My collection in my will

[Tomman1961]

So here's a can of worms. My children do not want my collection. I told my wife many times that upon my death sell it. I am 57 and my health is fine. Here's my can of worms question- what auction house? I say auction house because I would want it sold fast and easy. Maybe I am wrong with an auction? But I think that is the way to go.

[darwinbulldog]

What do you have?

[biggsdaddycool]

See, I’ve had this conversation with others before, and who’s to say that the auction house that passes muster in 2018, will be the same one that will in 2048...


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[iowadoc77]

See, I’ve had this conversation with others before, and who’s to say that the auction house that passes muster in 2018, will be the same one that will in 2048...


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True! But this is why wills must be periodically amended. Pick the one you would choose now and then revisit it in a couple years.

[biggsdaddycool]

True! But this is why wills must be periodically amended. Pick the one you would choose now and then revisit it in a couple years.



Agreed! The problem is many set a will and leave it at that. It’s almost better to designate someone to guide family through the process of choosing an auction house or a bulk buyer.


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[rainier2004]

Agreed! The problem is many set a will and leave it at that. It’s almost better to designate someone to guide family through the process of choosing an auction house or a bulk buyer.


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That's what I did, I have one person named to guide my wife/family who also know them. Of course this may need to be amended as well, but its a start and what I feel comfortable with.

[Tomman1961]

I have complete 1939-1941 Playballs. G-VG. About 50 HOF of T206 same grade. About 200 Goudey Baseball and Indians. Near complete Diamond Stars in Vg-EX. Near complete Sky Birds. Topps complete 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, and 1972 through 1999. This post is also in other areas on this site.

[Tomman1961]

I can not think of anyone that could lead my family through this. No collectors in the family. And I am very private and have not shared with other collectors. Some close friend-not collectors- feel if I am wrestling with this-sell it now. Under my control.

[swarmee]

That type of collection could go to any auctionhouse if you're wanting them sold in lots: REA, Heritage, Sterling, whatever. If you wanted them sold by the card, you're looking at eBay consignments like Greg Morris.

[whitehse]

I had this same issue a few years ago. Like you, I am not in danger of a all too soon demise but my kids and wife have had zero interest in the collection I built up. I have no friends who are collectors and the thought of leaving my wife with a pile of stuff (as she calls it) and no direction as to what anything was worth really struck me. I took a long look at my collection and what it meant to me and I found out it was the thrill of the chase I enjoyed in completing sets and that many of the cards I had in my collection didn't mean as much to me as I thought they had. I slowly sold off much of the collection and have saved only the most meaningful pieces which, if something happened would be easily liquidated.

It has been probably ten years since I sold off this sizable collection but I still have zero regrets and have found myself content with collecting a few sets that really do have meaning to me such as the sets I once collected as a kid. Picking up a 1973 Topps Larry Biittner for my set has more meaning to me than picking up another Kiki Kuyler. I know that sounds incredibly stupid but Biittner means so much more to me as I saw him play and I met him. Kuyler would only be a temporary happiness as I lock him away in a box somewhere and hope his prices go up enough to make a small profit when I inevitably resell.

my vote is for consolidation and selling off now and only keeping those pieces that have meaning to you.

[ocjack]

I may be older than the average collector on this site (71) and while I am in decent health, I decided to not burden my wife the problems associated with selling off a lifetime collection were something to happen to me unexpectedly.

I took it upon myself to sell off most of my collection a few years back. Regrets? As Frank would say, "I have a few." But in retrospect it was still the best thing to do. An additional consideration: while most individual cards were in bank safe-deposit boxes, most of my sets, etc were in my house (but not on display). Living in California these days means my house could go up in smoke along with my collection - because in an emergency, I'm grabbing my wife and my dog and heading for safety.

Good luck with your decision.

[insidethewrapper]

I believe if you sell while still alive you will owe taxes on the profit on any of the items. For example: you brought a set at $100 years ago and now it is $ 2000, the profit would be $ 1900. If your children received it after you died, it would transfer to them ( current market value) at a $ 2000 item and if they sold it for $2000 then no taxes. Therefore don't sell before you pass away unless you really need the money. Avoid taxes if you can.

[gonzo]

In addition to your will, you might want to type up a couple of pages describing the highlights of the collection to make sure they at least know which items are the most valuable without relying on the word of other folks who may have different priorities and/or may be tempted to exploit a lack of expertise.

Non-collectors might recognize a few famous names, but they’re not going to know why that “Doyle N.Y. NAT’L” or “Lowdermilk” or “Hoblitzell” or brown Old Mill back warrants special attention when it looks to them just like dozens of other cards in your collection.


Also consider how an auction house typically sells things versus what the most profitable way to sell those things might be. If you know that Auction House X typically sells cards like yours in large lots that go for noticeably less than they would sell individually, while Auction House Y would sell them individually, that might help determine the way to go.

[ls7plus]

I had this same issue a few years ago. Like you, I am not in danger of a all too soon demise but my kids and wife have had zero interest in the collection I built up. I have no friends who are collectors and the thought of leaving my wife with a pile of stuff (as she calls it) and no direction as to what anything was worth really struck me. I took a long look at my collection and what it meant to me and I found out it was the thrill of the chase I enjoyed in completing sets and that many of the cards I had in my collection didn't mean as much to me as I thought they had. I slowly sold off much of the collection and have saved only the most meaningful pieces which, if something happened would be easily liquidated.

It has been probably ten years since I sold off this sizable collection but I still have zero regrets and have found myself content with collecting a few sets that really do have meaning to me such as the sets I once collected as a kid. Picking up a 1973 Topps Larry Biittner for my set has more meaning to me than picking up another Kiki Kuyler. I know that sounds incredibly stupid but Biittner means so much more to me as I saw him play and I met him. Kuyler would only be a temporary happiness as I lock him away in a box somewhere and hope his prices go up enough to make a small profit when I inevitably resell.

my vote is for consolidation and selling off now and only keeping those pieces that have meaning to you.

