`
Connect With Us!
IOS Store
Share Thread:
 
Thread Rating:
  • 2 Vote(s) - 2 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Ever purposely buy poorer, yet cheaper, condition cards?
#11

RE: Ever purposely buy poorer, yet cheaper, condition cards?
I picked up this card recently

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-Crown-Royal...true&rt=nc

Because as you know I collect this set, but also to remove it from the general populace. It is in really bad shape especially on the back
[Image: 0a0d6456-0c97-44b9-873b-79f839312664_zpstsdq3axa.jpg]
Reply
#12

RE: Ever purposely buy poorer, yet cheaper, condition cards?
I think for the majority of collectors this is the their main m.o., to some degree anyway. Not everyone can afford an 8, 9 or 10 grade vintage card, especially of stars or hofer's.
I think it's all about buying the best condition YOU can afford. But I also think that's part of the fun; finding a card that's poor quality but maybe stands out because it has bright color or mint centering.

I just bought a lower condition fleer Jordan rookie (I posted the pic on the basketball forum) because that's in my price range.
Reply
#13

RE: Ever purposely buy poorer, yet cheaper, condition cards?
i used to have quite a few nice vintage cards....unfortunately for me , i bulked out a ton of 70's football and basketball in the mid-to-late 80's just before those two sports began to take off.....then in late 1992 after i'd begun working on topps baseball sets from 1957-69 i lost virtually all of them when the son of a temporary roommate stole an entire footlocker of cards and gave them away to other neighborhood kids ....i had them stored out of the way at the back of a walk-in closet while the family was living with me until they could find a new home and only learned of the theft several months later when they'd moved out and i was pulling all my hidden treasures back out....

after that loss , i didn't have the heart to re-start my vintage collection right away....when i did , naturally i always sought out the best condition cards , but that was a very slow process.....then some time around 1999 or 2000 someone gave me a trash can filled with mostly 1975-1977 topps baseball....almost all of them had been individually sealed up using an old daisy seal-a-meal and pockets cut from 9-pocket pages....unfortunately since they had all just been thrown in a trash can , most were bent , creased , or warped....a few survived , but they were definitely in the minority.....

i took the time to take a little box cutter and cut every card out of its packet....can't even begin to tell you how long it took or you how many slices i got in my fingertips , but i did it....at the time i was selling on yahoo but not ebay.....i organized them all by team and started putting them in small 9-card lots ....i listed the worst condition items first with opening bids of .25 or .50....despite the overall lousy condition , i sold TONS of lots like that....

based on my success with that project , i've bought quite a few off-grade vintage lots over the years with the goal of pulling out a few of the better items that could upgrade some of my own cards and selling off the rest as singles , player lots , or team lots....i won't say i've gotten rich , but i will say i've done well....one memorable deal from a few year go saw me buy a lot of bust over 800 cards from 1970-1979 for under $30 dlvd.....most of the cards were from 1972-1975 and a good 25-30% were stars.....did a lot of sorting and listed roughly 150-200 on ebay as singles or in small player lots.....they may not be fast movers , but of those i listed , close to 2/3 have sold .....in short , i've moved right at 12% of an 800-count lot and have taken in over 5 times what i paid for the entire lot......

that experience has led me to making more and more off-grade vintage purchases (two of my more successful ventures of late have been dealing with 1965 topps embossed and 1969 topps deckles)....the key is to buy in bulk and then break up the lots ...it takes a little time and plenty of patience , but i am 100% sure there is money to be made on vintage in almost any condition....
I collect almost anyone else with ties to the state of South Carolina (especially ANY SC Gamec0cks) , + most parallels and rare 90's inserts
check out my site for tons of wantlists : claude's card corner
Reply
#14

RE: Ever purposely buy poorer, yet cheaper, condition cards?
Thank you all for taking the time to share your comments and some good stories as well. There are really no wrong answers or theories on collecting based on condition. Everybody has their own parameters that they follow which makes all the differing opinions interesting.

I have since bought a good number of cards from the 50's and late 40's. In some cases I found the same cards listed multiple times by different sellers. There are a number of instances when I have to decide which defects I can live with and which ones that I can not. One card is well centered but has a couple bad corners while another has near perfect corners but noticeable surface scratches - you get the idea.

I am amazed that there are cards that I have seen listed which have a lot of wear and have sold for respectable prices or have rather high BIN asking prices. One of these days I hope to own a few of those 1935 Chicles. I just need to wait for a couple nicely priced ones to fly under the listing radar.
[Image: aoM1_zps2mg995on.gif]
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)