I sold off almost ALL of my baseball cards today

**metrotheme** · 08-30-2010, 06:50 PM

I spent a good part of the weekend taking my cards out of binders and putting them into 700 count boxes to clear up some shelf space. After it was said and done, I realized that I no longer needed these cards. They were commons from 87-93, just about the time when everyone who is now over 25 was collecting heavily (think jr.high / early high school). I wound up with about 8 "new" boxes that came out of the cards that I pulled from the binders. I had about another 12 in the closet. After deciding to keep a few boxes of just Topps cards, one box from 87, 88, 89, 90 and 92, I came to the conclusion that the rest had to go.

Knowing the value of these cards, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get any money past postage for them. I put a few notices on other message boards that I would sell them for basically the s/h costs and I had no takers.

I then put them on craigslist for $5 per box of commons, which comes out to almost $.01 per card. Someone hit me up within the day, wanting the whole thing. In the end I sold him 15 (700 ct.) boxes for $65. It's kind of liberating to get away from all of those cards. I have about 6 boxes that I kept which fit nicely into one corner of the shelf in my closet and about 4 moderate sized binders of cards.

The cards I kept aren't worth a whole lot, but I wanted some for TTM / IP purposes. Has anyone else gone through a similar purge of their cards and if so, what was your experience?

PS - I have about 150 9-pocket pages here and a few binders if anyone is interested. If so, PM me.

**hudsonharden** · 08-30-2010, 09:37 PM

Bravo, man. I've been meaning to do this, I've been selling every that has value. I plan on keep a box or two of cards and them selling everything else. I have mostly cards from 88-95 and 00-06.

**dmbfan** · 08-31-2010, 03:19 AM

I'm in the process of doing something similar. I have a ton of sets that I built when I was a kid that I don't do anything with right now. My main focus is to sell off the sets that I have first and then go from there. If anyone is a set collector and wants to see the list I have, send me a PM and I will get it to you.

Metrotheme-I may be interested in your 9 pocket pages. LMK what you are looking for in return.

**MadHatter** · 08-31-2010, 08:18 AM

I might be interested in a set, depending on which ones you have. Could also work out a trade if interested.

-Mike

**dabigyankeeman** · 08-31-2010, 09:30 AM

About a year ago i took a bunch of cards from the 1980's and early 1990's and put them in albums, about 15 sheets per album (they were thin binders), and took them to an indoor flea market. I wanted $10 each for them, couldnt get it, had to sell at $5 each, and thats including the binders and sheets!!!!

But it was worth it to me, i got about $50 total for my 10 albums of garbage cards, and i have a ton of sheets and binders at home.

**Mike D.** · 08-31-2010, 10:57 AM

I did something similar in or around the year 2000.

I was out of college and living in a 1-bedroom apartment without a lot of room. I had a ton of late 80's to early 90's commons and was in a bit of collecting lull.

I ended up selling something like 30,000 commons on eBay in one lot. I want to say I got about $65 for them, shipped. I probably cleared $25-30, but I was happy because it freed up a ton of space and the cards went to someone who apparently wanted them.

The fact that the cards I kept took up a lot less space allowed me to tuck them away in a closet, where I eventually re-discovered them and started collecting again.

**metrotheme** · 08-31-2010, 11:05 AM

Reading people's posts, I think I did fairly well price-wise especially that I didn't have to ship them. I actually had multiple inquiries on them via craigslist which was surprising. The guy who purchased them said some were for his PC, others he was going to use for a class he teaches, to show them how information is organized.

**JPH712** · 08-31-2010, 12:15 PM

To clear out all my unwanted cards, I went through them and pulled what I 'couldn't' part with and donated the rest to a local Boys Club, mabye someone there will take up collecting and easier than having to go to the post office.

**Mike D.** · 08-31-2010, 02:03 PM

At this point, I honestly just throw late 80's and early 90's junk right in the recycle bin. For example, I just went through a stack of about 25 1989 Topps cards using SCN to see who good signers are. Of the 25, I got ONE good signer. I'll send a request to that guy. The other 24 cards are going in the recycle bin. There is so little money in selling and so little demand for donations of cards like this, that I actually think the best thing to do with them is recycle them.

At least it's "green"...1989's junk commons might become tomorrow's cards (or newspaper, paper plate, etc).

**MadHatter** · 08-31-2010, 02:08 PM

Every year I try to pull big boxes of cards together and bring them to the Children's Hospital in Boston - the kids love them - and thanks to everyone on this site who has donated in the past!

**dmbfan** · 08-31-2010, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by MadHatter

I might be interested in a set, depending on which ones you have. Could also work out a trade if interested.

-Mike

Mike-Give me a few days to get together a comprehensive list of what I am looking to part with and you will be the first one I let know. Thanks for the interest.

**Extra Innings** · 09-03-2010, 06:45 PM

I've sold shoe boxes of cards in yard sales and have donated thousands of cards to thrift stores/charity. Sometimes you just need the space for other things.

