Collecting Mistakes
 

This is just a little "woe is me" piece. I wont go into the details as they dont really matter, except to say that I JUMPED on an unusual piece (1910-1920 photo) that turned out to be "not what I thought it was." I should have hit the pause button and did research first. Im out $100 (not the end of the world by any means) on what is ultimately a cool piece but not what I thought and not in line with my collecting focus.

Ive also bought cards that I forgot that I already owned.

Share your stories (please) of times you made an impulsive bone-headed decision that you easily could have avoided. It'll help me feel better.

share the pic with us!

I never bought a strip card before. I bought a Tris Speaker card knowing that if I thought it was fake, I could return it. I held it, looked at it, and put it away thinking it was real. a year later I posted it on Net54. A member told me that the consensus was it was repop. I was very shocked. But lesson learned: get more knowledge before making a purchase. Eventually I got a real one.

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Well, my mistake goes way back to the mid 1980's. I just moved to Denver and got my finances straightened out so started collecting again. I found a small shop and became friends with the owner, would hang out on Saturdays and even watch the shop for him at times. I had numerous chances to get stuff inexpensively. However, since I was a Cub collector and just getting back into collecting, I passed on a ton on 1952's. I bought only the Cubs. They were all in great condition, not had them graded but probably would come back at least an 8. I also passed on Dan-Dee's and lots of other stuff because they weren't Cubs. I also took trips around the southwest stopping at sports shops but again, only looked for Cubs. However, I did get a lot of Cubs stuff.

I’m fairly new, so ripe with mistakes so far. I’d say the two biggies are;

Almost getting scammed out of a few hundred bucks over meh photoshop

My other big one is getting caught up with the “behavioral science” of eBay. Sometimes you get caught up in an auction trying to win without realizing you are out of focus on your goals and intent. It’s easy to overbuy early and then get buyers remorse. Part of it is trying to identify what exactly the market is, but then you win and end up setting the market!

I think the biggest lesson for me is, there’s actually a ton of T206 inventory if you are willing to pay for it. So you really do need to be patient as a collector. One will always come along. Too many times I’ve rushed into buying something for my PC set and then a week later there’s just a better one available.

I’m sure you all knew this stuff already!

This is a great idea for a thread.

I have been collecting on and off my whole life (I am 49), and I have made many mistakes over the years. Mostly, selling when I did - almost everything I have owned is worth more later than it was when I sold it. And I certainly have bought things thinking I must have it now, only to see one or more other example pop up in weeks. Patience is a virtue and that is a lesson I still have not learned.

Other larger mistakes include, not looking at the card closely enough and depending too much on the flip/grade, letting someone talk me into a card or a card at a certain price when my gut said no, and getting emotional during bidding wars substituting my need to win over my need for what I am actually winning. But here is one specific event I recall that involved several mistakes at once:

Back in 2017, I accidentally hit “buy it now” on a very pretty, but overly priced t206 red Cobb PSA 4.5. I freaked out and emailed the seller to see if I could cancel. He told me I could cancel for a $500 penalty, which I paid. Here are all the mistakes: (1) I mistakenly hit BIN, (2) I did not understand the eBay rules well enough to know that I could just cancel the deal and/or I cared to much about BS feedback, (3) I paid $500 to “get out” of my mistake, and (4) today, that card would is worth 3-4x what I was committed to overpay. I have bought a ton of cards since getting back into collecting in 2015, and that mistake sits with me more than any other.

BTW- I have made many more smart moves than mistakes… you can’t win them all, and mistakes can be real assets if we learn from them and use them as a catalyst to make better decisions going forward.

I find our vintage bubble to be awesome, and unfortunately I assumed every other collectible bubble to be equally awesome. I ended up - at the time - buying a fake Michael Jordan rookie. Totally fell on me - didn't do research, assumed the best in people. Fortunately for me, the guy transacted with someone I knew in a bigger deal, and it worked out where I got my money back. Lesson learned, but still leaves a bad taste in my mouth (mostly for me being an idiot).

I also once ripped a t206 Ty Cobb effectively in half, because the person mailing it to me didn't put it in a top loader (it wasn't graded). When I opened the envelope I ripped both the envelope and card in half. Learned lesson that even if you are excited to get a card, open the envelope with care (but come on - shame on the seller for not packing it with care)!

