Anyone buy card lots off Craigslist?

[Adam G]

So this morning I decided to post an ad on Craigslist with the usual "we pay cash for cards". In 5 hours I've recieved probably 15 calls or messages from people who want to sell anywhere from 400 to 25,000 cards! I never thought I'd get so many responses so quickly! My original plan was to slowly go through each person's stash and tell them what I thought it was worth and what I'd give them. I also thought I'd get one call a week! Anyone have experience with this? I'm getting all these offers for late 80's early 90's boxes people want to get rid of and I thought a penny per card would be ok, but after thinking about it, I think a penny a card is what I would pay for late 70's stuff. Maybe 0.5 cents a card for the 80's and 90's?

Any ideas?

Thanks
Adam

 

[markakis8]

What do you plan on doing with all the 80's and 90's cards?

I think a bonfire would be appropriate.

 

[mjbuchanan80]

I've been scouring ebay for card lots as well. My rule of thumb is $1 per thousand for junk wax era cards (or $5 for a monster box). I tell them if they are willing to let me go through the cards thoroughly that price could drastically change. But anyway...the $1 per thousand for that era is pretty standard.

EDIT: Oh, and be prepared for people to get insulted by your offers. Many have been out of the hobby for a long time and when they acquired their cards they were actually worth something and thought to be worth a lot more in the future.

 

[olerud363]

I've been scouring ebay for card lots as well. My rule of thumb is $1 per thousand for junk wax era cards (or $5 for a monster box). I tell them if they are willing to let me go through the cards thoroughly that price could drastically change. But anyway...the $1 per thousand for that era is pretty standard.

EDIT: Oh, and be prepared for people to get insulted by your offers. Many have been out of the hobby for a long time and when they acquired their cards they were actually worth something and thought to be worth a lot more in the future.

Those prices sound about right for "Junk wax era" cards. A few years ago I brought a monster box plus a few of 800-count boxes of early to mid-90's hockey, football, and basketball to a card shop. Must have been close to 5000 cards. The guy offered me $8 or three packs of 2006 Topps baseball (which was just out at the time and he was selling 3 packs for $10).

 

[Adam G]

I've been scouring ebay for card lots as well. My rule of thumb is $1 per thousand for junk wax era cards (or $5 for a monster box). I tell them if they are willing to let me go through the cards thoroughly that price could drastically change. But anyway...the $1 per thousand for that era is pretty standard.

EDIT: Oh, and be prepared for people to get insulted by your offers. Many have been out of the hobby for a long time and when they acquired their cards they were actually worth something and thought to be worth a lot more in the future.

That sounds about right. I really don't know what I would do w/ all the 80s and 90s stuff, a bonfire would probably be the best use of those cards. And I've already had several people decide I was trying to screw them b/c I wouldn't pay big bucks for their stuff. I have tried to be honest about everything, but you're right, people don't like hearing that their Ken Griffey Jr rookie card and their Steve Avery paraphernalia are worth between nothing and almost nothing.

I think I should change my add to say "I buy cards from the 70's and older". That will probably weed out most of the junk. Or maybe just say in the add that I will pay $1 for every 1,000 cards from the 80's and 90's.

 

[Adam G]

I added this to the ad...


"Customary prices:

$1 per 1,000 cards from the 80s, 90s, or 2000s
$0.01 per card from the 70's
Cards from the 1960's range from $0.10 to $1 per card
Older cards priced based off of condition, year, brand, and player

Prices due to change depending on information provided by seller (example: pictures, list of star players, etc.)"

Sound good?

 

[mjbuchanan80]

I've been scouring ebay for card lots as well. My rule of thumb is $1 per thousand for junk wax era cards (or $5 for a monster box). I tell them if they are willing to let me go through the cards thoroughly that price could drastically change. But anyway...the $1 per thousand for that era is pretty standard.

EDIT: Oh, and be prepared for people to get insulted by your offers. Many have been out of the hobby for a long time and when they acquired their cards they were actually worth something and thought to be worth a lot more in the future.

That sounds about right. I really don't know what I would do w/ all the 80s and 90s stuff, a bonfire would probably be the best use of those cards. And I've already had several people decide I was trying to screw them b/c I wouldn't pay big bucks for their stuff. I have tried to be honest about everything, but you're right, people don't like hearing that their Ken Griffey Jr rookie card and their Steve Avery paraphernalia are worth between nothing and almost nothing.

I think I should change my add to say "I buy cards from the 70's and older". That will probably weed out most of the junk. Or maybe just say in the add that I will pay $1 for every 1,000 cards from the 80's and 90's.

What I am mainly hoping for with junk wax is that the person just wants to sell them to me for the $1 per thousand without me going through them all. If this is the case, I can usually find something that can make the $1 expense turn into a profit. If there is nothing at all in 1000 cards, you can usually make your $1 back filling want lists or reselling to someone at a couple bucks per thousand. Bottom line - it's not a very profitable venture. :|

 

[Adam G]

I've been scouring ebay for card lots as well. My rule of thumb is $1 per thousand for junk wax era cards (or $5 for a monster box). I tell them if they are willing to let me go through the cards thoroughly that price could drastically change. But anyway...the $1 per thousand for that era is pretty standard.

