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How to move a larger lot of prospect base?

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prospectorgems

New member
Nov 29, 2008
3,712
0
Wisconsin
I know this has been brought up before, but never seen a definitive answer or posted results. I have a complete database of 2697 cards I currently have that are mostly Bowman/Draft/Chrome. I tried listing the lots on ebay however there was never too many people looking at the auctions because I could never fit any player names in the listings.

I tried sportlots, but that site for me at least doesn't work as I only get small shipments and I always ship in a bubble mailer and dc so not many people want to buy one or two cards and pay $1.75 in shipping.

I saw someone mention something before about breaking it down in team lots, but before I re-sort the cards I want to ask if you think this would be feasible? I would hate to put all that time into it and list on ebay and then not have much interest. I could at least then put some of the top names in the listings.

I am not looking to make a mint on the cards, but I also don't want to give them away for nothing. Any other suggestions I can take to sell these cards?
 

Bill Menard

New member
Aug 26, 2008
3,421
0
Ryan,
It seems to me to be almost impossible to move base, unless you are willing to take a steep loss or "give it away" as you correctly state! I too have had this problem. The issue with breaking it down is that you will so much of your time doing it that it's not worth the time it took in the end. In other words, your time is worth more than the few bucks you'll get in return.

What I have always done is just pulled out one or two copies and made as close to complete sets as I can. I then either sell the set as incomplete or just trade with people over time until I get it complete. Then I either keep the set or sell the entire complete set off. It's still not much of a profit generator, but it at least makes me feel better about it in the end, rather than just blowing the cards out at what sometimes equates to less than a penny a piece! One other approach here is to fill holes in Chrome with base - such as a Bowman Chrome Draft set that is 80% complete, then add in base draft cards anywhere you can, and just mention it in the title. I feels odd to me, but hey, what do I care? If someone wants to buy it, so be it! I personally wouldn't buy a set mixed like this, but I've seen others do it and sell them, so some people obviously are fine with it.

You are correct - it is also hard to sell the bulk lots because you can't really get any key words in the title that draw people in. Also, no one will pay mcuh because shipping on large lots gets expensive too. If you buy 5,000 count monster boxes at shows for $10-15 a piece, why pay $25 + shipping on ebay?

Your other option - buy the bulk lots you find elsewhere and complete sets with those additions to what you already have. If you set up at shows, that is an option for moving your base as well to set collectors.

You could also take the "finish your set" approach with the cards you have. List it as "Finish your 2010 Bowman Chrome set - pick 20," or something like that. It would be a very slow process to moving them out though, as you'd have to wait for one to end, update the list, and then relist it again. At least this way, you wouldn't have to break it down by team.

I even tried doing it by divisions in the past, to make the lots a little smaller, but that didn't work either.

Another edit: I see that you have two thousand cards... for some reason when I first read it, I thought it said 20K! LOL. Sorry, but still, these are the approaches I would take.
 
Last edited:

prospectorgems

New member
Nov 29, 2008
3,712
0
Wisconsin
Thanks for the post Bill. I am going to try breaking it down by teams and post the key players. I figure since I have so many free listings it doesn't hurt to try it. Thankfully with the database I have, I was able to break each player down by team with the team checklists I keep up on. I can actually sort the cards if I were to sell a few lots. If that doesn't work, I will take your advice and try to build some sets and go that route or try doing the "finish sets" as well. Thanks again for the very informative post and telling me what you tried to do as well.
 

Erich

Active member
Aug 26, 2008
4,453
0
Anywhere Delta goes.
I have a guy I sell bulk base cards to. Recently I sold him 1500 base 2013 heritage for 60.00 shipped and 350 Gypsy for 25.00. That maybe a little low and even cheaper than ebay but the hassle factor comes into play for me. Could I have made more putting them into teams or even players, absolutely I could have but like I said the hassle factor comes into play.
 

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