Just a bit of a side-note Andrew. Cuyler's 1925 Exhibits rookie in VG is worth 8-10 times what it was 23 years ago, and as the hobby continues to grow, so too, I believe, will the number of rookie HOF collectors. With it should go the value of Cuyler's rookie, as although the card is not incredibly rare, there are just not THAT many around. It will likely increase in value at a reasonable albeit not spectacular rate.

As to the main point, while I am a lawyer, I do not do probate work. However, if you decide to have it put up for auction after death, I would consider establishing objective standards for an auction house, such as sales volume over a specified period preceding death, perhaps, or some other criteria that can be readily ascertained by an executor with a bit of research but without undue trouble. As to the tax issue, a good probate attorney should be more than capable of advising you of the consequences with regard to whatever route you choose.

Best wishes on your choice of disposition,

Larry

[Orioles1954]

My personal vote is to sell the entire collection now, take your family on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation or do something that would be meaningful to you. In the end we're talking about cardboard.

[glchen]

I'm going to give the opposite advice from most others here. You are only 57. You could easily live another 30 years. That's a long, long time that you can still be enjoying your collection. Do your typical pruning of your collection for items that no longer interest you, but if I were you, I'd keep your collection pretty much intact. I'd wait until you're 70 or if some serious health issue crops up before I'd consider selling most everything.

I'd still keep an emergency plan with your wife, so if you got hit by a bus tomorrow (which could happen at any age), she would know what to do with your collection. For example, I have an agreement with Heritage where if I consign close to 10K in value or more, my seller's commission will always be 0%. So, I've told my love ones where my collection is, my Heritage contact, and to just send everything they don't want there. My ideal plan would be to send the more expensive stuff to Heritage, and the cheaper stuff to PWCC, but that's probably too difficult for my wife and kids to figure out. The keys for me here are to get a 0% seller's commission locked in, a contact a the auction house you can trust and is easily reachable, and a big enough auction house where you are confident they will be around for awhile. If you are alive, you have more discretion to vary the pick of your auction house on a bunch of different criteria (when the next auction is, how fast is the payout, etc), but with something like this, you want to be able to just have your family dump a whole bunch of stuff at the auction house, and have them sort through it, and auction it for you. You do not want someone who will look at your wife, and say that they will buy your collection for $XXX, and where she won't know better, and think that's a great deal, IMHO.

[aljurgela]

I believe if you sell while still alive you will owe taxes on the profit on any of the items. For example: you brought a set at $100 years ago and now it is $ 2000, the profit would be $ 1900. If your children received it after you died, it would transfer to them ( current market value) at a $ 2000 item and if they sold it for $2000 then no taxes. Therefore don't sell before you pass away unless you really need the money. Avoid taxes if you can.

and something that everyone should keep in mind... the "Step up in Basis" is still a very important part of the tax code.

[h2oya311]

and something that everyone should keep in mind... the "Step up in Basis" is still a very important part of the tax code.

I was not aware of that. Than you both for the critically important info.

[Leon]

So here's a can of worms. My children do not want my collection. I told my wife many times that upon my death sell it. I am 57 and my health is fine. Here's my can of worms question- what auction house? I say auction house because I would want it sold fast and easy. Maybe I am wrong with an auction? But I think that is the way to go.

Any of our advertisers would be good candidates. :)

[jiw98]

I am fortunate. My son and I both collect. We purposely collect different sets, there no sense in him having duplicate stuff. LOL My son will get everything I have collected over the years.

[Leon]

I am fortunate. My son and I both collect. We purposely collect different sets, there no sense in him having duplicate stuff. LOL My son will get everything I have collected over the years.

That is great you have a son who enjoys collecting.
My daughter doesn't want us to move because she wants our house when we croak. :eek: She couldn't care less about my cards. Kids these days.....

[calvindog]

Gary, I've never consigned to Heritage but I never knew there was a seller's fee at all. I just assumed the consigner received the final sale price before the BP was added. I also had hoped that if one consigned a large collection there would be a break on the BP, i.e. if a lot sold for $100 and $20 added on top for the 20% BP, the consigner would net for example $105.


I'm going to give the opposite advice from most others here. You are only 57. You could easily live another 30 years. That's a long, long time that you can still be enjoying your collection. Do your typical pruning of your collection for items that no longer interest you, but if I were you, I'd keep your collection pretty much intact. I'd wait until you're 70 or if some serious health issue crops up before I'd consider selling most everything.

I'd still keep an emergency plan with your wife, so if you got hit by a bus tomorrow (which could happen at any age), she would know what to do with your collection. For example, I have an agreement with Heritage where if I consign close to 10K in value or more, my seller's commission will always be 0%. So, I've told my love ones where my collection is, my Heritage contact, and to just send everything they don't want there. My ideal plan would be to send the more expensive stuff to Heritage, and the cheaper stuff to PWCC, but that's probably too difficult for my wife and kids to figure out. The keys for me here are to get a 0% seller's commission locked in, a contact a the auction house you can trust and is easily reachable, and a big enough auction house where you are confident they will be around for awhile. If you are alive, you have more discretion to vary the pick of your auction house on a bunch of different criteria (when the next auction is, how fast is the payout, etc), but with something like this, you want to be able to just have your family dump a whole bunch of stuff at the auction house, and have them sort through it, and auction it for you. You do not want someone who will look at your wife, and say that they will buy your collection for $XXX, and where she won't know better, and think that's a great deal, IMHO.