EDIT: Oh, and be prepared for people to get insulted by your offers. Many have been out of the hobby for a long time and when they acquired their cards they were actually worth something and thought to be worth a lot more in the future.

That sounds about right. I really don't know what I would do w/ all the 80s and 90s stuff, a bonfire would probably be the best use of those cards. And I've already had several people decide I was trying to screw them b/c I wouldn't pay big bucks for their stuff. I have tried to be honest about everything, but you're right, people don't like hearing that their Ken Griffey Jr rookie card and their Steve Avery paraphernalia are worth between nothing and almost nothing.

I think I should change my add to say "I buy cards from the 70's and older". That will probably weed out most of the junk. Or maybe just say in the add that I will pay $1 for every 1,000 cards from the 80's and 90's.

What I am mainly hoping for with junk wax is that the person just wants to sell them to me for the $1 per thousand without me going through them all. If this is the case, I can usually find something that can make the $1 expense turn into a profit. If there is nothing at all in 1000 cards, you can usually make your $1 back filling want lists or reselling to someone at a couple bucks per thousand. Bottom line - it's not a very profitable venture. :|

That's pretty much the conclusion I had come to. I was hoping for those people that just want to dump their cards and would almost be willing to give them to me if I would show up and haul them off. Of course, if it's older stuff I think is worth something, I would let them know and give them a fair price.

 

[blitzerlover]

Hey man. Don't be hating on Steve Avery.

 

[Adam G]

I just had a guy offer me a Griffey auto bat and a Ripken auto bat for $250. He didn't have any papers or COA on either, just said he inherited them. Told him w/out documentation I could do $50, but told him I would rather he keep the stuff than sell to me at that price since they obviously came from someone who cared about him.

 

[alabamalongsnake]

I bought about a 8-10k card lot off Craigs list the other day, but also included were two factory sets and a baseball from a Chicago White Sox - Barons game when Jordan was there. I paid $45 bucks for the lot - the guy wanted $65. Mostly 80's and 90's baseball but a handful of recent cards - football and basketball. The guy got in in a storage auction. Also some unopened nascar wax from 95.

They are packaged in lots of 50-100 in plastic bags. So we have no idea what's in them other than the top card and the back. I figure that I can do one of a couple things

1. sell them for a $1 a bag at next card show
2. give them away with purchases
3. maybe find a few hidden gems that are $5 cards and get my money back right away


I'm not going to make a habit of it, but I thought it was worth a try.

 

[JEA2880]

I sold a few hundred thousand commons and my McGwire collection (some nice inserts, mostly commons) on Craigslist to some guy in the city for ~$600 two years ago. I would've been thrilled with a quarter of that given how much space was being taken up.

 

[rum151man]

i post adds looking to buy all the time. i never leave my phone number anymore just ask them to email what they have some pics and what theyre asking for them. saves a lot of time on when you got the guys who want 100 dollars each for bonds mcgwire and canseco rookies.

i found a great way to get rid of 80's 90's commons takes a lil time but worth it. I make my own packs with a small stack of commons and put a star player on each side bo jackson football and a griffey jr baseball ect. and put in a graded sleeve bag and i sell for $1 each at the local flea market. I average $100-300 a weekend in $1 packs. I have built up a lot of repeat customers, I even throw in some autos and game used to spice it up and keep them coming back.

 

[tikitomoka]

I hear a crappy guitar that you got for your birthday is appropriate trading material for lots of cards on craigslist.

 

[mrwhitesox30]

Unless you know for sure that you have a way of selling them, buying 80's/90's crap isn't going to be worth your time. It's minimal profit, and you have to spend a lot of time to get it. Reading all the emails, driving to get the cards (gas $), sorting them, etc. I had about 25k commons, but last year I dropped them off at the Salvation Army because I didn't think it would be worth my time to sell them.

 

[boomo]

ive made more money on craigslist then any other avenue.
key isnt to post an ad, key is to be un-relentless in doing searches
in the collectables category. you cannot believe the nice stuff that will
pop up if you are patient. And usually on craigslist the people are selling
cus they are behind a truch or house payment and will take very little.
i just sold a bunch of tom brady's i got of CL, and all the gridiron gear autos
i have listed now i found there also. if you run an ad, just say you only buy
high end in the title, unless you are looking for the penny stuff.

 

[jdbrak]

un-relentless, eh

 

[Todd44]

What about team lots? I know my brother sold a bunch of his baseball commons to a guy that told him he sorted them into team lots and sold them on ebay.

Anyone have success with that? I've got about 200K commons here that I'd love to get rid of that way... and most are alphabetized, so sorting wouldnt be as huge a chore as if they were all random.