**vibajajo64** · 04-27-2013, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by Extra Innings

I've sold shoe boxes of cards in yard sales and have donated thousands of cards to thrift stores/charity. Sometimes you just need the space for other things.

Selling your cards can be difficult with all the fees charged these days, everyone makes profit but the seller. That's why I started a site with no fees where you can buy or sell cards and keep the profits. The site is http://www.showcasecollect.com Please check and it out and I wish you good luck!

**Zito75** · 04-27-2013, 02:38 PM

I worked at a card shop when I was 15, back around 1989. Had that job for a few years. Ended having a collection well above 200,000 cards. I started getting rid of them when I moved away to go to college. Granted I got some pretty good deals on the cards, and it most cases I traded cards for wax boxes - I just had way too many worthless cards. I couldn't give them away. About a year ago, we had a yard sale and I bagged up 50 cards by team and sold them for $2 each. I got lucky and had some guy buy all that I was selling - but the time investment barely makes it worth it. I've considering having a bonfire - but that's bad for the environment. I guess it's a good thing that I've down to about 20,000 cards total. I keep albums for signed cards, and some smaller shoebox sized boxes for any valuable cards. It's interesting reading everyone's stories on here. It's almost like having a support group, LOL.

**Ben Grimm** · 04-27-2013, 02:47 PM

Way back in the day, while I was on AOL, there was a card trading forum there. We had a good group of people with tons of set-fillers. I was able to get the final few commons to complete both a '95 Bowman's Best set as well as a 2001 Bowman Gold. I had about 300 singles of ARod, Jeter & Chipper Jones separated and asked if anybody was interested in them. I ended up with somebody very local, we actually met and traded in a central spot only 3-4 miles from our homes. He gave me a 2001 (or 2002 - can't remember the year) Hanley Ramirez auto'd Bowman Chrome rookie as well as a PSA 9 Rick Asadoorian (oops!).

I just recently sold most of my vintage cards on Ebay a month or so ago, and am probably tossing the rest out this week.

Then it's time to sift thru all of these sets/singles for what has value and what doesn't as I have at least thirty 400-count boxes sitting in my den. I should still have about 300 autos/game used cards as well that I usually dump as a full lot, so I'll have to dig them up as well.

**Ben Grimm** · 04-27-2013, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by Zito75

I worked at a card shop when I was 15, back around 1989. Had that job for a few years. Ended having a collection well above 200,000 cards. I started getting rid of them when I moved away to go to college. Granted I got some pretty good deals on the cards, and it most cases I traded cards for wax boxes - I just had way too many worthless cards. I couldn't give them away. About a year ago, we had a yard sale and I bagged up 50 cards by team and sold them for $2 each. I got lucky and had some guy buy all that I was selling - but the time investment barely makes it worth it. I've considering having a bonfire - but that's bad for the environment. I guess it's a good thing that I've down to about 20,000 cards total. I keep albums for signed cards, and some smaller shoebox sized boxes for any valuable cards. It's interesting reading everyone's stories on here. It's almost like having a support group, LOL.

My friend managed a card shop from around 2002-2007. It was nice as I was considered a "power buyer" and got everything with a 15% discount attached. I'd often call him (or he'd call me) to have certain boxes/cases available. I mostly broke Bowman product, but often jumped on the high-end Upper Deck stuff because of the payoffs.

I had a major delay at Logan airport (Boston) and didn't get home until 6am (was supposed to be a 3pm flight and have me home by 4:30 or so the day before), and after the train ride to my house I got a second wind. I stopped over at his shop when it opened at 9, and started buying packs of '93 Bowman and '95 Bowman's best like a fiend. I ran a tab, and even with my discount, I walked out of his place spending $230 in packs.

Granted, I did kind of well. I ended up with 4 Andruw Jones, 5 Vladdy, 3 Rolen rookies from the '95 and sent them into Beckett to be graded - all receiving no less than 9's. I got a Piazza, Manny & Delgado rc from the packs of '92s - though they were about $7 a pack back then.

Boxes were highly addictive for me. I'd come home on a Friday and stop by his store and even buy UD base brand (they had 1 G/U or Auto per box) and a six-pack, relax in my chair and bust them open for an hour. I've gotten some really bad stuff (Omar Daal jersey, Honus Wagner seat card ?!?!) as well as really nice stuff (Ruth bat, Sosa auto'd dual-swatch, Banks auto/swatch, Pujols 2nd year auto, Barry Zito rookie auto's in consecutive boxes, etc...). There used to be a guy on Ebay who'd bust open cases and cases of Bowman and sell prospects in bulk. I went binging on some of them and for the most part, they didn't pan out. I think I invested a good sum of money into guys like Brad Wilkerson, Chad Hermansen and basically Joe Crede's only real rookie card. Ouch.