The other - more jokingly - mistake I made was selling a few cards back in 2015 to buy my first apartment. Oh, what I would do to have those back and stay at my parents a few more years!! One of the cards was a gorgeous W600 Cy Young.

The cool thing is that you kind of just learn from mistakes and it ultimately makes you a better collector. In hindsight, all of the mistakes helped me in the long-run, but definitely tough to swallow in the moment.

Funny enough, years later, I ended up selling the ripped Cobb for MORE than I paid for it!

Having worked at various baseball card shows and for a baseball card shop for nearly twenty years I was exposed to many vintage and now-wildly sought after items. Although I had a blast working in that capacity, I passed on many opportunities to purchase items as the pay wasn't great and my focus was too narrow. However, on a few occasions I was able to obtain some fantastic cards and collectibles, but like grains of sand they passed through my fingers. Thirty years ago it didn't seem important, but in reflection some thirty years later I messed up!

Phil aka Tere1071

Complete 1953 Bowman Color, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball sets under revision as the budget and wife allows

Under construction:
1968 Topps Baseball - 420/598: Overall vg, missing all of the bigger name stars and many commons from 1-375; no game cards

1969 Topps Baseball - 320-664: Overall vg, missing all of the stars and many cards after #217; no deckle edged cards

1969 Topps Baseball Team Stamps- Dodgers; missing everything else

1970 Topps Baseball Insert sets:
Booklets- missing 7; 9; 11; 13; 14; 15; 17; and 23.
Posters # 1; 8; 14; 17; and 19
I do not have any 1970 scratch offs yet.

1971 Topps Coins- 120/153
I do not have any 1971 scratch offs yet.

1974 Topps Baseball Washington variations- 32; 53; 77; 102; 125; 226; 241; 309; 364; and 599

Having been at this hobby off and on since 1986, I've got a laundry list of mistakes somewhere mostly too long to bother with.

Recently, not remembering what cards I already have and not having any type of online wantlist seem to hurt me. It's why I currently have 3 copies of a '67 Topps Aaron / Mays / Allen LL, and why even if priced right - I typically don't buy '67 high number commons when they come into my LCS - because I can't remember which ones I already have.

Selling things that later skyrocketed mistakes stick out some still. The one that comes to mind was a nice '52 Topps Jackie Robinson that would have probably been PSA 2-3 range, that I sold raw for $500 in about 2002. Whoops.

In April 2021 I sold my Graig Kreindler painting of Ty Cobb in the spring REA auction. That was definitely a mistake and I've regretted it ever since. We were in the middle of a house build and some "potential issues" came up that we had not planned for, and I thought we'd planned for everything. In haste I sold about $10k of stuff from my collection and consigned my Cobb painting, which brought in another $10k. As it turned out, we didn't end up needing a dime of this money for our build and actually came in under budget.:(

Been collecting since the mid/late 80s. I have loved error cards of all kinds since I started collecting. So for me it was buying a ton of expensive error cards that turned out to be altered junk.

Premature selling of Ruth before the run up, and overpaying for Jackie at the height of the run up are painful.

I passed on a PSA 4 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle that was being sold here on the board, not too long before Covid, as I thought I couldn't justify the purchase at the time (funds were tight). The Covid runup on all things vintage, killed me. Will eventually be able to afford one, abeit in a lower grade.

I went back and fourth on buying some modern cards, namely Ohtani rookies when he was having the down season, hindsight is 20/20 but I could have made a pretty penny off of them. More of a regret than a mistake though.

Too many to go public.

Many mistakes, mostly selling stuff I should've held. The one that made me feel stupidest was when I was collecting GU bats. I logged onto ebay, ran my usual searches, and found what I thought was a gold mine. A beautiful Owen Bush GU bat that was ending in just a couple minutes. Well, I knew Owen was actually Donie Bush, the famous Tiger, so I hastily flew into action. I won it for about $250, which I thought was the steal of the year.

When it arrived, though, there was something amiss. My first clue is that it arrived in a medium flat rate USPS Priority Mail box. Turns out, it was a mini bat. I went back to the original listing and while it didn't actually say "mini bat," it didn't say anything intentionally misleading either. So I just kept it and sold it later at a loss, as a lesson learned.

Many year ago I bought a '39 Ted Williams RC PSA 8 but centering side/side was bad (not quite bad enough for the "oc"). That was mistake #1.

