Pre-War Cards

One of the more common questions I get is this one:

Where can I buy pre-war cards?

Well, there are plenty of options. And while I don’t yet offer stuff for sale here, I do run regular sales on Twitter. What exactly is a Twitter sale? Here are the details below.

When is the next Twitter sale?

There is no set timeline for the sales. Typically, they occur on Saturday and/or Sunday evening, but they do not happen every week. When there is a sale scheduled, it will be mentioned on the site’s Twitter account (usually a few days in advance). Be sure to follow our Twitter page to see them advertised.

What is a Twitter Sale?

Well, let’s start with the obvious. Twitter is a social media platform and it’s easy to sign up if you don’t have an account. You do need a Twitter account to participate. If you don’t have one, you can get one here. It takes approximately 2-3 minutes to sign up.

After you sign-up, then follow this site’s account. You can do that by going here then clicking on the Follow button. Then, all of the site’s posts will show up on your Twitter feed (along with whoever else you follow).

The sale usually consists of 50-100 lots where I’ll offer an assortment of cards at set prices.

How do these sales work?

To follow the sale, simply follow the Twitter account and then watch your timeline for the posts. I will post cards for sale in one long thread on Twitter and they should continuously show up on your timeline. If you don’t see them, you can also go to the site’s Twitter account page and keep refreshing the page in your browser. The new tweets will show up there.

Typically, I’ll take a picture of a card’s front and back and post it, identifying it and listing a price. Note that the majority of the cards are in decent lower-grade condition. That is not always the case but often is. If you are looking for PSA 5s of T206 cards, this isn’t really the sale for you. The number of cards posted in a sale varies. Could be 50, could be 100. The sales typically run about three hours.

How do I buy a card?

If you see a card you want, simply reply to that post. Note that some stuff sells very quickly (often, within seconds of being posted). If you see something you want, reply with the comment ‘SOLD,’ ‘TAKE,’ ‘YES,’ ‘Y’, or some version of ‘I’ll take it.’

Do not make the statement ambiguous so that it is hard to determine your intent. Something like, ‘I should buy this’, etc. is nice but unless you specifically say you will take the card, please try to leave comments like that out. Otherwise, if someone comments after you that they will buy the card, they will have priority for it. Just say ‘sold’ and leave the guessing out of my hands.

Once the sale is over, I will contact all claimers of cards via DM to arrange for payment.

How can I tell if a card has been bought?

To see if a card has been claimed, click on a post and scroll all the way down to the bottom. Because the sale runs in one continuous stream, the replies immediately after that post will simply be more cards for sale. You need to scroll all the way to the bottom to see if a card has been bought.

To see the replies for a specific card to determine if it’s been sold, scroll all the way to the bottom and see if anyone has claimed it yet. If in doubt, simply reply SOLD and if the card has already been sold, I will let you know that someone beat you to it.

How do I know if I’ve won a card?

If you were the first to reply to a post for a card, I will Like your comment (with the little heart icon lit up). If you did not win it, your post will not receive a Like. I try to keep up and let folks know when cards have already been sold but that does not always happen to due to the abundance of replies.

If you’ve won a card, you do not need to do anything immediately. Please sit tight! Following the sale (either that day or the next day), I will send a DM to you with payment instructions.

What kind of cards do you sell?

Most of the cards are sports related. There’s baseball, of course, but a lot more, too. I’ve sold football, basketball, hockey, tennis, golf, boxing, wrestling, soccer, and just about any sport you can think of. But the sales also include non-sports cards too, including some historical stuff, presidential cards, etc.

Almost all of the cards are from the 1880s through the 1940s. Occasionally, there may be a later card in there but that is rare. There is always an assortment of card types, that can include tobacco cards, early candy/caramel cards, gum cards, strip cards, trade cards, game cards, and more.

How much are the cards?

This is not a high-dollar sale. There may be some more expensive cards from time to time but these are mostly very inexpensive cards under $50 with most even under $20. There are always some at $10 or even less.

These sales serve two purposes — to help me sell of excess cards I don’t necessarily need (usually so I can buy more stuff) and also to help others to build affordable pre-war collections.

Why am I selling this stuff? Again, mostly to buy more cards. And I also find myself often buying a lot of cards where I may only need a few items in it. The rest will usually find its way into these sales.

I want free stuff — can you give me free stuff?

Everyone loves free stuff. Typically, if you buy more than $10 worth of cards, I will throw in an extra or two, at my discretion. If you buy a bunch, you’ll get several free cards.

Also, I throw out cards that are free for the taking to the first person who asks for it. There’s no advance notice on this and there’s no guarantee that those will be in every sale. But I usually sneak a few of these into each sale that can be claimed for free.

How do I pay?

Payments are to be made through Paypal. Please do not offer to Venmo, etc. Paypal is the only processor I use. Payments should always be made via ‘Regular’ Paypal with fees — NOT friends and family.

Are the prices negotiable?

Not really. The sales take quite a bit of time and haggling over pricing is just another headache I don’t really need. The prices are fixed and firm so please do not make offers.

When can I expect my cards?

Typically, all cards are sent out the following week. While it can be earlier, cards are usually sent the following Thursday or Friday (4-5 days after the sale has taken place).

How much is shipping/handling?

Shipping is always included in the price. There is no extra amount needed for shipping unless you are in Canada — see below.

Can I buy something if I am outside of the US?

I will ship to Canada but you may need to add extra for the additional shipping. If it’s just something that can be sent in a plain white envelope, you do not need to send any additional money. If it’s many cards or more valuable cards that need to be sent in a bubble envelope, please send an extra $8.

I also cannot be responsible for anything shipped to Canada with those options as they do not include tracking. This is important. I have not had problems shipping there before but if you are having something shipped there that gets lost, I cannot refund you. Anything shipped to Canada is buyer beware.

If you want something shipped that can be tracked, please send an extra $14. That is my price from the post office and not an inflated amount. This amount will cover you in the event the package does not show as having been delivered via the tracking system.

If you need to inquire about shipping to another country, please contact me before the auction begins via the Twitter site and sending a message to me.

Follow Pre-War Cards on Twitter and also be sure to like our page on Facebook.