Looking for a Needle In A haystack.

I have been involved in my fair share of buying opportunities, or personal collectables, in my 25 years in the hobby. I understand when I engage in the opportunity to buy these collections, normally the sellers will make the value well known. The evaluation of what price can be paid for a collection, based on its value, is normally the easiest part of the buying transaction. However, determining what price to actually offer, or counter offer, I have found to be much more difficult. Having answers, at the time of the offer, can help me understand quickly if the price of a collection is negotiable, firm, priced right, or overpriced, before I even take the actual value into consideration. I have also found that answering four key questions about a seller situation helps me with price offering. For instance, is the seller nervous about selling? What is the seller’s reason for selling? What is the environment around the collection’s location? What are the first items the seller introduces in their collection? Let’s consider the first question: Is the seller nervous to sell? Answering this question correctly could be difficult because many people are nervous when they first meet someone new. There is a higher probability of responding to this question correctly, if it is assessed after the other three questions have been evaluated. The reason this is not number four on the list of questions is because it occurs first in the seller’s introduction of their collection. Most people, when meeting for the first time, tend to be nervous, but oddly enough, if this nervousness lasts throughout the entire transaction, it can lead to good information.

If you take first meeting jitters out of the equation, and find you are greeted by a seller who is talking faster than normal or has unorganized thoughts about the selling transaction, you could be seeing signs of a very prosperous buying opportunity. In most cases, nervousness and lack of organization indicate a seller either needs money or has a time issue in moving the collection quickly. An unorganized collection could also indicate that the seller does not understand the value of his or her own collection. Coming across a seller who is calm, and who lets the buyer do most of the talking, could indicate a collection has been properly evaluated. This type of seller may not be in a hurry to sell and is funded adequately enough to allow him or her to wait for the right price before negotiating a sell. Basically, until the end of a collection evaluation, do not jump to a conclusion as to the underlying reasons about the seller’s nervousness. Answering this question correctly, however, could be a key ingredient to understanding the seller’s situation for selling. Secondly, what is the seller’s reason for selling their collection? Answering this question may be as simple as asking the seller directly. In most cases, the seller will give a straightforward and honest answer that can help determine the price you will be willing to offer. The best buying situation is when a seller is selling a collection they are unattached to or did not accumulate. Additionally, situations where collectables were taken in trade for other items, have been taking up space for years, or were left to the seller in an estate could be key buying opportunities. Collections that are for sale from sellers who are local fans, or who had limited buying opportunities, may be negative buying situations. The buyer should also consider another issue:

What is the environment surrounding the collection that is up for sale? Is the collection in a wealthy neighborhood home? Is the collection in a storage unit? Is the collection in the trunk of a seller’s car? The wealth of the home where a collection is located can indicate positive and negative buying opportunities. Wealthy homes sometimes dictate wealthy collectable owners. These sellers could afford expensive collectables, which makes price evaluation more difficult; however, wealthy homes may also indicate a well-organized seller, which we mentioned earlier as a negative buying opportunity. On the other hand, if a collection is in a storage unit, this may indicate the seller is unattached to the collection by not wanting it close to them. It may also indicate the seller’s eagerness to sell in order to eliminate monthly storage fees. Beware of sellers who bring collections in a vehicle to the buyer, this normally indicates the collection is only fragments of a larger collection. It also could be a situation where the seller does not have legal claims to the collection. Finally, what is the first item the seller introduces when showing their collection? If a seller does not introduce key items of the collection first, this is normally a positive prospect to a buyer. If a seller has been out of the hobby and away from their collection for a period of time, they will lose track of the location of the key items and may not be current on what items are now marketable. If the first thing the seller shows is the hobby’s hottest items, the seller may have a good understanding on the real value of the collection. Beware of individuals who do not introduce any items of a collection and want the buyer to go through and evaluate the collection. This may be a situation of a person collecting data of a collection’s value, and this person has no intention of selling. If at all possible, wait for the seller to show and talk about their collection in the beginning of the sales transaction. Answering questions on the seller’s reasons for offering a collection will help the buyer evaluate if he or she is in a lucrative buying opportunity. Also, understanding a seller’s situation can lead the buyer to a quicker offering price, thus saving the buyer valuable time in evaluating a collection based on price. Finally, if at all possible, get a price for the collection before offering a price. Happy hunting!

Billy May: cardsone.com