Dealing with selling cool stuff as a dealer.
 

99/100 I have little to no attachment to stuff I sell. It's cool that it passed through my hands but that's good enough.

A well-known board member just put that to the test though as he just bought two 1941 Play Ball paper cards from me. I guess it proves that I'm not running a "museum" but this one still smarts. I loved those cards AND this incredibly underappreciated set.

Any other full-time dealers experience this or do you maintain a collection of untouchable stuff?

I really can't relate to your take on things... at all

That is what you have to do to make $ as a dealer. In my 30 years in the hobby I have done pretty much everything good and bad. I love finding and owning the super rare stuff but usually end up selling it to "own" something else cool and rare. I guess you could call it renting cards.LOL

I know I just bought a card that there is only 1 or 2 known copies of today. After I receive it on Monday it will probably be owned by another member or a good friend. But I can say I owned one.:)

Not a full time dealer, just a seller as a means to purchase new items so not exactly the same but I can relate. I have an agreement with my wife that pretty much everything I own is technically "For Sale," and by that I mean 99.9% of it. That being said, to get the items that aren't for actively for sale one will have to value the item more than I currently do.

Currently, only about 25% or so of my collection is actually for sale on ebay or through other avenues, but the other 75% or so could be for sale. For example, I have several thousand Zeenut cards & have been actively collecting them for many years & love every minute of doing so as they are my favorite series of cards ever made and I am not actively looking to sell them, however, if someone with some pretty deep pockets decided they wanted to collect Zeenuts and offered me a generous amount for them I have agreed with the wife that I would at least entertain the offer. If I agreed to part with them it would be painful BUT I'd probably start all over again the very next day as the journey is the best part!

If you are a dealer, especially a full-time dealer, you probably should not have a collection. And yes, there are exceptions to this rule.

And when stuff comes in, it is designed to go out -- unless I want to keep it for a few years because the card is too cheap.

The problem is when you quit being a dealer. I have an entire room full of cards. Been selling off and on since but every once in a while buy a huge collection I plan on selling and never do.

That is my philosophy too, my question is, has it ever hurt to live up to it??

Yes it can hurt, back in the late 90's when I sold 4-5 months a year. Sold on eBay and had my own web site. I sold my Wade Boggs 1/1's and Topps Tek. This is when 1/1's and short print cards were actually rare. I bought them because Wade is my all time favorite player but knew they had to go.:(

Not a full time dealer, but I know what you mean. I really only miss a few cards that I have sold from the personal collection. They have always been moved in order to bring in something I liked more. I had one sale that bugged me for awhile because I sold a rare card that I liked for less than $100 and regretted it. Didn't really need the money and felt dumb for selling it. Recently snagged a replacement in a higher grade, so don't have to deal with that feeling anymore.

Haven't had to sell anything to pay for rent or family emergencies (knock on wood). I am prepared for that though and I like to think I would handle it with poise and look at the big picture of what's really important in life (it's not cards).

The short answer is yes
 

I have to many times to count. If you want to be successful you have to sell and that for the most part means the good stuff as well. It would be hard to make a living if I wanted to keep all the good stuff. I have one fairly worthless card I won't sell for sentimentality reasons everything else is up for sale.

I'm pretty good at accumulating, but not so good at distributing.

Since the sale of my first collection, everything in my new collection is for sale for a price. And that means I have some cards that won't be sold as my asking price is crazy, on purpose. It is hard to be a dealer and collector but it can be done.

I knew a dealer in New Orleans who actually didn't collect baseball cards at all. His thought was the he'd have a hard time selling them if he ever did.

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+1. For the right price you can not only buy my entire collection, I will help you load it in your car.

I have two sets that are off limits until I become the first person to ever assemble the master set - 1923 W572 and 1952 Topps (not including the glossy, grey backs - who knows if a full set of these even exist, and if they did, it would be a matter of opinion on some grey backs whether they were glossy or a well worn duller grey back. I've seen a few where I just cannot tell which they are - even when comparing them.).

Outside of that, everything can go at the right price. I'll even cannibalize my collection to get those last 9 cards.

So if you have a 1952 Topps Reiser grey back, or a 1923 W572 Barbare, Cadore, Duncan, Heilman, Parkinson, Rapp, Rigney, or Wambsganns for trade, please PM me and I'll try to make an offer you can't refuse!

Cheers,
Patrick

Ps - If you think you have a master set of 1952 Topps - you're wrong (even if you decide to not make a distinction between the glossy and nonglossy grey backs). I am certain no one has ever accomplished a master set.

The 1923 W572 "master" set might have been accomplished by someone in the 1920s, but no one has done it since. And depending on how you define "master set" - I am certain no one but the original printer ever had a true master set in his/her hands. (And I know I will never finish a true Master set - but I'll settle for the missing 8!)

I like your dedication, Patrick. Good luck in the quest!!

1952 T master
 

Patrick !
Your still at it with that master 1952 Topps set ?
Wow..its all in the hunt

I hate selling cards, i guess thats why i rarely do. Unless i have doubles. Its so hard for me, i look all the time to try and sell some stuff but it never hapens lol

I decided that to finish a signed 52 set, I'll need to sell everything and just concentrate on that one goal. Call it obsessive, but thats what happens when even the authenticators tell you it's impossible!

I can't fully understand...I rarely if ever sell anything in my collection. Once I own it....it is for keeps.

Z

Thanks Ted (and Leon!) - but it's a pretty easy hunt when you're down to 1 card! (Damn you grey back Pete Reiser). Of course when I do get the Reiser, then I will need to buy the second Mantle, but with enough money that can be bought any day. The Reiser - I've been searching for it for the last 8 years and missed out on the only one sold (the PSA 8) in that period.

Cheers,
Patrick

The guy's bid on that PSA 8 was equal to about the mortgage on a small house in his area! He had studied the gray backs for years, and knew that was THE card to have!

The only time I'd ever proactively sell anything is if it's a double (meaning, I upgraded the card), or if some sort of emergency came up that required me to liquidate.

I can't ever see myself as a "dealer" - but I suppose almost anything I have is expendable at the right price.

I spoke with Tony Arnold of TONYeTRADE about this very subject after prying a 1953-54 Briggs Meat Willie Mays away from him earlier this year (one of just 8 total graded, last time I checked). Tony said that in addition to being a dealer, he DOES collect, and facetiously compared it to being a drug dealer who also uses. Personally, I have a few items I buy for speculative purposes, with no intention of keeping until my dying breath, but for the most part, my vintage cards fall into the latter category.

Happy collecting,

Larry