I don't have the time or the patience to sift through my whole collection to sell it off card by card. Does anyone have some advice on selling off a collection (20,000 cards) that ranges from the Revised/Unlimited era to the present?
Thanks
EDIT: I 100% understand that because I am not wanting to do the dirty work of selling it off 1 by 1, that I will never get close to the actual value back. I'm okay with that. If I have to pay someone else to do it, I'm totally fine with that.
I don't have the time or the patience to sift through my whole collection to sell it off card by card. Does anyone have some advice on selling off a collection (20,000 cards) that ranges from the Revised/Unlimited era to the present?
Thanks
EDIT: I 100% understand that because I am not wanting to do the dirty work of selling it off 1 by 1, that I will never get close to the actual value back. I'm okay with that. If I have to pay someone else to do it, I'm totally fine with that.
A lot hinges on what kind of highlights you have (Revised duals? Modern staples? EDH foils?) and where you are, physically. Facebook/Craigslist are your friends if you're in a city. Pm me for a lengthier explanation, if you want.
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I am looking for your advice/opinions. I am getting almost completely out of Magic, and will be selling a number of my commander decks. I am thinking the eBay route to do this as local buy amounts are incredibly low.
In your opinions, do you think it is better to list the whole deck as a single auction with 100 cards, or to pull out the cards that have value and list those individually? I want to weigh the pros/cons for the time to list everything to the amount of money to be made to the chances of the item(s) selling.
A lot depends on the deck list but in general if you sell a whole deck as is... you will get less than selling it for parts. That said it will be simpler than trying to sell it out as parts (some pieces will go quickly but some will linger for a long time). If you post the deck list I might be able to be more specific.
Piece it out as long as you're not in a hurry. It's going to take longer (kind of), but you'll get significantly more. EDH decks tend to be more individual than in other formats, so the market for complete decks is already small. For reference, I'm only seeing two sold listings for complete, non-precon decks since October and only three current listings. Add in that most people have at least some cards, and you have a lot of potential buyers who are only interested in some subset of the cards you're selling. If they can't get a better deal on those cards as a lot than buying them individually, there's not much incentive to buy. It limits your potential buyers a lot. I'm not sure it actually speeds up the process significantly unless you seriously underprice it, either. Piecing it out is going to take longer to get rid of everything, but you'll see more or less immediate returns on the most desirable cards.
You can also mix the two approaches. Sell the higher value stuff individually, then accept that the cheap stuff wasn't going to bring in much anyways and buylist it or something.
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If you post the deck list I might be able to be more specific.
Yeah, pretty much always this.
However, some generalities will apply. In general, you'll get more money if you piece it out, and you'll spend more time selling it. Entirely your call what your time is worth. If you've pimped out the deck, you'll take a huge haircut selling it as a deck. Nobody is going to want to go from zero -> Pimp in one easy, expensive step. They want to pimp out *their* deck, and they are probably halfway there already. However, if you've assembled some budget decks, then you're better off selling them as-is. Few people want a pile of random commons, even if those commons are pretty good (but not good enough to be no longer budget), but a budget entry point to a format will always have buyers.
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Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate the insights, and you are absolutely right. The chances of someone wanting the exact same list that I pieced together are next to nothing. I will piece them out even though it is a PITA.
So, I write for a site, and with that I generate enough credit that I am planning on redeeming some foil sets. Not sure on the quantity exactly, but probably 1-2 Kaladesh and 2+ Aether Revolt. I only ever even collected a foil set back in the dark days (Darksteel), and I sold that in the online form on eBay.
With the abbreviated redemption schedule, I know I have to redeem soonish. When should I sell? Where do people usually sell sealed foil sets?
So- I have a very large collection (150K+ cards) of older sets (Alpha-Ravnica)and have been working on moving it for a few months. The blog posts on collection selling by MTGoldfish have been very helpful and my approach has mirrored that for getting rid of the valuable cards. Its been quite profitable and I'm feeling like my hard work has paid off.
There is one problem, however, which is the approximately 150K bulk cards that are left. My fiance is getting mad because the cards are taking up most of a room in our new house. They have to go soon. I'm just not sure who will take them and shipping the commons would probably not be worth it.
Anybody with advice on how they managed this problem?
Find a local game shop, sell them anything that's worth a dollar or more and donate the rest of them to a kid that's there playing. It'll give you the warm fuzzies that you made some kids day by giving him a bunch of awesome old cards.
Tell your fiancé that getting rid of them in a hurry is like throwing money away, money that could be used for your wedding/honeymoon. Allow you to do it in a time frame and method that make the most financial sense.
