Tuesday, June 13, 2023

What to do, What to do?

 What do you do with the cards that don't fit your collection?

When I first got into collecting back in 1981 with the release of Fleer and Donruss to go along with Topps, I wanted everything! I was accumulating a bunch of cards. I really focused on Fleer because, not only was it their reintroduction to baseball cards but the error cards were a big deal. I wrote about my business prowess (actually lack of business prowess) back in my first post. Anyway, I collected everything when it came to baseball cards until college, marriage and kids became my focus. I still bought a little of everything, but not like I had before. 

When I got back into collecting baseball cards around 2018, I started looking around at what was out there and quickly became overwhelmed. I had to make a decision on what I was going to collect and how I was going to do it. I came up with Topps base sets from 1972 to present and certain players, focusing on getting all of the players' Topps base cards. I'm not locked in to just Topps. If I find something that I really like the look of then I'll collect that too. There are a few of older non-Topps sets that I like that I'm going to look for once I get everything in order.

I'm still in the organizing phase of my collection. When you've bought all kinds of baseball cards from all different years and basically, just put them in boxes, you create a mess. I've come a long way in organizing everything, but have a long ways to go too. I'm still a long ways away from getting everything counted and on TCDB too. It's a process.

All of that brings me to my question...What to do with the cards that don't fit your collection?

The majority of my collection came from opening packs. I still like opening packs. My original thought was open the packs, get some doubles and trade or sell them to get what I needed and raise money to open more packs. Well, until recently, it hasn't really gone that way. What little of my collection that's on TCDB has led to several trade offers. I've actually completed 6 trades, have 3 trades processing and one in the works. 

So far, I haven't initiated any trades. I'm kind of wimp. I don't want to insult anyone with what I offer for their cards. What's funny is I don't think (at least I haven't been so far!) that I'd be insulted with whatever I'm offered for my cards. I'd just decline it or send a message that said appreciate it, but it's not enough. I would love to hear any of your trading stories. Being a newbie in the trading world, I only have one story so far. 

I made a trade with a guy on May 10th, mailed the cards on the 11th and received my cards on the 17th. The guy I traded with still hasn't received the cards. I feel terrible about it and have sent him a couple of messages trying to figure out if I need to do something. Return the cards he sent, find the cards and resend...something. I don't know. All I know is that I feel bad about it. The guy has been real nice about it and doesn't seem worried about it, but I hate it.

Another way I've tried to move some cards is to try selling them on buysportscards.com. I think I've had about 9 sales for about $50. It's been about 6 months and I know that $50 isn't much, but it's $50 I wouldn't have had! I've got about 2200 cards listed. Obviously, buysportscards.com doesn't get near the traffic that Ebay does, but there are no fees and most of what I'm selling is not very expensive, so its better than Ebay...if it sells. I know that collectors sell on TCDB too, but I haven't seen or heard anything about it. I wonder how often it happens?

Here's my link to buysportscards.com https://www.buysportscards.com/Seller/c827e50ba1/mpdillard25

If you decide to look at it but would rather trade for something posted there, contact me and we can work it out. 

Random act of kindness!

Probably the coolest thing about writing this blog is meeting new people. Two of the coolest people that I've met online is Nacho Grande and Night Owl. It's nice to make new friends even if its only online. I want to give a shout out to Night Owl for the random act of kindness of sending me some of the cards I need to move forward on my 2018 Topps set. Thank you!



I think that's all for now. Please leave a comment and let me know how you move the cards that don't fit your collection or some of your trading stories.

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31



4 comments:

  1. You're certainly welcome.

    Most of the cards that don't fit in my collection wait around for when I have a blog giveaway. Otherwise they're stashed in boxes because I can't conceive of anyone wanting them.

    I have sold a card on TCDB. It happened just once. I generally only sell cards on ebay when I know it's something that will sell.

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  2. Ah....the pleasures of organizing, then reorganizing until it is time to do it again. LOL! Greg and Chris are okay guys (if you like the Reds/Larkin and Dodgers), just kidding they're both great. As for what to do about cards that don't fit my collection. I am laughing so hard right now. I have more of them than I have cards in my collection. I giveaway a lot of cards, yet the boxes in my garage never seem to dissipate. I too am in reorganization mode and one day I'll get to all of those unwanted cards. I keep them so that I can trade from them. Which I certainly have done a ton of that....literally a ton. Best wishes on your project.

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  3. Over the years, I've given away a lot of cards to thrift stores when they aren't terribly valuable or rare. The more valuable ones I've kept and now have nearly every one of those on my TCDB trade list. Knowing I'll never trade them all away, I've posted a few times in the Buy/Sell/Trade forums saying my stuff is for sale and providing some details on pricing. Here's an example:https://www.tcdb.com/Forum.cfm/Page/B/ID/0/?MODE=VIEW&ThreadID=41577#250034

    That's gotten me probably 10 to 15 sales on the site over the past couple of years, sometimes allowing me to move several hundred cards in one transaction. Nice to get a little cash once in a while for some of your cards without having to manage a store on Sportlots or something.

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  4. Cards that don't fit my collection are:
    A. Sent to someone who can use them.
    B. Sold on eBay if they are worth the time and effort to list and ship.
    C. Sold on Craigslist if i's worth the time and effort.
    D. Used for projects at school.
    E. Donated to Goodwill.

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