How vendor trade-in rates work

Bring a card to a vendor's table and the offer will usually be a percentage of what the card sells for, not the full amount. That is normal. Once you know why, it gets much easier to tell a fair offer from a poor one.

Why a vendor offers less than market

A vendor buys a card in order to sell it again, and selling takes time and money. There are table fees, travel, sleeves and cases, the cards that sit in the case for months, and the ones whose price drops before they sell. The gap between what a vendor pays and what they later sell for is what keeps the table running.

So a lower offer is not an insult. A very low offer on a card that sells quickly is still worth asking about.

Cash or trade credit

Many vendors give two numbers: an amount in cash, and a higher amount as trade credit toward cards on their own table. Credit costs the vendor less, because no money leaves the table, which is why it is usually the bigger number.

There is one thing to watch. Credit is spent at the vendor's own prices, and a price on a sticker is an asking price, which can sit above what the card sells for. A generous credit rate spent on high stickers can work out the same as a lower cash offer.

What moves the rate

• How fast the card sells. Popular cards that move quickly tend to get better rates than cards that may sit for a while.
• Raw or graded. A slab's grade is printed on the label. A raw card's condition is a judgment call, and vendors allow for that.
• Condition. Whitening, scratches and creases lower what a raw card sells for, and so the offer.
• What the vendor already has. A table with five copies of a card does not need a sixth.

Every vendor sets their own rates, and they change from show to show. There is no official number, which is exactly why it helps to do the arithmetic yourself.

Check an offer in three steps

1. Price your cards from recent sales of the exact printing and grade, not from listings. Sold price vs asking price explains the difference.
2. Apply the vendor's rate to that total. That is the number the offer should be close to.
3. If you are taking cards back, price them the same way. Use sold prices for their cards too, not the stickers.

Bulk, binders and single cards

Common cards are usually bought in bulk, by the count or by the box, because they take the most time to sort and sell. A single card with real value is priced on its own. If you bring a mixed pile, sort it at home: put the few cards that matter in a small binder or in toploaders, and keep the rest together. The vendor can see what you have at a glance, and your best cards get looked at one by one instead of disappearing into a stack.

Keep a note of the offers

Write down what each table offers for the same card. By the third table you will have a good feel for what a normal rate looks like for that card on that day, and you can go back to the offer you liked best without guessing.

Asking for a better offer, politely

It is normal to ask whether the rate is better in credit, or whether a bundle of cards gets a better rate than one card alone. Ask once, nicely, and accept the answer. If the offer does not work for you, "thanks, I will hang on to it" ends things on good terms, and the vendor will be happy to see you at the next show.

For trades between two collectors, where both sides are usually priced at full market, Is my trade fair? covers the check.