Frustrated with myself I sold it through REA soon after - mistake #2. A very low bid got it and I ended up taking a bath.

None of us have a crystal ball, so I cannot include timing of the sale of cards on my hobby mistakes list. Esp since i regret practically one!

At a card show in nj in the early 80’s i bought a fake mayo lave cross for a few bucks. It didnt have a black back!

In college 90’ish i bought an obviously fake to me now fro joy uncut sheet for $150

Bought a fake t3 on ebay that turned out to be a color photo copy pasted onto a piece of wood. Not sure how that happened???? no

Ive been pretty lucky i guess.

About ten years ago I had the find of my lifetime. Although I didn’t recognize it as such at the time. I won’t go into the details but I purchased these six unopened boxes of 1976-77 Topps basketball cards at a local comic shop. I paid $20.00 a box. The following day I sold them to Baseball Card Exchange for $600 a box. I was thrilled and had a very fun hobby shopping day. I bought a nice 1955 Clemente, a pretty 1954 Hank Aaron, a game worn Pudge Rodriguez jersey, and a game used Reggie Jackson Black Adirondack among some other fun things. Year before last Goldin sold a single box certified by Baseball Card Exchange for $13,000. I am still traumatized by my absolute lack of foresight.

1986 Fleer Basketball..

Had complete Topps sets 1967 thru 1990 . I was moving to Las Vegas in 1996. Ended up selling before I move. This was before grading, so those cards especially 1960 & 1970’s probably would went for bigger money after grading.

Earlier on into my collection I bought numerous cards raw which were trimmed or altered. Didn't do the research I should have prior to buying. I saw the cards and was too quick to jump on it.

I (we all?) have made this mistake way too many times to count...

914. Circle Backache
When you spot a card you want at a show at the right price and you don’t immediately grab it, you know full well when you decide to return to that dealer’s table later, it will be long gone.

Definitely have forgotten to delete something off my want list and bought 2 copies a few times.

The collection is all mine (ouch to my wallet) but my Dad got me started as a kid and we go to shows together, sort through the cards I buy. He probably knows more about baseball cards than anyone alive who doesn't own any. ~12 years ago we were sorting some 50's Topps I'd picked up and I was cracking the slabbed ones out. He tried to do one and somehow managed to break the PSA slab so that it ripped the card in half. I can't even figure out how he did that, but my 1953 Topps Preacher Roe was cut into 2 separate pieces. The $25 lost was worth the laugh and running joke that he's never allowed to crack slabs.

I wouldn't call it a mistake, but I have overpaid for unique items, and I'm sure a majority would call that a mistake.

Have yet to be scammed or to buy a reprint, but I'm sure that clock is ticking down to the day it happens.

Great story Ryan,

When I opened my first nightclub at the ripe old age of 26 all I can remember is every mistake cost me $500, $1000, or $1500 dollars, which was an awful lot of money back then, Luckily I'm a quick learner and have an unwavering belief in what I'm doing. Although I sold it after 16 years to open a "respectable" business, the club recently had its 30 year anniversary.

My hobby mistakes have been cards I didn't buy, Ramley Johnson for 1500 before the run up, e121 Ruth, etc. but I was fortunate enough to hit for average, selling my 52 Jackie to buy my 14CJ Cobb among others.

I've also overpaid on auction night and woken up the next morning feeling like Nancy Kerrigan screaming "Why!?!", those cards didn't last long in my PC before they moved on at a loss.

Like other members have mentioned, mistakes are how we become seasoned collectors or as my Dad would say, "you can't build character without getting a little dirty".

Ditto. I vividly remember scoffing at a table at a local card show full of 1986 Fleer back in 1987. Bought a signed 1972 Willis Reed instead of MJ. D’oh!

Early 2010's I got back into hobby. Started into vintage cards since I didn't really have any as a kid. Saw a very nice 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth...paid a decent amount..end up being a fake :(

My first as a kid working on the 55 topps set picked up a koufax that was about 1/4 short...of the card, not inch.

Second I picked up a very expensive eddie collins card, but priced as Eddie Plank!

I consigned my T213 Walter Johnson SGC 4.5 card to REA, thinking it would get big bucks back in 2019, just before the pandemic. But it was only bid up to $2,000. Now it resides at Tony Etrade's website for nearly $5K.