**Zito75** · 04-27-2013, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by Ben Grimm

My friend managed a card shop from around 2002-2007. It was nice as I was considered a "power buyer" and got everything with a 15% discount attached. I'd often call him (or he'd call me) to have certain boxes/cases available. I mostly broke Bowman product, but often jumped on the high-end Upper Deck stuff because of the payoffs.

I had a major delay at Logan airport (Boston) and didn't get home until 6am (was supposed to be a 3pm flight and have me home by 4:30 or so the day before), and after the train ride to my house I got a second wind. I stopped over at his shop when it opened at 9, and started buying packs of '93 Bowman and '95 Bowman's best like a fiend. I ran a tab, and even with my discount, I walked out of his place spending $230 in packs.

Granted, I did kind of well. I ended up with 4 Andruw Jones, 5 Vladdy, 3 Rolen rookies from the '95 and sent them into Beckett to be graded - all receiving no less than 9's. I got a Piazza, Manny & Delgado rc from the packs of '92s - though they were about $7 a pack back then.

Boxes were highly addictive for me. I'd come home on a Friday and stop by his store and even buy UD base brand (they had 1 G/U or Auto per box) and a six-pack, relax in my chair and bust them open for an hour. I've gotten some really bad stuff (Omar Daal jersey, Honus Wagner seat card ?!?!) as well as really nice stuff (Ruth bat, Sosa auto'd dual-swatch, Banks auto/swatch, Pujols 2nd year auto, Barry Zito rookie auto's in consecutive boxes, etc...). There used to be a guy on Ebay who'd bust open cases and cases of Bowman and sell prospects in bulk. I went binging on some of them and for the most part, they didn't pan out. I think I invested a good sum of money into guys like Brad Wilkerson, Chad Hermansen and basically Joe Crede's only real rookie card. Ouch.

I can relate to your story. While I was working at that shop, I had regular customers that would stop in Saturdays when I worked. They always wanted to cut side deals for my cards - not the shop's. Before I knew it, I had people calling my house - and even my dad's co-workers were asking him to have me find cards for them. I would make hundreds of dollars a day sometimes. What I remember the most was selling 20 '89 Griffey UD rookies for about $50 each to various people over about a week span. (that was the going rate in Seattle) I finally gave up with card grading. Like you, I'd buy boxes and mail in 5-10 cards from each box only to get BGS 8.5's back. The hobby sure has changed over the years - but I still sell stuff on Ebay once in awhile - it's just that the money isn't there anymore unless you can find a 1/1 card.

**9&10** · 04-28-2013, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Mike D.

At this point, I honestly just throw late 80's and early 90's junk right in the recycle bin. For example, I just went through a stack of about 25 1989 Topps cards using SCN to see who good signers are. Of the 25, I got ONE good signer. I'll send a request to that guy. The other 24 cards are going in the recycle bin. There is so little money in selling and so little demand for donations of cards like this, that I actually think the best thing to do with them is recycle them.

At least it's "green"...1989's junk commons might become tomorrow's cards (or newspaper, paper plate, etc).

You actually keep cards based on the likelihood of getting 'em signed? Interesting.

FWIW, if anyone out there is getting rid of Red Sox cards, please PM me first, thanks!!!

**Ben Grimm** · 04-29-2013, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by 9&10

You actually keep cards based on the likelihood of getting 'em signed? Interesting.

FWIW, if anyone out there is getting rid of Red Sox cards, please PM me first, thanks!!!

What kind of Sox cards are you looking for?

**Ben Grimm** · 04-29-2013, 04:51 PM

After last month's success with Ebay, I figured I toss a few more out there to slowly get this quantity down. Didn't want to do it, but I guess I'll break up my '48 Bowman set. It was a fun go and is very completeable since there's only 48 cards with some really solid "rookies" and such. IIRC, I have 47/48 with the only missing one being Yogi. Now I just have to start off making 47 scans

**Mike D.** · 04-29-2013, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by 9&10

You actually keep cards based on the likelihood of getting 'em signed? Interesting.

FWIW, if anyone out there is getting rid of Red Sox cards, please PM me first, thanks!!!

Absolutely. If I have 50 commons that aren't worth anything, the few that sign at least give me a chance at something interesting. A quick search on SCN with a stack of cards helps separate the wheat from the chaff.

**9&10** · 04-29-2013, 09:29 PM

What if one of those cards is part of a set you're trying to get autographed?

**9&10** · 04-29-2013, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by Ben Grimm

What kind of Sox cards are you looking for?

Pretty much anything except for jersey/bat/relic cards. Shoot me a PM if you've got any you're wanting to ditch.

**Ben Grimm** · 05-01-2013, 11:18 AM

First group of cards on ebay ending tonight. So far, so good. Won't be anything like what I sold last time and the only baseball I have in it are a couple T206 ungraded singles and a Play Ball Carl Hubbell.

Tomorrow ends my '48 Bowman singles. Going okay, though I expect things to pick up once they enter the "ending today" filter. Best one so far is my PSA 6 Spahn which has drawn quite a few bids already.