I guess when I'm not cutting up valuable cards, I am foolishly selling them to "dealers". When dealers purchase your cards, they give you a ridiculously low amount. The time I did it, I was on active duty in the Navy, stationed in Charleston. The family was in Coral Springs, Florida. I was driving home on weekends, 540 miles each way. Even as a Chief Petty Officer, the pay only went so far doing that. So, rather than take out a loan when the money finally got tight, I went to a card shop off of Atlantic Blvd in Coral Springs, I think in 1995 to sell some of my beloved cards to get some gas money, groceries and fast food. As I recall it now, I sold a 1958 Mantle, 1934 Gehrig, 1941 DiMaggio and Williams and several other supposedly valuable cards for $200, after he looked at them with his loupe. The "dealer" told me, "It's strictly business. I can't give you book value. $200, take it or leave it." I foolishly took it, because I was desparate. I'm certain he turned around and sold them for "book value". Sure, if I had the time, I probably could have sold them somehow for "book value". But I was in a jam, and did it. But I felt terrible afterward, and vowed, no matter what, I would never do that again.
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