SO...MY wise and thoughtful friend...Please advise: What should I change for these old chips? Should I trying selling them individually? Or in racks? (Also, how the hell did these chips get gum on them?) Any help is very appreciated.--Ace
I assume you mean "charge" for these chips...
That all depends on what your goal is? If you want to just get rid of them (immediately)... you could likely find a buyer here for the whole lot for 50c a chip. If you want the most possible $$ and are willing to wait the longest and deal with many, many transactions... then sell them individually... you may be able to get $2-$3 per chip that way. This site is not likely the best place for that sort of plan.
If you want a happy medium, you could sell by the sub-lot or rack... That is kinda what you did. It looks like you got $1200 for 1000 chips... that seems pretty good to me. Higher than my pricepoint for chips in this condition. Your buyer essentially bought a larger lot (1000) chips, cleaned them and is now trying to sell by the rack... to this market specifically.
In general, chips are most expensive individually and are least expensive when part of a lot... especially a lot with a crappy breakdown for the poker games people play. i.e. a set with $1, $10, and $50 will not have much of a demand... people would only buy the $10 and $50 to relabel... or maybe use as dimes or 50c chips... but they limit the market.
imho your best bet to sell relatively quickly but for a good price is to sell by the rack... don't worry about cleaning them, your buyers can do that.
Depending on your quantities, the per rack prices will vary. My guess is the 50c chips you have will sell for $150 to $200 per rack (of 100 chips). The dollars should only fetch about $80 a rack... but you already found a buyer for those at $120 (kudos). The $20s and $2s may also fetch $150 to $200 per rack. The $2s are much more niche, so you may have a hard time finding a buyer for those.
I feel the prices I have stated above are a bit on the high side. If you list them at that level... they shouldn't fly off the shelves. They may sit... that is actually a good thing... then you can ease the price down until you find what the market will support.