Just Collect receives dozens of inquiries every day from our web presence on the Internet, via telephone calls and via email. Many times, these contacts have a pretty good idea what they have in their collection and they are either looking for an evaluation or a purchase offer. Others contact us trying to figure out what they have and if it has any value. We're happy to discuss collections with all of these folks and help people have a better understanding of the value of their collection.
A Late Husband's Collection
Our featured collection in this week's blog is about a woman from western Massachusetts that contacted after finding us on the Internet. Her husband had collected and had recently passed away. Before his passing he culled down his collection and kept cards that he felt would have some value down the road. Unfortunately, the wife didn't know much about the cards, but did have an idea of what she was expecting to get for them.
She was able to provide us with quality images of the cards which allowed our specialists to examine them and put together a preliminary evaluation subject to in-person inspection. We provided her with the valuation and our purchase offer. She liked the offer and we had an agreement in principle.
Some Serious Star Power
The collection was not large in terms of quantity, but was loaded with major stars and rookies ranging from 1952 through 1959 with most cards falling in the 1953-1955. Included were cards of Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays and a few others.
The husband held a few cards out of a much larger collection and he opted to get a few of the key cards graded and opted for Beckett Grading (BVG). We used our online subscription to value the BVG cards and our standard procedures for valuing the balance of the collection.
The highlights in the collection were a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card, three of 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax rookies, including one graded BVG 5.5, several Mickey Mantle cards from 1952 through 1958 featuring a 1953 Topps and a 1953 Bowman Color!
I'm Not Really Comfortable Sending the Cards Through the Mail
After we discussed the evaluation, values and our purchase offer, we were able to agree upon a preliminary price. However, the seller was very concerned about sending the cards through the mail -- even with our fully insured FedEx program -- and said that she preferred us coming to her in western Massachusetts. While it was a very nice collection, and we were pretty aggressive with the evaluation, it wasn't worth quite enough to head out without something else in the area. We figured our expense for the travel and to be out of the office and persented the woman with an offer if we were to come to her (our original offer) and an offer that we increased by our expense (a pretty nice increase) if she opted to send it in on our fully insured FedEx account. We advised that we would not have an issue coming up, but wanted her to have the best opions to choose from.
After some deliberation and further research, she opted to send the collection to Just Collect. Our specialists reviewed the collection, confirmed the original evalaution and finalized the offer based upon the in-person inspection. She agreed and we overnighted her payment to her.
When all was said and done, the woman was more than satisfied. We work hard to make certain that we under promise and over deliver and that we're always brutally honest. The woman left us the following testimonial as a Google Review:
I had these baseball cards from my late husband and didn't know where to sell them. With Google's help, I came across Just Collect, inc. I called their phone number and was given instructions of how to email them. Then began my relationship with John P. With his guidance, it couldn't have been easier. The staff was even willing to travel to view my collection. I must admit there was some trepidation as I didn't want to be scammed. John answered all my questions and assured me that my collection was worthwhile. We finally agreed that I would send the collection to them with shipping and insurance costs paid by Just Collect. The whole process took a little over three weeks and I couldn't have been more pleased with our negotiations. John was very professional. Thank you.
Below are images of a few of the key cards that were in the collection:
A BVG grade 1952 Berk Ross Mickey Mantle card:
Mickey Mantle cards from 1953 Bowman Color and 1954 Bowman baseball card sets:
A couple of the key cards from the 1953 Topps issue are represented by Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays:
The bookends from the 1954 Topps Set. Ted Williams is the first and last card in the set, #1 and #250:
A 1955 Topps rookie card of Sandy Koufax and a 1956 Topps card of Mickey Mantle (his Triple Crown and 1st MVP season):
Schedule an Appointment to Meet Just Collect at a Show Near You
Just Collect travels to several shows on a regular basis. In the New York area, we often attend the White Plains Show at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY. If you're in the New England area, you can make an appointment to meet with one of our specialists when we're in the area for the Shriner's Show at the Aleppo Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. We also visit the Metro-DC area when we attend the CSA Show in Chantilly, VA. If you're in the South Jersey or Delaware area, you can also schedule appointments while we're in the Philadelphia area when we do The Philly Show in Valley Forge, PA.
We set up at The National Sports Collectors Convention every year and this year, it will be at the IX Center in Cleveland, OH and it has been in Chicago, Atlantic City and Baltimore in recent years. Additionally, we travel to the Sports Card and Memorabilia Expo in Mississauga, Ontario for those of you in the Toronto area that want to meet with us in Canada.
We would love to meet with you and schedule a private appointment to assess and value your collection while we are in your area, so please check out our show and travel schedule to see when Just Collect will be in your area!
Our Buying Philosophy
We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the past decade. Although we are known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage basketball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, also!
Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and soul into building their collection. So when you're ready to sell, Just Collect understands the feelings that you're going through and we will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.
Won't They Be Worth More if I Grade Them Myself
We discuss all of the selling options with everyone that we meet with. In most cases, selling the collection on their own will put the most money on the bottom line, but it will also take an large commitment of time and energy and one that most are not ready or able to undertake. Another misconception is that grading the collection will return more money. When I hear people say, "You're just going to grade them and get ten times the money," I almost cringe. Grading a collection can be a money losing proposition, especially if you don't know what you're doing. And most times, we grade very few, if any cards, from average collections that we buy.
We value a collection based upon the condition and the value. If a card is worth $100 in a PSA 7 NM, we're going to value it at $100 whether it is ungraded or graded. You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars grading your cards, but we're still valuing them the same and paying the same regardless of how much you've invested in grading them.
We Are Always Buying
Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss your collection and get our industry leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace.
Don't hesitate to check out our Google Reviews left by many of the great people that have considered selling collections to Just Collect.
The "The Bay State Baseball Card Collection" Video: