A Guide to Selling Us Your Collectibles and Memorabilia
Do any of these scenarios apply to you?
-You have an accumulation of collectibles and want to downsize
-You want to sell some of your kid's old toys that clutter up the house
-You inherited an estate and don't know where to begin
-You have a hoard, a storage unit, or a business that is closing or needs to move surplus product
-You have some stuff that's sitting around and you just want to convert it to cash
Don't sell it too cheap, give it away, or (gulp!) throw it away - CALL US FIRST! (724-243-3546 if you have a phone nearby!)
As we continue to add to our warehouse of collectibles, we always are in need of more. On the fence about what we might be interested in? Our rule of thumb is that if the item has a celebrity, athlete, character, or corporate logo on it, then we're probably able to use it!
We are most interested in the following categories:
-Action Figures and playsets (opened and unopened)
-Advertising and signage
-Autographs (sports and celebrity, all fields, all eras)
-Baseball Cards (sets, boxes, singles, graded)
-Basketball Cards (sets, boxes, singles, graded)
-Beer steins
-Beer tap handles
-Board Games
-Cassettes
-Catalogs
-Cereal boxes
-Comic Books
-Diecast cars
-Dolls/Barbie
-Fast Food toys/items
-Football Cards (sets, boxes, singles, graded)
-Glassware with logo/characters
-Hallmark Christmas ornaments
-Hockey Cards (sets, boxes, singles, graded)
-Kids books
-Logo caps/hats
-Lunch Boxes
-Magazines
-Mugs with logos/characters
-Newspapers
-Non-sports trading cards (sets, boxes, graded)
-Pennants
-Plush stuffed animals/characters
-Programs
-Records
-Sci-Fi Books
-Ticket stubs
-Tins/cannisters with logos
-VHS and Beta cassettes
-Video games and systems
-Yearbooks (sports and school)
-Everything else with a celebrity, logo, or character on it - The catch-all category that usually yields the most interesting finds. An old Oscar the Grouch alarm clock, National Record Mart frisbee, or Rolling Stones poster is right up our alley!
If you have something that fits into those categories and you're ready to sell, here's a checklist to make the process go as smoothly as possible.
1. What do you have, and how much are you asking?
The first step would be to contact us with a general inventory of what you are interested in selling, along with an expectation of what you are looking to sell the collection for.
This is an extremely important step in the process before moving forward. Whether it's individual pieces or accumulations, it really is worth the time to inventory and price your items, because at the end of the day, you're eventually going to have to decide what dollar amount suits your needs anyway. It's been our experience that the smoothest deals for all involved are the ones where at least some pricing is discussed in advance.
But what if I don't know what my stuff is worth?
Great question! Whatever you're selling, we really recommend to have at least some idea of current market conditions, which can usually be found by typing some of the items into sites like eBay. Maybe you think your items are priceless, but once you do some research, you find out they're fairly common. Or the better scenario, you find out that things you thought were garbage are actually worth real money!
We have two goals when buying large accumulations: we don't want anyone's time to be wasted and we want everyone to walk away from the deal happy. If we can check both of those boxes, that's what's called a win-win!
What if I have a whole house/warehouse/storage unit/attic full of stuff?
Not a problem - Rome wasn't built in a day! For especially large groups of items, we can divide things up into multiple sections and multiple trips. We're really easy to work with, we promise!
2. Pictures are a huge help!
If you're not entirely sure of what you have, snap a few pictures and send them over!
3. Set up an appointment!
Once we determine what we're working with, we can set up an appointment for you to bring in your collection or we can come to you for large accumulations. Call us at 724-243-3546 or email us at buying@steelcitygalleries.com. We will also have open hours at our Remixxd Marketplace to be announced soon!
Keep these things in mind when selling your collection:
Timing is important!
Our needs for different items are constantly fluctuating based on what we already have and what we need to replenish. For instance, if we just bought an entire run of Sports Illustrated magazines and you called us the next day with Sports Illustrated magazines, our demand would be lower than what it was. The prices we are able to offer are based on what the items are worth to us at the time.
Authenticity + Condition = value!
In the world of collectibles, it's all about authenticity and condition! If you're selling items that have been professionally graded, authenticated or come from private signings, you will realize a much higher price in the end. It is important to know where the autograph came from or who sold it to you.
As far as autographs go, if you'd like to have your autographs professionally authenticated, we recommend JSA (James Spence Authentication) for our third-party authenticator, as Mr. Spence is regarded as the hobby's foremost authority on autographs. He even paid us a visit for two days authenticating in person in July, 2018!
Additionally, Beckett Authentication now has a signature review service that can do a pre-screening of your items just by sending them a photo for only $10.
For card grading, the companies that add the most value to your cards via the grading process are PSA, BGS, SGC, and CSG. And no, we don't know why they all have three letters!
Different sales channels have pros and cons:
We will pay the absolute best price we can on your collectibles, but ultimately we are buying for re-sale. The advantage of this way is that it saves you the work and worries of listing items on eBay, Facebook, or Craigslist, which is no minor detail.
Selling yourself takes time, costs money (in fees), and may not even maximize your profit, as new users with low feedback scores typically do not realize the same price for a similar item that an established dealer would.
Why sell to us?
We've sold on eBay since 1997, have an A+ rating from the BBB, and we are a JSA (James Spence Authentication) authorized dealer since 2008. We have literally tens of thousands of positive reviews from satisfied customers all over the globe.
Our company has been featured in Sports Illustrated magazine (Feb 4, 2002 issue), KDKA Radio Pittsburgh, ESPN Radio Pittsburgh, Uniontown Herald-Standard, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Mon Valley Independent, Washington Observer-Reporter, and a lengthy profile in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in May, 2019.
We were honored to be recognized in the Pittsburgh Magazine 2018 Best of the Burgh Issue as an Editor's Picks Selection for "Best Autograph Repository". You can learn more about us here.
Ready to make a deal? Let's do it! Call us at 724-243-3546 or email us at buying@steelcitygalleries.com!