With the amount of cards that you've got Chess my guess is that you will probably have enough to make a dozen coffins. If that is the case will they be numbered? If the answer is yes, could you please put me down for coffin 001?

I dug up this old thread because I didn't want to start a new one on a topic that has come up many times before on Card Talk, just too make another comment. So how do you dispose of a collection when you know of no one else who wants it?

I have been in a purging mood lately and have been getting rid of old things like CDs, VHS, vinyl records, magazines, holiday displays, etc. Not my core collections, but things that might be called collectible and are in great condition. I don't even want money, just room.

So yesterday's trip led me to a used record store, a chain entertainment store and a large thrift store. If you are wondering how to dispose of your stuff, I came back with everything I had.

The used record store had no interest in my CDs, understandable, they have taken vinyl from me before. FYE didn't need any of my CDs because the old ones were not on their list to buy and the newer ones they had plenty of. But the most surprising and disappointing info came from my large thrift store, which I had been in before as a buyer.

The owner didn't even look at my items. She said she doesn't buy from customers and doesn't accept donations. Apparently I couldn't even give away stuff for free there. So I looked around at this huge space filled with all sorts of things, some in much worse shape than I would ever keep, and I asked where it all came from if she doesn't buy and doesn't accept from people. The answer, Estate sales.

So I then said, well I have lots of mint Xmas stuff that I don't need, are you interested in seeing any of that since the holidays are coming. The answer, "I have a basement full of Christmas dolls and houses and ornaments ready to come up. I even do Christmas in July sales. Every Estate sale has Christmas decorations in it." Now there's a depressing thought.

So my advice is, use your stuff, enjoy it, and when you don't need it or want it anymore, give it away or throw it out. Whether its a real collection or just an accumulation of old things, don't let the cleanout guys or the Estate buyers or the storage bin buyers get their hands on anything. Better to destroy it than have vultures picking over it. Hopeful you can leave your valued possessions to family and friends, but the truth is that some of that stuff is only valued by us.

How do you plan on disposing of your collection?

Landfill, going to hire a JCB, scoop them into the bucket and drop them in a hole in the ground, what are you talking about ? dispose ? if anyone is planning on doing any of these criminal acts, please check my base needs first.

quote:

Originally posted by cheifbrody:
How do you plan on disposing of your collection?

Landfill, going to hire a JCB, scoop them into the bucket and drop them in a hole in the ground, what are you talking about ? dispose ? if anyone is planning on doing any of these criminal acts, please check my base needs first.

Not yet, not for a long time hopefully.

I'm just trying to make room and these are the things we collect without really trying to collect. These are the things in our garages, closets and storage bins that never come out, but are always too good to just throw away. Well I have changed my mind now, I don't fancy an Estate sale at my expense.

We've generally had pretty good luck donating stuff to Goodwill, depending on the location they will take just about anything. One near us is really picky, the others are easy to donate at.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
We've generally had pretty good luck donating stuff to Goodwill, depending on the location they will take just about anything. One near us is really picky, the others are easy to donate at.

Picky ? as in, ''we don't take Donruss 1988''

quote:

Originally posted by cheifbrody:

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
We've generally had pretty good luck donating stuff to Goodwill, depending on the location they will take just about anything. One near us is really picky, the others are easy to donate at.

Picky ? as in, ''we don't take Donruss 1988''

Yes, exactly like that.

As a collector of comics and cards for over 50 years, I recently dealt with this very quandry!
I had four large totes full of card boxes full of various singles & commons from over the years.
Nothing rare or especially valuable - needed the space so they had to go.
Approx. 30000 cards and old price guides.
Tried to sell them online but, no interest (shipping was going to be expensive)
Posted them local pickup but, still no interest.
Contacted local thrift and comic shops - NONE of them were willing to take the cards?
I could not give them away for FREE!?!?
Sadly, they all went into the trash.

I am a volunteer at our local charity shop / thrift store. We sell donated cards from all sorts of sets ( i admit mainly because i am there and deal with it ).

It goes rather well with children and adults buying the sets and what some people describe as " strange looking cards "

It is a win win because it raises money for the charity and gets cards into the hands of people who would not normally know they exist.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I am a volunteer at our local charity shop / thrift store. We sell donated cards from all sorts of sets ( i admit mainly because i am there and deal with it ).

It goes rather well with children and adults buying the sets and what some people describe as " strange looking cards "

It is a win win because it raises money for the charity and gets cards into the hands of people who would not normally know they exist.

It is awesome that you are able to do that -- nice work!

Well my son has noted what he wants DC, Disney, a few of the Star Wars sets. My daughter said that she wants the Disney cards too. As for the rest, It will be interesting to see what happens to them. My wife said she would like to keep the ones we worked on together Downton Abbey, a lot of the old fantasy art sets (Hildebrandt mainly).


As for the rest, I need to decide what I am going to do with over time.

I am planning on making a will, and letting the people on it know what the cards are worth so they can sell them after I'm gone and use the money to buy booze and cigarettes.

Yeah, I've wondered if I should leave little notes taped to the top loaders of the currently somewhat-valuable cards. I'm afraid it might all go into the recycling if I don't let anyone know. It would be better if it all ended up in an estate/garage sale and another card collector (hopefully in the distant future) thought he or she got some good stuff cheap and then reported it on CardTalk.