Find a Grand Prix event somewhere near you, just within driving distance. Almost all vendors will give you ~ $3.50 per thousand. If you get there early on a Friday you can find some deals. My most recent GP had one vendor paying $4.50 per thousand. You should do your best to fish through and remove the cards that are worth more than bulk to sell individually but good luck with the rest of it.
So- I have a very large collection (150K+ cards) of older sets (Alpha-Ravnica)and have been working on moving it for a few months. The blog posts on collection selling by MTGoldfish have been very helpful and my approach has mirrored that for getting rid of the valuable cards. Its been quite profitable and I'm feeling like my hard work has paid off.
There is one problem, however, which is the approximately 150K bulk cards that are left. My fiance is getting mad because the cards are taking up most of a room in our new house. They have to go soon. I'm just not sure who will take them and shipping the commons would probably not be worth it.
Anybody with advice on how they managed this problem?
Are you in or near a city? List them on Craigslist at bulk price. Be explicit that you're not going to let people riffle through - you're going to say "Give me the money and you take all of these cards." You could also try calling LGSes within range. Hopefully you have a minivan or an SUV or something that can haul 30 Monster boxes. If that fails, then look up GPs near you (again, you'll need to have a large car) and contact the large stores that are going and see if any of them will buy the bulk at the event. If you're too far in the sticks for any of these plans to be viable (and believe me, I live out in the woods of Kjeldor), then call your fire department and request a burn permit. Then light them all on fire.
Because if you've exhausted the first three options, nothing else will bring you anything close to an amount of money that will make it worth any amount of effort.
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If you lived in NC I'd be interested in purchasing a lot of that bulk...I actually enjoy the sorting and piecing out of Commons and Uncommons...but basically what others have said on this thread applies...look to get about 4$ per thousand from a store. The other option if you had time would be to "pick" the bulk and buy list any cards worth a quarter or more...but without a lot of time, it's kind of a moot point.
I have a collection that has got to be over $30,000. I would never EVER sell it, but my fiance has asked a few times in the past if something would ever happen to me (early in life - not old age. When I die of old age, my collection is going to get willed away), what would she do.
This is the best solution I/we have come up with, and not everyone will have access to doing it this way:
A friend of mine has a TCGPlayer shop. I would ask him to sell them collection as a new store front, w/ him getting a 20% commission. He has the experience and over-abundant collection of toploaders to sell card.
But, on second thought... I taught my fiance how to play Magic, so she might keep part of it (or all of it).
My plan is to talk to all the nearby stores first then try Craigslist. Unfortunately, my car isn't big enough to fit the cards so I'm hoping to find someone who will pick them up and take them. Its good to know that people are interested at least.
Incidentally, just in case someone is interested in buying the bulk- I'm located in Southwest Ohio. Its mostly commons and uncommons but there are several boxes of cards from older sets before the gold rare symbols that have rares mixed in too. I'm asking $650 for all of it and can give a detailed inventory if there are any serious inquiries.
Looking for some advice. Life being what it is, I have effectively left the game and have not played for a couple of years now and am looking to sell off my collection. I have a fairly robust legacy collection (able to make most decks that were viable as of about two years ago), but negligible pimp cards. Seeing as I don't have time to play, I don't have a ton of spare time to sell it off piece by piece. However, I do have some people I could recruit to take that on for a commission (probably ~10%). After factoring in that commission, eBay and Paypal fees, and occasional fraud would that still be the best course of action? If not, what would you recommend?
Looking for some advice. Life being what it is, I have effectively left the game and have not played for a couple of years now and am looking to sell off my collection. I have a fairly robust legacy collection (able to make most decks that were viable as of about two years ago), but negligible pimp cards. Seeing as I don't have time to play, I don't have a ton of spare time to sell it off piece by piece. However, I do have some people I could recruit to take that on for a commission (probably ~10%). After factoring in that commission, eBay and Paypal fees, and occasional fraud would that still be the best course of action? If not, what would you recommend?
If you have trustworthy people who are willing to do the work for a portion of the profit, go for it. You're still going to get more selling piecemeal than you would buylisting or selling in bulk and it's obviously a huge reduction in time spent.
Because you mention a legacy collection, I'd recommend the high end FB group for anything over $50, whether you sell them yourself or a friend does it for you.
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I have a fairly substantial (5k+) collection I'm looking to get rid of, just lost that spark of the game and would rather have the cash. In this board experience, how much do expensive collections tend to fetch? TCG Low -10%? TCG Low -20%? Any help on the issue would be greatly appreciated!
Merged into the "Selling a collection thread. -KnickM
Most mtg finance people sell cards to the public at -10% tcg low so I think it would be pretty hard to get that much money for the collection. Is it made up of larger cards or many less valuable cards? I'll take a look at a list if you have one to pm me.
