New to Postcard Dealing - pointers anyone?

[sin-n-dex]

So to start, my specialty is coins, tokens and stamps.

My shop got a collection from a family member of one of the employees of postcards (era is about 1980 to 2000 - yes I get that's not exactly old). I'm working through photographing these for some 99 cent listings. Most of the cards are from Southern Ontario area and places nearby (and apparently anywhere they went on holidays in the 1980s... so I've got nice new looking cards from Venezuala of all places).

OK, so I don't really need help with that, I'm treating it as any other random thing that comes into my store (as I get odd ball stuff from the store).

What I did get a few days ago though, was a postcard album covering France, Germany and Switzerland from 1904-07. The cards are not adhered, they are in little corners of the album. What's the best way to get those out without damaging the cards? I'm assuming with paper that's over 100 years old, it must be pretty brittle.

How do you suggest packaging up something fragile like that? i prepack everything when it gets listed so it's ready to go. I was thinking putting chipboard (cardstock) in a 4x6 ziplock envelope and putting the cards in there, and storing in a box with a lid to keep them from getting crushed.

I think I got very lucky, the cards were purchased for just under $1 each (dividing the price by the number of cards in the album), and I don't think the seller realized what they had was good quality. Oh, the owner did note dates on some of the cards (of when they were there, this is what they did instead of taking photos), which is how I am able to determine the years (plus there are no cars in any of the city street type photos, all horse and buggy).

I don't need help with pricing... that's something I make up as I go along. Just assistance with taking the album apart without damaging the cards.

Thanks,

C.

[paperpeasant]

I would suggest using a sharp steak knife to slit two of the four album holders so you can pull the cards out (carefully)

For years I've mailed postcards to buyers in a standard 4 by 6 envelope with cardboard from cereal boxes as protection from damage.  It's worked very well, with only 1-2 occasions of the cards being damaged in the mail.  (Sometimes the post office is just determined to do this)  Mailing them in a box would probably drive up the cost for buyers.  In brief: they don't like that

[deltilogical]

You might consider auctioning the entire album as a whole. 

Sometimes postcards toned in those albums leaving marks. 

Not to be a downer, but often the contents of these albums show the tourist sites and are not especially valuable.   I'm also seeing these old albums being filled with nicer quarter cards and pitched as 'my greatgrandmothers'.

of course, we want to see what they brought you!

[sin-n-dex]

This is just a sample of one page (the photos are pretty big on my phone, so I could only attach the one). I bought the album as a whole, but paid only about 90 cents per card in the album (if you include the shipping and customs fees to bring them to Canada).

I've been selling "vintage" cards on eBay that were from the 1980s and 1990s, and I've sold 7 cards so far, even though none of them were very special. (Nothing in that box I got from the brick and mortar store was special, but some of them had not very well known landmarks that were local to where I live, and those were in demand).

I managed to get a second album on it's way to me in Canada (to be arriving later next week) that had cards that were mostly drawings of places, as opposed to actual photos. The drawings were in colour.

In both cases of these two albums the cards were from Europe. The vintage lot from the B&M store was mostly local to Southern Ontario, and a bunch of places the shop owner's family traveled 25+ years ago (cards that were bought and never mailed). He had a bunch that had been posted, but I didn't want to take those to list here.

When you say "not valuable", you'd have to define what you think "valuable" is. To me, if I can get $5-10 a card (pending on what it is), that would be really good. I don't expect to have any $100 postcards. From what I've seen in solds, $5 is about the right price to be asking.

I told the shop owner about buying the two albums and he decided to go out and buy one of his own. He says what he got was 1909 to 1925 time, but he didn't specify if they were Canadian/American or European. He didn't specify what he paid, but if it's under $1 a card, it's probably OK. (Knowing him he wouldn't pay too much because he thinks getting into postcards might be risky, but he hired me to work for him because I'm familiar with eBay, and familiar with all sorts of collections... I have a postcard collection of my own, of places I've been to).

