Best way to sell a collection

[Spidey111]

Hey there,

I played MTG back in the early-min 90s and amassed about 5,000 cards.  Now I'd like to sell the collection, but I could use some advice on how best to do this.  Should I cherry pick the collection and sell off just the big money cards, or are there ways to get rid of the entire collection in one fell swoop?  Should I sell online or go to a dealer?  I've only put 250 cards into iMTG, and the value is supposedly between 10k and 30k.

Thanks in advance,


- Pete

[Aladormax]

If you need the cash go eBay, but if you are looking for getting back into the game than go to some online dealers. I also am interested in what you have btw.

[Rass]

If you are looking for the most value you would have to piece it out. Sell on eBay, Amazon, or Craig's list. If you need money fast can try a local shop but they give pennies on the dollar. 

[NyghtHawk]

Always remember a few things.

- You'll never really get face value, the average is really trade value. Low range is really where you'll be to sell.
- If you sell online you'll take a percentage off for fees from paypal, ebay, etc...
- If you sell to a store, they'll probably offer 50% give or take.
- Pretty hard to move collections as a whole, not impossible, but be prepared to take a big chunk off to do so.
- Piecing out can make you more money but also way more time consuming.
- Dont include old stuff that isnt really worth anything. It might add up in price, but nobody will want it if its no longer a playable card, which most will fall into that category.
- Your money is in the cards that are worth a few dollars and up.

[ihasfrozen]

Posting what valuable cards you have would be helpful in determining what to do with them (I would also be potentially interested in some of it).

Most likely sell the extremely valuable ones on ebay, then lump the rest together in a lot (list everything so people know what they are getting) for ebay as well.

[Spidey111]

Thanks for all the quick responses.

I don't think I want to sell this collection piecemeal.  I think it would take a long time and leave me with a bunch of cards that no one wants. 

Also, I briefly spoke to a dealer that warned me about some of the online deals that have gone bad.  Like, he shiped cards out and the buyer reports the package "never arrived".  Is that a realistic/common concern?

I'd be happy to share the collection list with anyone else.  I've been putting them in the 'My Precious' binder.  Is there an easy way to share that?

I've put in 650 cards now, and the value is between 25k and 35k.

Thanks,


- Pete

[Spidey111]

Thanks, I'll give that a try now....

Hmmm, nope.  The cog in the 'My Precious' binder doesn't seem to let me update to my private page.  Maybe I have to move things to another binder?

- Pete

[Rass]

Thanks for all the quick responses.

I don't think I want to sell this collection piecemeal.  I think it would take a long time and leave me with a bunch of cards that no one wants. 

Also, I briefly spoke to a dealer that warned me about some of the online deals that have gone bad.  Like, he shiped cards out and the buyer reports the package "never arrived".  Is that a realistic/common concern?

I'd be happy to share the collection list with anyone else.  I've been putting them in the 'My Precious' binder.  Is there an easy way to share that?

I've put in 650 cards now, and the value is between 25k and 35k.

Thanks,


- Pete

If he was a dealer he should know to use tracking and insurance.  Then there is proof

[Spidey111]

sorry, you have to do it from magic binders.  that should do it.

Hmm, still no-go.  I think I have to put them in the 'Trade' binder?


- Pete

[Spidey111]

Ok, I've started transferring things over.

[Falcon182]

Nice. If you are interested in selling some specific stuff I'm sure people on here would buy cards but most people don't have $20k to drop on a collection. Let me know if you'd sell some individual cards.

[ihasfrozen]

You have some very nice things, I'd be interested in the lotus (and recall, mox ruby/sapphire, time walk), but I'm in the process of raising funds : (

My sadness aside, I would recommend trying to sell the power, workshop, and duals on Facebook before eBay. There is a group called "High End Magic stuff for sale" that has a lot of people who would be interested in buying your power, and you would be able to avoid eBay fees.

In terms of pricing, your power is going to be extremely condition dependent. {Black Lotus} can range from $1800-3000 depending on condition, {Ancestral Recall} can be $700-1100, {Mishra's Workshop} $500-600, {Bazaar of Baghdad} $300-350, and your duals will vary (basically tcgplayer low).

I highly recommend trying to evaluate the condition of your cards, and posting in the facebook group mentioned above with pictures. If you need a link to the group I can send you one, but you should be able to just search for it by name (it'll be the one with ~14k people in it). You have to request to join, and will need to format your post according to their rules. Feel free to ask me any questions about how the group works.

[Aladormax]

Gotta say, when I said I wanted to know what you have I never expected you to have so much awesome stuff.

[particle]

pretty colors...

[Spidey111]

Hey All,

Thanks for the input.  I've started transferring the stuff that I put into the 'My Precious' binder over to the Trading binder.  That way you can see the collection.  So far I've only moved over the A-L entries.  I'll do the remaining M-Z tonight.  (Yes, the Power 9 will be there.)  For the most part, all I've put into the iMTG app (so far) are special lands and "gold" cards.  I also put in some of the really old/rare cards that I knew would be of interest.

Most of the collection is Revised, 4th Edition, Fallen Empires, The Dark, Homelands (and later expansions I've forgotten the names to) that I bought from boxes & packs.  Anything from Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, Arabian Nights, Legends, or Antiquities were bought as single cards from a co-worker of mine getting out of the game...in 1996.  :)  I had the presence of mind at the time to make a full set of un-played Restricted, and that has been sitting in its own binder for all these years.  I suppose I could sell that by itself?

My plan is to catalog the box of artifacts next (less than 1,000), and then I'll tackle the 5,000-card box of the five mana colors.

Oh, and I have about a dozen decks that are still ready to be played, so who knows what's in those!  Oy....

Thanks,


- Pete