How do you decide if and what to sell?

[rainier2004]

So Im kinda being indecisive at the moment, cant decide between selling my collection, keeping 'em all or something in the middle (In 29 years of collecting I have never thought about selling my entire collection). At a bit of a fork in the road with life, no health concerns and my family is as strong as ever so no real emergency. I just haven't felt strongly about my collection lately, actually took every bb card down, packed them up and put them away to see what it would be like...the room is awfully bare and bothers the wife. :eek:

So back to the question, what is the deciding factor? Is it always money based? Is it always funds for another project? What if the card hasn't seen the light of day in a decade? New hobby? Does anyone have any factors simply based on what the card(s) represents to them? I have read lots of threads that conclude most people never regret selling an item after its gone. I would never sell my childhood cards, but they make up only about 2% of my collection as most were sold in my teenage years. Im in no rush, just looking for some input or any advice.

[g_vezina_c55]

If you don't need the money for another project or hobby or emergency my advice is keep it away in storage and when the card collecting bug hurt you again in 1 year or 5 years you will be a verry happy guy when you will open your storage box and see all these candy red cards :)

On my side i didn t buy cards since couple month.. my interrest is still present but i have a low interrest in it since couple time... i put it away in my safe until the bug hurt me again. I don't need money so i don't sell the cards.

[conor912]

Wow. What a bomb to drop, Steve. I've always thought your collection is one if the nicest on the board.

I would say wait until you have another use in mind for the funds. There is no use in selling just so the money can sit in a savings account. Take a break from collecting and after a while you will have one of two realizations...1) you miss collecting and want resume or 2) you really don't miss them at all.

[PowderedH2O]

Agreed. I've HAD to sell on a few occasions. But, the one time that I sold because I was sick of collecting was the one time I regretted it later. Stick your stuff in the attic and mark down the date. Check back in one year. If you haven't had any desire to pull the stuff down during that entire time, then maybe selling is the best thing to do. But, don't make a quick decision.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I agree with the previous two posters. Just put them away for awhile, forget about them and come back to them a few months or even a year or so down the road.

Once you pull them back out, if the passion comes back you'll be glad you didn't sell them. If you still feel the same way, then sell them to put the money elsewhere.

[rainier2004]

I appreciate the responses, Im also smacked in the face with the nice simplicity of the advice. Maybe Im just overanalyzing this, and there definitely will not be a quick decision made.

[jcmtiger]

I have been collecting since the early 1970's. collected everything. In 1996 I sold all my complete sets 1968 thru 1995, my 150 or so vintage bobbers.

Last year I sold all my Hartlands, complete original baseball set, some football and Westerns. So at that point I only had Detroit Tiger items.

I sold my Tiger yearbooks 1955 and up, sold my Tiger programs, Tiger World Series Press pins, etc.

Now my collection consists of Detroit Old Judge, T206 Tiger set and many misc Ty Cobb items. And a few othe things.

I never thought I would sell any Detroit items, but really lost interest in lots of the items.

Just happens I think.

Joe

[Touch'EmAll]

#1 - when I need money
#2 - when a card is overgraded
#3 - when the wife starts to rant

[bcbgcbrcb]

If you ultimately decide to sell and can afford to do it over time, take a look at what's hot in the marketplace periodically and sell those types of items. Things go in cycles and you should maximize your return that way.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

[steve B]

I hardly ever sell stuff that's not something I have more than one of. I've done a bit lately, and of course while I was doing general antiques on Ebay I'd sell stuff I had no intention of collecting.

The few collection items I've sold lately were either things that really belonged in another collection, or really didn't fit in mine.

My collection of bikes is pretty wide ranging, but it's mostly team used aerodynamic bikes from roughly 1983-2000. I picked up a very nice tandem a few years ago, rode it once and found out my wife and I just couldn't ride a tandem. I sold it recently to a cyclist I know who is really into tandems, and regularly rides them with his wife. He's happy to have it, and really likes it. I'm glad about that, and my wife is happy that it's not blocking up the back hallway anymore. (Me too, just don't tell her:) )

Over the years I've taken short breaks of sorts from collecting different things. Since I usually go for inexpensive stuff I don't really worry about selling. Maybe if I'd spent more I'd be more inclined to sell it in favor of other stuff.

Even Museums occasionally go through their holdings and sell or trade items that don't fit their collections, or aren't likely to fit into any future displays.

I think the storing stuff for a while might be good. You'll probably find that in a couple months there's a few pieces you miss seeing displayed. Those will be the keepers, after that it's just figuring out what the focus will be if any.

Steve B

[timber63401]

Like the other poster said, with a collection as nice as yours just put them up for a year. If the desire is still gone sell the easiest to replace stuff first and go from there. Ive got out of this hobby 4 or 5 times the last 20 years last time was a divorce but Im just now getting back now and always seem to find my way back thru out the years.

[timzcardz]

Perhaps sell a few things and see how it feels.

[conor912]

On another idea, the CJ book launches in August. If there is ever a nice time to unload those, it might be shortly after that.....

[dstudeba]

However remember that if you do need to sell for another project quickly you might not have as much of a decision as to what you sell. I like Phil's idea of selling what is hot. I am not sure what you have in your collection, but there are many cards that are pretty easy (and fun) to replace. I have built and sold off the 1954 Wilson Franks set a few times.

