It's time to sell the collection...

jozxyqk wrote:

There are certainly at least 3000 cards in there that someone would pay at least $1 each for.

I've bought and sold multiple collections, and either you're misspeaking or you just don't know what you're talking about.

If you meant to say "There are certainly at least 3000 cards in there that someone would pay a combined total of $3000 for" then you may be right (but I tend to doubt your collections is that choice).

If you meant to say "There are certainly at least 3000 cards in there that someone would pay at least $1 each for" then you are almost certainly wrong. Most collections are less than 1/11th "good" cards (for resale). IME with multiple collections over multiple years, it's very close to 2%, or even less, that are worth >= $1.

It is difficult, I know, but you need to remove your ignorance to card value and/or personal, emotional attachment to this collection to determine its actual value (if you care). No number that you've put up in this entire discussion has been remotely close.

KevinM wrote:

If you meant to say "There are certainly at least 3000 cards in there that someone would pay a combined total of $3000 for" then you may be right (but I tend to doubt your collections is that choice).

This is what I was trying to say.
If I went down the route of selling individual cards on ebay, I believe that I could find 3000 individual cards in my collection that would total out to $3000.
I just wanted to express my honest assessment that the collection would be worth significantly more when sold individually than in bulk. And if someone bought my cards and resold them and profited, all the power to them.

I apologize if the specific words I used were unclear to those of you reading the post.

Potential buyers should feel confident in whatever offer they make, that they aren't going to get a pile of 30000 Tortured Confessions, Bang Nakh and Esteems.

I do not expect to sell the collection for $3000. I never did. I only stated the figure because, without counting the cards, "10 cents a card" (less than the cost per card in a booster) seemed like a good place to start estimating from, until I looked at what the total would be. I am sorry if anyone had the mistaken impression that I was asking $3000 for the collection.
I have NOT stated a price.

As stated in the original post, if anyone wants to make me an offer on what they would consider reasonable for a sizeable collection, I will entertain any of those offers and I will not feel insulted by their honesty.

The bottom line is, I no longer have use for the vast majority of my collection, and I would like it to end up in the hands of actual VTES players, and I would like a token of compensation for it.

If worst comes to worst, I will probably end up selling my collection to someone like rickstock, but I was hoping to skip the middle man if possible.

Thank you for following the thread as I pretty much think out this whole thing out loud.


..

Rubia wrote:

Hey Joz,

If you find that it's not possible to move the common collection for money, the Indianapolis playgroup would be happy to get your crappy cards, since we distribute them to players here. We're always on the lookout for every card, even tortured confessions and mighty grapple.

Think about us. We'd probably be willing to spring for the flat-rate shipping to get a box of cards that most people think is junk and let new players paw through it.

Some of us even like you.

Rubia,
I will be happy to consider dumping the "chaff" into your group for the price of shipping, if I end up only selling a part of the collection.
Thanks for replying!

Alright, it sounds like there isn't much interest on buying my whole collection in bulk.

I am exploring other venues.
You might even see a couple more auctions directly from me on ebay over the next few weeks while I get things in order and search for some cards that were specifically asked-for...

Thank you for at least reading the thread.

You would have to at least show video proof of the cards, and in one photo show your chase cards or cite them at least and the quantities. I think that would go a long way in finding serious buyers.

I've said that I would do my best to answer specific questions about whether I had "Card X" and in what quantity. And I have fielded that question from a few people already.

But the point of selling the whole collection in bulk was more for the benefit of seeding a collection for a new player or playgroup. If all you're interested in is the relatively small percentage of "chase" cards (and, to be honest, I've been out of the game long enough that I'm not sure what the "chase" cards even are), I find it hard to believe that you'd want to pay for the cost of the rest of the "chaff" and the significant shipping cost that goes along with it...
I don't think that showing a picture of my Card Houses in the closet is going to sway your opinion on buying the whole collection either way. I think I've got a recognizable-enough name (and avatar!) that people know that I wouldn't lie about the general size of my collection.

That being said, I've realized that it seems to be more economical -- in money and, surprisingly, in time -- for both me as seller, and the collective "you" as buyers, for me to sell a few more individual cards on ebay and then have someone like rickstock go through the rest of the collection to put small prices on everything remaining.

So, feel free to contact me privately with questions about the collection, or keep your eyes out for ebay auctions from my userid.

I apologize if this thread has made me out to sound like a dick. Really I'm just a nice guy who has a fondness for the game but poor business sense and an overly defensive nature in web forums