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Posted By: davidcycleback

From a dealer's/seller's standpoing, it's best not to divulge what you paid. While buyers assume the seller is profiting or trying to profit, most buyers don't want to know how much the seller profits. Buyers say they want to know what the seller paid, but most really don't. That they paid a fair price is what most collectors want to know. That they seller bought the $500 card for $5 at a flea market on Tuesday is information many buyers would rather live without.

I remember when my parents visited and my mom noticed piece of baseball memorabilia which I probably paid a few hundred for.
She said, "How much did you pay for that?"
"Do you really want to know how much I paid?," I said.
"No," she said after mulling it over. "Would you have told me if I said Yes?"
"No," I said.

Moral of the story: When mom ask you how much you paid for a baseball card, it's a rhetorical quesion: meaning, she isn't anticipating the answer in return.