Anyone Sold MTG cards on EBay?

[Ry Vor]

I believe my MTG playing days are over, and I have a number of valuable cards I want to sell, but it looks fairly daunting to establish a credible "store" on EBay, and time to establish a reputation.  I'm kind of looking for an agent that has done this with success that would sell my top 100 cards or so for a commission.

Here's one of my cards (Beta Black Lotus) and a link to the EBay page showing the same card type in various conditions.  I think mine is of a quality between that being offered for $16,500 and the one at $8,200.

Ebay Black Lotus


   

   

[Rogal]

I sold my cards years ago.  The problem with  commerce sites is people taking advantage of you.  The cards it sounds like you have might be considering have a real appraisal done on.   I know in comic books you can get a rating from an independent company.  The comic book one I have seen is listed below, I would think there is a card version of it.

  http://www.cgccomics.com/index.asp

Selling collectibles really sucks, for you can loose up to 30% value with a broker or to set up as a dealer can cost you money like at a convention.  E-bay you need to protect your self from some one getting your cards and saying they all did not arrive or taking a photo of another Black Lotis and calming you bait and switched him.  E-bay protects the buyer more then  the seller.  If you had your cards in the package I mentioned for comics, you really lower your risk on being taken advantage of.  If your collection is Alpha and Beta's or all pre Fallen Empires, you might have a 6 figure collection depending on card condition.  The Black lotis and if you have 5 Moxes, you could get a new car.  

[Ry Vor]

Yeah, I've spent hours trying to find a card grading service.  Its not like I'm in the boondocks here in Dallas, but I can't find a place to walk into and have cards graded, and I'm sure not just sending them in the mail to some service.

I have most of the Power 9 in collector's edition (gold backed), and pretty much all the exotic lands from Unlimited or Revised including complete sets of all dual lands (40 cards), full set Mishra lands, Library of Alexandria, etc.  Have lots of Legends rares from that set (black bordered). Biggest thing I think in my collection is actually an unopened box of International Collectors edition.  Only 5000 were made in 1995, can only be a few left unopened - every card from the Beta series but also with gold backing.

[Cipher]

a guy i work with does regular trades/swaps on ebay, email me some more info and i'll get his input

[Diamond Cutter]

That Black Lotus you posted an image of is from Alpha. If yours is Beta the corners should not be rounded.
The collectors set is worth about 1500 bucks.
The Dual lands and whatnot should be worth some $$ but it depends how played the cards are.
Be very careful regards some intermediary as you can easily get ripped off.

[Panda]

have you tried working with any of your friendly local game shops to see if any of them sell cards on consignment ?

You could try selling just a few at the start and see how it works out

[Lord Diamond]

I suggested that he get them graded first. That can have a major impact on the prices.

[Diamond Cutter]

If the cards are mint or close grading is + but if the cards are played then the only thing grading will do is authenticate that they're not counterfeits. I sold a set of BGS 9.5 Unlimited P9 last month and did very well but if the cards were played I'd be losing money to pay for that service.

Taking the cards to the local card shop… keep in mind a local card shop maybe earns 20-30K per year after costs so you walk in there with maybe that much in cards and there's a huge temptation for those people to rip you off. They almost have to do that to make it. Pretty much anybody will try and get these cheap and then flip them for maximum value.

[Ry Vor]

I've gotten a lot of good advice both here and in private emails. I spoke with the owner of a major card shop in California. I'd have to agree a single location isn't likely to offer a fair price for very rare cards. BTW, I did conclude that my Black Lotus is an Alpha, not a Beta, and only about 1200 were ever made back in 1994. As to grading, I think it might still be worthwhile for that particular card, especially if it does come out as a 9.0 instead of 8.5. Its been in a plastic case for the last 15 years.

I also thought EBay was the only way to go but now am thinking about TCG Player, which seems to be at 7.5% fee instead of 15% like EBay. One problem remains in that establishing a reputation takes time, I may still look for an agent that has a rep established.

[Panda]

as long as I can pay by paypal I Mostly do not care about a seller's rep on an established internet site

payPal protects the buyer much more than the seller a lot of people agree with me though some may not