing what sets the cards are from would help too.

In all honesty, didn't even think about moving base. I figured I would probably just donate those (if I can find a place to donate them).

...I can't imagine anyone giving you much more than 25% of sale value, becuase they're just going to be buying to flip (I find it unlikely you're going to sell a bulk lot to someone who wants 75%, or more, of the cards in it for their collection)

Yeah, that's pretty much the issue. I've had somebody offer to buy most of my collection for 1 or 2 big cards, and expected me to throw in all the $1-10 BV cards into the deal as a "topper". So it looks like it's either going to be list it yourself and hope it sells (for $1) or just lose most of it, isn't it?

I loved always having a ton of cards around and helping people fill spots in sets. Hell, I cannot even send 12 cards to Canada to help somebody complete a set without paying $7.25 in a bubble to do so.

Yeah it's a pain for us who're trying to buy singles too. I mean, who wants to pay 8 bucks for shipping for a 4 dollar card just to add it to our PC.

[Flyers16]

Just a suggestion about the base cards. Try posting on the Hockey Set Building forum and the Buy/Sell forum with what you have available. There are still hockey set builders (not as many as there were 'back in the day'). There may be interest in your base cards to complete sets if you are selling them cheaply or for the cost of postage.

Just a suggestion for a win:win situation - you get rid of the base cards and help out a fellow collector with a set or two.

[Reinhart]

for me listing on eBay is such a pain that bulk pricing does seem fair in most cases but otherwise I think COMC will do the scans and all the other stuff

[RGM81]

It's a tough row to hoe. I moved out a lot of 125 or so Carey Price inserts & parallels a couple months ago for $180. For many of them I paid more than $1.44 a card. But if you want to get stuff gone fast, that's the way it's got to be.