A lot of higher end. 4x Cradle, 3x Trop, 4x Volc, 4x Tundra, 1x Sea, other duals, Foil Fetches, etc. I'm gonna be putting together a list either tomorrow or Thursday.
A lot of higher end. 4x Cradle, 3x Trop, 4x Volc, 4x Tundra, 1x Sea, other duals, Foil Fetches, etc. I'm gonna be putting together a list either tomorrow or Thursday.
I think it's best to make an ebay account and sell the cards that way.
Seriously, though, if you're willing to put in the effort Ebay is probably your best bet for the high-end stuff. Obviously get tracking and insurance and take other measures to avoid scammers.
Thanks
EDIT: I 100% understand that because I am not wanting to do the dirty work of selling it off 1 by 1, that I will never get close to the actual value back. I'm okay with that. If I have to pay someone else to do it, I'm totally fine with that.
A lot hinges on what kind of highlights you have (Revised duals? Modern staples? EDH foils?) and where you are, physically. Facebook/Craigslist are your friends if you're in a city. Pm me for a lengthier explanation, if you want.
I am looking for your advice/opinions. I am getting almost completely out of Magic, and will be selling a number of my commander decks. I am thinking the eBay route to do this as local buy amounts are incredibly low.
In your opinions, do you think it is better to list the whole deck as a single auction with 100 cards, or to pull out the cards that have value and list those individually? I want to weigh the pros/cons for the time to list everything to the amount of money to be made to the chances of the item(s) selling.
Thank you for your thoughts!
You can also mix the two approaches. Sell the higher value stuff individually, then accept that the cheap stuff wasn't going to bring in much anyways and buylist it or something.
Yeah, pretty much always this.
However, some generalities will apply. In general, you'll get more money if you piece it out, and you'll spend more time selling it. Entirely your call what your time is worth. If you've pimped out the deck, you'll take a huge haircut selling it as a deck. Nobody is going to want to go from zero -> Pimp in one easy, expensive step. They want to pimp out *their* deck, and they are probably halfway there already. However, if you've assembled some budget decks, then you're better off selling them as-is. Few people want a pile of random commons, even if those commons are pretty good (but not good enough to be no longer budget), but a budget entry point to a format will always have buyers.
Thanks!
With the abbreviated redemption schedule, I know I have to redeem soonish. When should I sell? Where do people usually sell sealed foil sets?
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So- I have a very large collection (150K+ cards) of older sets (Alpha-Ravnica)and have been working on moving it for a few months. The blog posts on collection selling by MTGoldfish have been very helpful and my approach has mirrored that for getting rid of the valuable cards. Its been quite profitable and I'm feeling like my hard work has paid off.
There is one problem, however, which is the approximately 150K bulk cards that are left. My fiance is getting mad because the cards are taking up most of a room in our new house. They have to go soon. I'm just not sure who will take them and shipping the commons would probably not be worth it.
Anybody with advice on how they managed this problem?
Are you in or near a city? List them on Craigslist at bulk price. Be explicit that you're not going to let people riffle through - you're going to say "Give me the money and you take all of these cards." You could also try calling LGSes within range. Hopefully you have a minivan or an SUV or something that can haul 30 Monster boxes. If that fails, then look up GPs near you (again, you'll need to have a large car) and contact the large stores that are going and see if any of them will buy the bulk at the event. If you're too far in the sticks for any of these plans to be viable (and believe me, I live out in the woods of Kjeldor), then call your fire department and request a burn permit. Then light them all on fire.
Because if you've exhausted the first three options, nothing else will bring you anything close to an amount of money that will make it worth any amount of effort.
The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it....
This is the best solution I/we have come up with, and not everyone will have access to doing it this way:
A friend of mine has a TCGPlayer shop. I would ask him to sell them collection as a new store front, w/ him getting a 20% commission. He has the experience and over-abundant collection of toploaders to sell card.
But, on second thought... I taught my fiance how to play Magic, so she might keep part of it (or all of it).
Incidentally, just in case someone is interested in buying the bulk- I'm located in Southwest Ohio. Its mostly commons and uncommons but there are several boxes of cards from older sets before the gold rare symbols that have rares mixed in too. I'm asking $650 for all of it and can give a detailed inventory if there are any serious inquiries.
Thanks for all the replies
Because you mention a legacy collection, I'd recommend the high end FB group for anything over $50, whether you sell them yourself or a friend does it for you.
Merged into the "Selling a collection thread. -KnickM
I think it's best to make an ebay account and sell the cards that way.
In his Second 100 days - Yawgmoth's Bargain is unrestricted in Vintage.
What is going to happen in the Next 100 days!!!
Seriously, though, if you're willing to put in the effort Ebay is probably your best bet for the high-end stuff. Obviously get tracking and insurance and take other measures to avoid scammers.