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@paperpeasant wrote:

I would suggest using a sharp steak knife to slit two of the four album holders so you can pull the cards out (carefully)

For years I've mailed postcards to buyers in a standard 4 by 6 envelope with cardboard from cereal boxes as protection from damage.  It's worked very well, with only 1-2 occasions of the cards being damaged in the mail.  (Sometimes the post office is just determined to do this)  Mailing them in a box would probably drive up the cost for buyers.  In brief: they don't like that

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I have chipboards for dealing with stamps (it's basically the same as cardboard from a cereal box, but blank on both sides, they come in different sizes, but I buy 8 1/2 by 11 and cut them to fit). I don't think I eat enough things in boxes to be able to use them as packing material (and not sure I'd want to use boxes from some products, like frozen dinners).

I've got 6x8" envelopes I bought from a stationary store, and I was cutting a chipboard to fit (which is around 1/2 a sheet of paper, and trimmed a bit more to fit). I put the card inside the sleeve in that, but the cards I have right now, ready to sell, are all pretty modern. I'm a bit more worried about storage of fragile cards and am thinking using a 4x6 ziplock with a chipboard to fit might be a better scenario so they are all packed with cardboard.

I haven't taken a good look at the album to see if there's any colour changes where the little corners covered the cards, but a couple are held down by "straps" which hold a bigger part of the corner. I saw a few of these straps have damaged and I didn't notice anything concerning. I will know better under good light when I take a closer look.

C.

[galfam]

"i prepack everything when it gets listed so it's ready to go. I was thinking putting chipboard (cardstock) in a 4x6 ziplock envelope and putting the cards in there, and storing in a box with a lid to keep them from getting crushed."

As soon as you prepack someone will ask a question or want a different view and you have to unpack. Get your packing material ready but don't pack it up until sold. You also need a numbering system so that when you sell card # 100 you can find it. Even with a filing system those crafty cards hide from me !

[sin-n-dex]

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@galfam wrote:

"i prepack everything when it gets listed so it's ready to go. I was thinking putting chipboard (cardstock) in a 4x6 ziplock envelope and putting the cards in there, and storing in a box with a lid to keep them from getting crushed."

As soon as you prepack someone will ask a question or want a different view and you have to unpack. Get your packing material ready but don't pack it up until sold. You also need a numbering system so that when you sell card # 100 you can find it. Even with a filing system those crafty cards hide from me !

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Unpacking if needed is OK. Packing allows me to assign the lot number on the sleeve or ziplock bag (to find it, as you said).

I've been selling stamps and have other things that are tricky to find because they're hard to describe in a way that differentiates them from similar things, so the lot number seemed like a good idea. All the vintage postcards are going to be allotted just a number... sometimes I allot a letter and number combination.

So far I've sold 7 vintage cards... I just got a batch of antique cards from the coin shop (they are not the type to show pictures of places, a lot of them are greeting card types, but postmarked 100 years ago). Even though they aren't very valuable, we're paying little enough to make a reasonable profit if we can sell them.

C.

[dogchow747]

You have some cool stuff.

Like on this one:

Vintage Postcard 3.5"x5.5" - Canada - Wardair Plane in Flight - #273

Try:

Vintage chrome postcard Canada Wardair MD DC-10-30 in flight #273

1.99?

Those aircraft cards are desirable.

Often searched by terms like DC-10 / Boeing 747 707 etc. (model numbers)

Good going.

[dogchow747]

Vintage Postcard 3.5"x5.5" - CP Air Plane on Ground at Airport - #231

Vintage chrome postcard - Canada CP Air MD DC-8 on Tarmac #231

$2.69

[dogchow747]

Vintage Postcard 4"x6" - Spantax Airlines - #105

Vintage postcard 4x6 Spain Spantax Air Covair CV-990 #105

Its more about the plane and airline

See where I am going?

Most of those are chromes, the newer color photo style.

The 3.5 x 5.5 are standards

4x6 are continentals. I don't buy those, but some folks are crazy for them. Early 70's era. "Continental post card" is a search term

Do not mind helping.

[dogchow747]

I like this seller:

lightfoot41

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313758896533

Look at a few of his listings, he is very good with keywords.

[deltilogical]

delayed reply...in terms of Not Valuable, I would mean dollar or quarter cards...for instance, Versailles cards, many attractive colored engraved early views, but they seem to have little value.  I see them in the 25 cent boxes at the postcard shows all the time around here.