[kamdensmom]

Hi! If this is the wrong place for this, please redirect me?

I have a large collection of sports cards. Mostly baseball, but a little of everything. When I say large, I mean start my own store large. I have some of them sorted into stars and commons (thousands). I am now tackling the stuff that has value (hundreds). I want to go through them and decide what we want to keep and what we want to sell. I have started scanning them and entering them into a spreadsheet. I am trying to figure out how to keep them in some sort of order? AM I wasting my time cataloging them? I just don't know where to start.

Honestly I am overwhelmed.
Thanks in advance

[bbcgalaxee]

First thing to know is that nearly every card from the 80s-earlier 90s baseball is just about worthless.

Sure there's some exceptions obviously but 95 percent of them won't sell.for more than a few bucks.

Unless it's rare or autographed, nearly anything with bonds, McGwire, Clemens, sosa or a rod is poison.

What years do you have?

[kamdensmom]

First thing to know is that nearly every card from the 80s-earlier 90s baseball is just about worthless.

Sure there's some exceptions obviously but 95 percent of them won't sell.for more than a few bucks.

Unless it's rare or autographed, nearly anything with bonds, McGwire, Clemens, sosa or a rod is poison.

What years do you have?

---

I do know that about the cards from that era..overproduced, cheap and easy to come by. His are all high end 1997 (ish) thru 2000's. He searched for inserts and bought specialty cards by the box. Anything that he deemed "good" (based on his research) were put in sleeves, hard card cases etc. there are hundreds of these. The common stuff is seperate but not really organized either. I am trying to find the best way to organize the ones that were set aside. There are more than a few...prob between 1 - 2000 of them.

[bbcgalaxee]

I'd say the best way to start is by sorting out the numbered cards, autographs and game used Jersey/ bat cards.

Once done, pull out the stars and post pics here, we can help easier that way.

You definitely don't want to sort common cards by teams, not worth it and time consuming.

Inserts on the other hand should be sorted, even common ones. Much better chance of you selling "200 Yankee inserts" than "1000 Yankee base cards"

[kamdensmom]

I'd say the best way to start is by sorting out the numbered cards, autographs and game used Jersey/ bat cards.

Once done, pull out the stars and post pics here, we can help easier that way.

You definitely don't want to sort common cards by teams, not worth it and time consuming.

Inserts on the other hand should be sorted, even common ones. Much better chance of you selling "200 Yankee inserts" than "1000 Yankee base cards"

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Ok...so those are already separated. He did that as he went through his boxes and opened them. So other than scanning them and creating an inventory there isn't a better way to go through them? I suppose I knew this already but it is a daunting task. I am trying to find a way to get some of the pics in one...here are 5 of the 16 I did today. Like I said...there are hundreds of these.

[ceocards]

The pics of cards in your attachment are nice...nothing that's going to fund a college education or anything, but you could probably manage to sell them for a few bucks each.

You say you're trying to decide what to keep and what to sell...I guess I would ask what is your end goal? For the ones you keep, are you looking to start collecting yourself? Or keep ones that you hope will go up in value? For the ones you sell - are you looking to maximize dollars, even if it means more work? Or just want them gone?

What is your overall familiarity with cards/collecting? Do you know/recognize who popular/superstar players are?

Not meaning to interrogate - just trying to get a better idea of what sort of advice to give. For example - if you're just looking to get a return out of them, but primarily just want them gone - I'd say search your area for a sports memorabilia dealer who may be willing to take them in a bulk lot (albeit surely at a significant discount). If you're thinking of starting a collection yourself, I'd say choose a player/team/era etc to collect and focus on looking for those cards that fit your chosen collecting interest(s). If you really are looking to sell them, but want to maximize your dollar potential, you're probably talking about listing higher value cards individually on Ebay or another similar site, which can be quite time consuming.

[kamdensmom]

Just to make sure I am clear -- I have and entire garage of commons and low price stars to sell in bulk. It took 3 mini van loads to get those out of the house. The items I took some pictures of were examples of the insert/numbered cards. I have 7 large safes full of these -- stacked in protective covers but not in boxes, in the safes. I literally have thousands of cards. SO...I am looking for advice on how to:

1.) Organize the cards that are inserts/etc. eventually I will sell them but I need a base value before I open it up to dealers. Should I scan them all for inventory? Create a database in addition to the pics? Put the actual cards in team order? How do I find what I have once it is scanned?

2.) Organize/sort the rest of the commons?

3.) Once I have gone through them do I attempt to sell them individually for the best value or offer the whole lot up to dealers and take the best price? I do sell on ebay (other items) but it is about people looking for a deal and I am looking to get the most I can out of these.

[manningsecnumbr1fan]

Just to make sure I am clear -- I have and entire garage of commons and low price stars to sell in bulk. It took 3 mini van loads to get those out of the house. The items I took some pictures of were examples of the insert/numbered cards. I have 7 large safes full of these -- stacked in protective covers but not in boxes, in the safes. I literally have thousands of cards. SO...I am looking for advice on how to:

1.) Organize the cards that are inserts/etc. eventually I will sell them but I need a base value before I open it up to dealers. Should I scan them all for inventory? Create a database in addition to the pics? Put the actual cards in team order? How do I find what I have once it is scanned?

2.) Organize/sort the rest of the commons?

3.) Once I have gone through them do I attempt to sell them individually for the best value or offer the whole lot up to dealers and take the best price? I do sell on ebay (other items) but it is about people looking for a deal and I am looking to get the most I can out of these.

Sorry I can't help but I want to wish you luck. Sometimes I just want to throw all my cards away & forget about it all lol.

[kamdensmom]

LOL...I hear you on that one. My son is keeping the Cleveland cards....he has 10 5000 count boxes in his closet. we are never going to get to the "enjoyment" part.

[yankees_pride]

I would be really interested in any Jeters you have. The more I can get the better I have over 2000 now and am always looking to upgrade my PC.