Realcent.org

I did find it while looking for silver... so I'm going to post it here! OK... so... I went to this mega thrift store yesterday and was looking for sterling. I noticed right when I walked in that they had A BUNCH of sports cards. Huh.. never seen that at a thrift store before! I thought. I went to the back and there was a dude searching a box of 1967 baseball cards. Huh... I thought again. I asked him. You gonna sell those? Yep! $20 and I'll give them to ya he said. You got it bud! I replied. I asked him.... you got any more like that. Why... yes we do! he replied. Follow me. I went back to the front and from behind the counter... WHAMMO! 15 full length boxes of old 1970's BB cards! I'll give you $100 for it all I said. $120 and It's yours! DONE!

Got them home... Come to find out.. they are all old O-Pee-Chee cards. That's Canadian Topps cards. Not near as valuable as Topps (but still valuable)... and searched through I have noticed... yet... I did pull out a hand full of 20 old Nolan Ryans worth about $40 a pop. OK... so NOT BAD!

Here's the question. They appear to be all common cards (which sell on e-bay anywhere from 1 to 3 bucks a card). I took out 2 boxes of the cream of the crop cards (no mantles or aarons or alike... boo hoo.) But... I did pull out some old autographed stuff and a few good names like Reggie Jackson rookies... Dave Winfield rookes... etc. Ok... back to the question... Anyone have thoughts on what to do with them now? I believe that the ebay prices of $10 for random crap is... well... crap. I'm thinking of re-selling them at a garage sale this weekend for about $15 a box. That way... I'd double my money... give a potential to the next guy... and keep 2 boxes for me. I'd be particularly interested in any Canadian input here since there may be a bigger market up north. Not sure...

Thoughts? NOT A BAD follow up to finding 32 1964 Kennedy's last week!

Flipping them at a garage sale or flea market will be your best bet. I've sold countless "junk" boxes for what I paid to break even after I cherry picked the good stuff.

Any Roberto Clemente's in there? He's my favorite player, and I'm always buying his cards.

a Dave Winfield O Pee Chee Rookie card has got to be worth a some bucks same with Reggie Jackson. If you've got complete sets - you may make a bit more on them, just because its so hard to collate them now.

I'd look over what you have very closely before throwing them on a garage sale table.

George Brett, Eddie Murray, Robin Yount, Carlton Fisk, Ozzie Smith, Mike Schmidt.....I am sure there are more, but these guys all had RC cards in the 70's.

What kind of condition are they in?

If it were me with something like that in the UK, I'd list on eBay all the ones worth keeping and try and sell the rest either at a garage sale or something or advertise in the local paper in the classifieds.

Investing your money in buying stuff from boot sales/flea markets etc seems to me to be a better ROI than silver or gold, I got some good stuff this weekend that I've sold some of already.

Funnily enough I had a silver plated tray this weekend for £5, don't normally see much silver and plate istn worth much but this tray was massive. Nice drinks/serving tray. Sold it for £30 the same day to someone on another forum I'm on.

Nice find with the cards, most of the stuff i find I buy for few pounds sell for £10-30 turn over good profit, yet to have a big score with something brilliant yet, but this is the first year ive been doing it seriously.

Condition is everything. One of the easiest ways to discriminate on these is to look at how sharp the corners are. If these are rounded or worn then the value falls quickly

See where all of the Little League games will be played in your area. Talk to one or more of the coaches in advance and see if you can set up a small card concession for the players. You could donate 10% of the sales to their team for uniforms, etc. You'll be a hero and they'll have a blast pawing through the cards. You could even offer packs of cards as prizes for the best batting average, outstanding player of the game, etc. Lots of possibilities there.

Then, take the cash and invest in PMs.

condition is key and i doubt the ebay prices you see are for opeechee.

if you want to maximize $, i would buy the beckett price guide and sort out anything that is actually listed in the price guide. try to sell those on ebay. the commons i would list on ebay in lots of say 100 or something.

I doubt anyone will give you a good price at a garage sale.

High grade Opee-chee cards from the 70's are actually worth more than their American counterparts. They are notorious for being off center. If they are nm-mt to mint condition, you have some $$$ their.

Copper Member wrote:High grade Opee-chee cards from the 70's are actually worth more than their American counterparts. They are notorious for being off center. If they are nm-mt to mint condition, you have some $$$ their.

Yep, The Opee-Chee cards are rarer than the American versions (Topps.?) from those years. When I was into sports cards way back when, it seems like the books always said ADD a certain % for OPC....

Edit: I agree that e-bay is going to be your best bet dollar wise especially for the star's cards. Many people collect certain players and try to get all of their cards and might not have the OPC version -- Got any Steve Garveys in there...

Good response everyone. Thanks for the advice!

A few answers: YES!!! They are in near mint shape! WOO HOO! I kinda doubt that they have been handled in the past 20 or so years. A LOT of them are off centered... but there are SEVERAL of some of the cards (25 Nolan Ryans!) My e-bay research has been for O-pee-chee. They are listed on there... I just don't know how realistic the buy now prices are (and that's what they ALL are). Beckett magazine doesn't have older o-pee-chee... but they do online... which is where I may spend a chunk of my weekend! They have already been picked over HARD (there were several sets) and MOST of the good stuff is gone... but they did miss some pretty good ones too!

LOVE the idea of the little league thing. May give that a shot!

No Clemente's yet... but I'll PM you if I find any.