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
I am planning on making a will, and letting the people on it know what the cards are worth so they can sell them after I'm gone and use the money to buy booze and cigarettes.

I think there's a few fundamentals which determine how a collection can be disposed of.

(1) What the collection comprises of.
(2) The state and condition of said collection.
(3) Supply and demand in the marketplace at the time.

These of course can vary dramatically.

The next consideration is the personality of the collector themselves.

Example: I've been known to thrown base cards into the recycling bin after innundating my local charity (thrift/goodwill) store with similarly unwanted cards. For some people this is a vaible option, for other this should be criminal.

Naturally when parting with beloved items which have given so much joy many people tend to fall into categories of 'Money Back' or 'Good Home'.

Some see their collections as investments and want to get as much or more back than they paid.

For others of a more sentimental nature, making sure it goes to places where it will be cared for indefinitely is their ultimate goal. Be it with family or another collector etc.

Here's a break down of how I culled my collection a few years back:

Sold online.
Traded online.
Gave away via NSU boards.
Donated to charity stores (Base singles).
Recycled damaged and surplus items eg empty boxes, empty packets, damaged base cards.

My only goal was to not see anything go into the main trash to landfill. I always endeavour to pass thing on or at least try to recycle. I'm very much of the recycling and minimalist nature these days over collecting and sentimentality (No disrespect to those who hold onto those endearing qualities).

Now I have a much smaller collection of items I have the time and space to organise and keep in re-sellable condition.

When it comes time to part with these I will sell them on, even at cut price. Since I know more the value of what I have now with a more focused collection, I'd be loathed to give it away.

These days I'm very particular about what I collect as I don't have the space or money I once did to give over to more frivolous items. I really could have seen value in almost anything at one time.

I'm sure I will eventually part with all but the most unique of my collection and those items are not even trading card related.

I do love hearing stories though of fantastic rare card collections found during house clearances. What a find!

I am just now starting to go through my old sports cards because the fact is, I just don't want them anymore. I don't ever look at them and the binders are just collecting dust and filling up closet space. They are mostly certified autographs and relics of the 90's and early 2000's.

I'm looking at basketball cards and I'm kind of surprised at what I have. Yes I have Hall of Famers and some star names that I'll keep, but the majority are rookie cards and early cards of average pro players. Many of those rookies never made it at all. All of the certified cards and relics look good and I would imagine list for at least $5 a piece, yet I would not expect the majority to sell. I would not expect anyone is looking for most of these people.

And that is the trouble with aging collections. The subjects, be it sport or non-sport, are not current and not in demand. Many of those rookie cards were hot and expensive when I bought them. Now that they didn't pan out they are not expensive, but because there is really no demand, you can't even get the reduced value that they should have. The larger the collection you have, the fewer percentage of cards will be valuable and the more good cards you will have that you can only give away for free or throw away. At least that's how it looks like to me.

I think its a good idea for every card collector with a sizeable collection to take a review of your stored collection and begin disposing of what you no longer want before you get to the point when you have to and perhaps are unable to do it. It will make life easier later on.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

I've recently started disposing of cards, but just my base set doubles. I throw them in the recycling bin with the newspapers. I hold on to extra inserts to offer them in the trading forum.

quote:

I'm looking at basketball cards and I'm kind of surprised at what I have. Yes I have Hall of Famers and some star names that I'll keep, but the majority are rookie cards and early cards of average pro players. Many of those rookies never made it at all. All of the certified cards and relics look good and I would imagine list for at least $5 a piece, yet I would not expect the majority to sell. I would not expect anyone is looking for most of these people.

The same thing you see happening with Sports cards is and will continue to happen with Non-Sports Cards.

I've had this conversation with dealers at the Philly show as well as with collector friends. At what point do older sets simply loose there appeal to current collectors. And if they do, who will be the ones that are interested or looking for them. The set of "Black Hole" or "JAWS 2" cards sitting in binders are not going to be worth much because there a just not that many people interested. So what do you with them? You can try getting them graded (as a cost) and then try to spin it like they are now really rare and a must have. Or you can try to find the die hard fans who have to have everything from a certain movie or TV show, actor or actress and try to convince then that they need what you have. Both of these take time and effort (most likely way more then what it will be worth). So you can give them away, throw them away, or simply stash them away for the future and the pull them out on a rainy day when you feel nostalgic and take a look and feel good for a while.

I think there are even more recent card sets which have lost their luster.

As an example, is anyone really hunting for Xena cards, anymore ? There are many other 1990s and early 2000s sci-fi related shows that I can think of, which may be in the same boat.

And 10-20 years from now, will people care about Charmed, Alias, and Buffy anymore ?

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
And 10-20 years from now, will people care about Charmed, Alias, and Buffy anymore ?

Wish they cared now. Makes me feel old. Still collect the entire Charmed collection. Hoping, but doubtful the reboot will get its own collection.

Collected various Buffy sets over the years but don't have those any longer. Thankfully they're cheap on Ebay now due to lack of interest. Collected Alias Season 3, still have a Jennifer Garner costume card and an autograph of Barry George (?)

I think most old shows especially Inkworks products are being 'dumped' online nowadays. Can't believe it's 10 years since Inkworks shutdown.

At least there's some nice new sets out though like Stranger Things, if only they weren't so pricey.

The cards I have in my collection will stay with me until I don't know what they are and by then I won't care won't happens to them