[rhettyeakley]

Sometimes the things I collect almost take on a life of their own and get too large and I have thought of narrowing my focus at times as well. Does anyone really need 500-600 different E121 like cards in their collection? While they are far tougher to find than the different T206 backs I just have a hard time seeing people flocking to that niche (although to me it is way more interesting as they include candy, bakery, caramel, etc companies)

Usually when I decide to sell one of the items in my personal collection it is entirely to put towards another project that has become a higher priority. Over the past few years I broke up and sold my player pinback collection and then put the money towards other stuff, with that particular collection I was always a little worried living in a very dry climate that the pins might start to crack a little. It never happened to me but it would be tough to swallow pulling out your cameo pepsin pin of Cy Young and finding a crack right through his face that wasn't there before!

[Zone91]

I have been through many debates like that in the past...I say do not sell wait till the hobby draws you back in...I have always regretted selling any of my collectibles.....and have learned from the past no matter what you may think right now you will be back to collecting one day down the road.

Life becomes a real bore after a while when one stops collecting....don't make the mistake of selling!!!

Post # 2

[ullmandds]

Adrian...I know french is your 1st language...and english is weird..but...I have been..."through" this before...and I had a ball...and I "threw" it!

[Zone91]

ullmandds

Thanks!!:)

Post # 3

[ullmandds]

:D

[glchen]

I'd sell if you needed the money or if your collection is just taking up too much space that you want to use for something else. And it wouldn't have to be that you needed the money for an emergency. Maybe you just wanted to a little extra cash to get that fishing pole you always wanted or you just wanted to stash a little more into your rainy day fund. Cards are not totally liquid. You can sell quickly on ebay, but in many cases, you'd probably want to consign some of your better cards to an auction house, and in those cases, you won't see your payment for months. Therefore sometimes, you need to plan ahead if you think you may need funds later.

I think I agree w/ most of the other posters in this thread in saying that you shouldn't sell your collection immediately. Wait a few months, and if you still feel that you want to sell, then look at it then. Even at that time, I'd keep your favorites or at least sell those last. That CJ Jackson you have is really nice. I think you'd regret selling that unless you really needed the money. You also took the trouble to nicely frame some of your other CJ's in a particularly appealing way. Maybe you should keep those also or at least wait longer to sell them. Good luck whatever you decide!

[HexsHeroes]

.

sold nearly every one of my vintage star cards (T206 through 1949 Leaf) plus dozens of mint Brett and Yount rookie cards (taken directly from vendor boxes). Kept the EX T206 Red Background Cobb and afew Detroit Scrapps. I didn't need the $15,000 cash generated from the sale, but got tired (burnt-out) from the constant searching. Never took time to really enjoy them. Got into vintage autographs afew years later, but I still regret my decision to sell my vintage cards to this day. Collection nothing to brag about, but it had it merits, and most importantly, it was mine, as were the varying stories (and people) associated with how each card was obtained. I should have just carefully packed them away, and gone back to them later. Personally think a one year cooling period is more than reasonable. Steve, you might be extremely grateful for doing so.

[Zone91]

Keep your card collection and give another hobby a try never hurts to have multiple hobbies in your life....try golden age comic books or rare coins from around the world for example. Maybe rare wines or fine art would be the best for you. Another idea would be collecting cards from a different sport than baseball I know football is big in the U.S.

At one point I collected comic books (mostly silver age key issues), cards (baseball, basketball, football and hockey) and coins (Canada and the U.S).

Like some people can't be happy with just one women/man in there life they need variety to spice things up...same thing goes with collectibles for some people!!!

Like a good family friend of mine always tells me he has a LOT of money in his bank account but the only thing he can do is look at those stupid numbers on paper and get a little or no pleasure out of it....he is much older than I am!!!

Post # 4

[rainier2004]

Thanks for the thoughtful responses all and the compliments Glen.

Vincent - Where exactly are you? Im on the south side yo!

Adrian - I have found a new hobby...I am playing NES again, trying to finish ioff games I couldn't as a kid. My buddy has 300 or so games and I can borrow whatever I want. So its free! Crazy thing, my wife eyes kinda glaze over when I talk cards, but she really doesn't like me on the video games.

[Zone91]

rainier2004

I Play all those old games on my computer as well....Zelda 1 & 2, Castlevania, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Contra and SO MANY (100's) more....they are awesome!!! Wish my computer was better I would play Diablo 3 and Postal 3 as well...I will upgrade it in August of this year. For now my old games and my X-Box 360 will have to do. Grand Theft auto 5 is coming out in September of this year for the X-Box 360....looks awesome!!!

Post # 5

[EvilKing00]

Im not sure how related this is or not, but thought it could be along the same lines.

A while back when I was in the restaurant business, our landlord at the time owned many commercial properties which he rented. We came up with a whole plan on how to convince him to sell us the building, down payment, monthly notes business plan the whole 9 yards. So we set a meeting with him (he was like 90 years old and office was in a damn trailer and the guy owned 100's of millions of dollars worth of property) and we asked him how much he wanted for a certain property. He said its not for sale. We asked him about another of his properties, he gave us the same reply. So we said well what property would you sell us??? And one of the best lines I have ever heard and use to this day was "We don't sell, We Buy"

Im under the impression that a lot of collectors feel the same way.

[Zone91]

A few months ago I purchased (30) 1952 Topps cards in PSA 5 all well centered I decided to sell them all figuring I would not get the Mantle for a long long time...then as most people know here I ended up getting the Mantle much much faster that expected (after of course selling my 30 1952 Topps cards)...I now regret selling off those 30 cards...I ended up buying 21 more 52 Topps cards all well centered again this month...I figured that now that I have the 52 Topps Mantle what is stopping me from building the whole set...nothing.

Selling cards in my experience is almost always a bad choice....we ''ALL'' end up regretting it...then end up buying them back for more money than we had paid in the past in most cases.

Post # 6

[DHogan]

My wife said she would never want me to sell any from my collection. No matter what. Not that my collection is worth much. She said it makes me happy. I have a great wife. :o