It has been said that repeat business is the sign that you're doing right by your customers. At Just Collect, we feel that we're doing things right and that is regularly reinforced by the amount of people that sell collections to us and come back with more and/or refer friends to Just Collect.
Rare T206 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb Advertising Back
About a year and a half ago, a New Jersey collector contacted us with a T206 Ty Cobb with a Ty Cobb advertising back after reading our blog about the "Lucky 7 Find." He believed that he had one in a collection that was passed down through the family and he agreed to meet with Just Collect and we were able to purchase the card.
During our discussions, he mentioned that he was ill and was interested in selling the Cobb/Cobb while because it would be easier to pass down the balance of the collection and let his heirs do with it as they pleased without worrying about the rare Cobb card.
Sadly, the gentleman passed recently and his son contacted us with a portion of the collection that he inherited, noting that his father was very, very pleased with how Just Collect handled the previous transaction. He was interested in getting an evaluation on the portion that he was willed to him and that he would be interested in selling it if the offer matched with his research.
More of the Collection
We met at our Somerset, New Jersey office and reviewed the collection. It consisted primarily of tobacco and strip cards from 1909-1928. There were some additional non-sport cards from the 1960's that had been collected by the young man's father.
Loaded With Hall of Famers
Reviewing the collection, there were half a dozen Babe Ruth cards and another half dozen Ty Cobb cards. In addition, there were plenty of other Hall of Fame players in the collection. Some of the most notable were: Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, Casey Stengel, Grover Alexander, Eddie Collins and many more along with several players from the infamous Black Sox scandal; Ed Cicotte, Chick Gandil and Buck Weaver.
Strip Cards and Scarce Cards
Issues included a few T206 cards and a couple of T202 panels, but mostly consisted of strip cards such as 1916-20 W_UNC (Big Heads), 1919 W514, 1920 W519, 1920 W520, 1920 W591, 1921 W516, 1921 W551, 1921 W9316, 1923 W515, 1923 W572, 1924 W-UNC, 1926 W512 and 1928 W513. Also found in the collection was one of the scarcer issues; the 1921 E253 Oxford Confections.
The Evaluation and Negotiation
Collections are pretty easy to evaluate and value. In this case, most of the strip cards had been cut within the lines and would only garner an AUTHENTIC grade and were valued as such. The son was in agreement with respect to condition and we were pretty much on-point with respect to valuation. After some discussion, we were able to quickly meet agreement on a the value and we made our offer. The price was what he was expecting and he just had to determine if he was prepared to sell -- and he said that he was. We are excited to add this collection to our inventory and we're excited to share the story. However, the fact that the son chose to come to us with his father's collection and offer us the repeat business is what we're most proud of.
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. Next year, 2020, The National will be at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ. It has also been in Cleveland, Chicago 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.