Seeking advice on selling trading cards (MTG)

[varebelrose]

Hi all,

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, and for posting it in the general selling discussion board (please move it if inappropriate). I feel this is the best brain trust in this community for selling issues, would attract a variety of opinions, and might generate some discussion that  would apply to a variety of similar questions.

We recently inherited a large collection (8000+) of Magic the Gathering trading game cards. Our goal is to sell them here, but while we are long time sellers, we have little experience in the card world. I understand that this particular niche is a world unto itself, and prices operate almost like a stock market. We would obviously like to maximize income from these, while minimizing risk from SNADS and false returns and Item not received claims. The cards are a mix of valuable ones and commons. Yes, I do know how to research specific card values.

I have some specific questions regarding the best way to sell these. We have no intention of becoming regular MTG card vendors; I think this will be a one-shot deal with these. Any advice is appreciated from anyone who has been down this path. I understand that if you are actively selling these, you are not going to want to help your competition. I just want to move these out of the house efficiently and painlessly.

We have already sorted into series/release and also by class ( from common, to mythic and foils). And yes I also understand some uncommons etc are also valuable.

1) For specific high value cards, does auction or BIN work better? i.e., if the online consensus and sold record indicates a card is worth $40, is it better to auction starting at $20, or list BIN at $40, or even lower?

2) I plan to sell everything with free shipping with postal tracking and domestic USA only. Is this the best route? I am unsure what the collector group for this is like, if they are commonly INR claimants, or if they are mostly honest like stamp buyers. I would love to post these in LWEs, but that seems risky.

3) I know that commons and other low value cards generally sell for pennies by the inch. Are these even worth listing, or would I be better to donate to our local game shop? (I lean toward the latter, give the kids some free stuff).

4) We have multiples of some valuable cards.  Assuming they are in the same condition, should I list each individually, or list as multiple available?

5) Does anyone have any specific suggestions on how to manage inventory and make sure the right cards go to the right buyer? Especially with multiples. These take up a LOT of room.

6) Even though we have no desire to list and go through 8k cards, I do not see any feasible way to list them all as one lot and get anywhere near the value from them. Even a game shop would offer pennies on the dollar, so thanks for the suggestion in advance, but we cannot go that route. Unless maybe someone thinks we could just specifically detail the good ones...?

7) Would buyers rather get a card in a protective plastic sleeve, or just plain?  I am guessing yes, but again, I am unfamiliar with this market.

😎 How reliable are the various online price guides? I know some are "live" and adjust based on daily sold values, but even so, we all know actual e-Bay solds often go lower  than outside records indicate.  I do not desire to under cut the market, but am happier with quick sales than relisting these many times just to make an extra 10%.

Thanks in advance for any advice; if you sell these, again, I do not plan to be your perpetual competitor!

regards! Have a great weekend.

[mr_lincoln]

@varebelrose 

1. For the more valuable ones use Auction style starting at a moderate price, meaning a price you can live with IF it (they) only sell for 1 bid.  I would suggest starting them on a Wed or Thus late and running them for 10 days ... that gives you basically 2 weekends of exposure AND the collectors more time to find them.

  -I would use Calculated shipping so Buyers pay ... if one or more bid real high you can use Priority Mail and insure the shipment.  I would however start with First Class postage on the listing.

2. You could sell the more common ones GTC Fixed Price

3. I would start with a portion of your total collection and select some valuable ones and fixed priced ones and list them.  People will Follow you and as you introduce more of the collection they will see it and be ready to bid or buy.

4. DO NOT use Best Offer, period.  People will still message you with offers and the earlier on an Auction the more valuable the item may be.  Simply decline their offers and let them know you are letting the items sell as listed ... and when they send you their phone number asking you to contact them you will have to message them that  you only Sell on eBay ...

I am sure you will get some other advice, I'm not a card expert but some parts of selling are linear ... and of course you never know when a member is actually a Buyer on another ID but gives you advice here that helps them get a deal ... okay, that last part is way out there but in this day and age you just never know ...

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, just out of curiosity, I went to Worthpoint to see what kind of data they had. I got over 2 million results and the top numbers for the rarest cards were in the six figures. You might just go over there and take a look. I believe they have a free trial membership. Best of luck to you in this endeavor!

[varebelrose]

Oh, believe me, we have been looking at the valuation sites. I havent gone through everything yet, but I doubt that we have any cards that will pay the mortgage off,  most are post 2005. Maybe a few that will fetch from $10 to $50 from what I have seen so far.  Its a LOT of work to go through these, especially with old eyes.

[loveyourimagination49]

Are they graded? Sorry if I missed that.

[varebelrose]

 good question. The answer is no. I am not at all sure we have any specific cards that would be worth the expense. If I find any that the value websites indicate are worth big bucks, I would look into that. Its definitely confusing when you look into the value sites, the $ changes daily.

[frenzy.finds]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

@varebelrose 

1. For the more valuable ones use Auction style starting at a moderate price, meaning a price you can live with IF it (they) only sell for 1 bid.  I would suggest starting them on a Wed or Thus late and running them for 10 days ... that gives you basically 2 weekends of exposure AND the collectors more time to find them.

  -I would use Calculated shipping so Buyers pay ... if one or more bid real high you can use Priority Mail and insure the shipment.  I would however start with First Class postage on the listing.

2. You could sell the more common ones GTC Fixed Price

3. I would start with a portion of your total collection and select some valuable ones and fixed priced ones and list them.  People will Follow you and as you introduce more of the collection they will see it and be ready to bid or buy.

4. DO NOT use Best Offer, period.  People will still message you with offers and the earlier on an Auction the more valuable the item may be.  Simply decline their offers and let them know you are letting the items sell as listed ... and when they send you their phone number asking you to contact them you will have to message them that  you only Sell on eBay ...

I am sure you will get some other advice, I'm not a card expert but some parts of selling are linear ... and of course you never know when a member is actually a Buyer on another ID but gives you advice here that helps them get a deal ... okay, that last part is way out there but in this day and age you just never know ...

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Re: Advice

I have actually seen two sellers on the same post claiming to be experts and grossly misleading a new seller as to what they had.

[loveyourimagination49]

I do not know anything about MTG.

1993 Magic The Gathering MTG Alpha Black Lotus R Power 9: $89,672
I would definitely put that in a sleeve and top loader.
There used to be a group on MTG, but I can’t find it now.
I would sell the the higher desired ones first individually and graded.
If over $10 I’m thinking a top loader would be desired. $10-50 would be penny sleeve and top loader.
Just my opinion of course. Good luck!

[mikeoubre · Accepted solution]

SpdHi!

I'm not super knowledgeable on MTG specifically, but I sell Pokemon which is similar in some aspects.  I'd be glad to share what I know about Pokemon cards to help you with your cards.  

First is grading - it's a huge thing for card collectors (and players in some instances).  They have a bunch of guides online - MTG may be different but generally this is how I grade Pokemon -

'Mint' (M) generally should not be used unless a card hasn't een professionally graded (in my opinion).  Mint generally means flawless - not a scratch, not a teensy bit of whitening, nothing.  Best not to use this one just to avoid angry collectors.

'Near Mint' (NM) means almost perfect.  Tiny bit of white (very little), a couple of super light scratches, stuff like that.  

'Light Play' (LP) means the card has a small bit of edge wear, maybe a tiny chip, card bows a little due to holofoil, little bit of scratching, etc.

'Light Play Minus' (LP-) means similar to LP, but bordering between light and moderate play.  

'Moderate Play' (MP) cards can have more edge wear, chips, indents not effecting the structure of the card, scuffs, and light stains (like dirt specks).

'Heavy Play' (HP) usually means the card is in pretty bad shape, but cannot have rips, pin holes, ink, signatures or writing, etc.

'Played' (PL) usually means the card is not even useable in a tournament.  Very bad shape.

MTG ranges from cards worth thousands to cards worth pennies (or one penny in some instances)!  There are a few good websites to get ideas of a card's worth - I don't know if we can share websites here but one of them begins with 'TCG' and is a card marketplace and it's a GREAT place to start.  

Cards worth pennies you have a few options with - donate or sell in bulk.  Depends how many you have.  Generally these would do better in auctions - just say you have X amount of low worth penny cards in X condition and throw the minimum you'd take as the first bid.  Throw some bubble wrap around them and put them in a box and you're good to go.  

Cards worth $2.00-$7.00 generally would go in a plain white envelope - I prefer semirigid card sleeves to toploaders because they are slightly more bendy than toploaders (picky mail clerks are more likely to take them).  Up to 3 cards in one versus 2 in a toploader.  I tape them in the middle of a greeting card - a piece of sticky note then a long piece of tape over the entrance of the semirigid toploader.  Can go with a $0.55 stamp or if you're worried use a $0.70 non-machinable stamp.  Always use a penny sleeve too when using a toploader.

Over $7 I ship in a bubble mailer (with penny sleeve / toploader still).

Addressing specific questions -

1.) I'd go with BIN if you know the value.

2.) See information above.

3.) I'd probably just donate unless you had a ton of penny cards that could go in a flat rate box.

4.) List individually if over $10.00 or if  the card has unusual flaws - otherwise multiple Quantity is fine if in the same condition.  Make sure to note that the image is a stock picture.  

5.) Have item numbers or categorize by price.  Bulk cards go in bins, expensive ones go in penny sleeves and put somewhere safer.

6.) Not sure there.

7.) Anything not a penny card , penny sleeve it and put it in a toploader.

8.) Sites that actually sell cards are the best indicators in my opinion.  Then cross reference with ebay.

sorry for the long winded post - there's a lot to say - I hope it helps you out!  

[mikeoubre]

Sorry for a few typos - meant 'has been graded' on the Mint description. 🙂

[varebelrose]

Sincere thanks to everyone for the advice! Have a great weekend!

[luckythewinner]

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@varebelrose wrote:

if the online consensus and sold record indicates a card is worth $40, is it better to auction starting at $20, or list BIN at $40, or even lower?

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Sold listings can help indicate the "going rate", but the comparison between sold lsitings and unsold listings can help indicate the demand. 

If the "going rate" is $40 and every one that is listed is selling, that is one thing. But if the "going rate" was established by a handful of sales but there are hundreds of listings that are going unsold, that is another thing entirely.