Does your spouse know anything about your collection ?

[insidethewrapper]

I was wondering as I bought an item recently if your spouse is as "clueless" as mine is about my collection. She has no idea how much I can spend on a 19th Century or T206 Cobb etc. When it arrives in the mail or by truck, I open it in the basement and add to my collection. I never reveal the price , do you ?

[granite75]

I reveal only the amount of information that is absolutely necessary.

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[kmac32]

My wife is quite familiar with my collection and does have an idea as to it's value. She knows I enjoy it and that I work hard so she does encourage my collecting. Guess it is better than going out to bars or clubs and I habe something of value in the end. She also collects dolls as she enjoys them so we noth understand collecting. No secrets in this marriage.

[Bestdj777]

My wife knows about my collection and a rough estimate of what it cost me, as I would not want something to happen to me and her end up getting ripped off trying to sell it. We've struck a compromise. I know exactly what the jewelry I bought her costs, and as long as she is "winning" she is okay. Now to get some diamond earrings so I can pick up a nice piece....

[Rookiemonster]

She only know a little bit like I like New York and rookies . I don't have a very large budget so it never really comes up

[Fred]

Originally Posted by kmac32

My wife is quite familiar with my collection and does have an idea as to it's value. She knows I enjoy it and that I work hard so she does encourage my collecting. Guess it is better than going out to bars or clubs and I habe something of value in the end. She also collects dolls as she enjoys them so we noth understand collecting. No secrets in this marriage.

Ok Ken, so I'm guessing your wife belongs to an internet bulletin board that you don't know about and all the women on the board are answering a similar post about "does your husband know how much you really spend on your dolls?" In that post she says - "my husband collects baseball cards so he understands about a hobby that is about collectibles but I'd never tell him how much I spend on my dolls else he'd crap his pants and go out and buy a PSA4 Cobb with a Uzit back and tell me it cost the same as a PSA2 Lajoie portrait with a Sweet Caporal back".

[iwantitiwinit]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I was wondering as I bought an item recently if your spouse is as "clueless" as mine is about my collection. She has no idea how much I can spend on a 19th Century or T206 Cobb etc. When it arrives in the mail or by truck, I open it in the basement and add to my collection. I never reveal the price , do you ?

I reveal the price to be 25% of what I actually paid.

[CardboardCollector]

Originally Posted by iwantitiwinit

I reveal the price to be 25% of what I actually paid.

I take the opposite approach. I reveal a smaller number of what I actually sold a card for.

[bigtrain]

My wife knows what my collection is insured for and who to call to liquidate my collection if necessary. Other than that she doesn't have much interest.

[ksabet]

Originally Posted by bigtrain

My wife knows what my collection is insured for and who to call to liquidate my collection if necessary. Other than that she doesn't have much interest.

Ditto

[Mighty Casey]

I'm purposefully vague when it comes to what I spend on cards....and that will generally suffice as she has no interest in my collection.

All too often I do find myself opening packages in the solitude of my basement. Sort of sad...but that is where the Net54 community helps.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Of course! I let her know not to buy any sports memorabilia without me knowing. So she won't get ripped off

She is on board with my collecting 100%. She loves how happy I get getting a want list card and in turn makes her happy seeing me happy. So, it's a nice circle. As well as she's seen some of the ridiculous profits I have made. I'm too blessed with her.

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[bbcard1]

I only shop out of my bonuses, so my wife probably doesn't really know much about it, but she worked the show circuit with me back in the day and knows who to call in the event of my demise. My son also has a good working order of sports cards and still goes to shows with me every now and then.

[insidethewrapper]

I'd like to know who everyone has been told to go to when they meet their demise.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I'd like to know who everyone has been told to go to when they meet their demise.

I'm hoping my family will try to continue to fulfill my impossible dream.


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[vintagebaseballcardguy]

No secrets in our marriage. We decided on a fair monthly card budget that I more or less stick to. We both make a good living, and I could easily spend more than I do on cards. However, we have a mortgage, two kids to raise, and other things she likes as well. So, I keep the collecting in perspective. She has a decent idea concerning value and knows where to go in the event of my demise. All that being said, she's an accountant so that means I am probably screwed if I ever try to get away with anything big.

[tab]

My wife has no idea! I asked her to pick out a t206 for me that I didn't have ( have a list) for my birthday this year. She did and then was telling me she didn't know if she got a good deal or not. She wanted to know what cards the value of some of my collection was worth to see if she got a deal or not. I told her I have never really kept track. She said I need to make a list of all of my valuable cards so she would have it incase something would ever happen to me.

Pretty sure she is just trying to figure how much I am spending!

I really ought to keep track of my spending so I don't lose money on cards if I ever sell any, or try not to.

[bbcard1]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I'd like to know who everyone has been told to go to when they meet their demise.

I was that guy once. I had a former business partner (we owned a shop when there were ten in every town...a darn good little shop) who contracted Lymphoma. He fought it bravely and asked it I'd dispose of his cards. I did my best and got a good bit out of his collection, but it was hard work and took more than a year and I have always wondered if I could have done significantly better...I suspect I could have from the lessons I learned...still, it's all a journey, and I would have probably only done 10% better. I feel so privileged to have been asked, but it isn't an easy task for sure.

[EvilKing00]

Lolol she never asks, dosnt care which is a good thing. But is always telling friends when they come over to go look at my stuff

[Howe’s Hunter]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I'd like to know who everyone has been told to go to when they meet their demise.

My son has always known he would get the collection on my demise. I had told him he had two choices:

1: continue the quest, but I knew that would be on a limited basis, as cards are not really his thing, or

2: return two cards to their owner, who has been kind enough to send them to me as part of the collection without ever asking for reimbursement and then
contact the auction house I had left info on in the storage case for the collection and sell them as a collection and use the funds to help with his ever increasing student loan debt.

Well, this summer, he surprised me by saying he knew someday he would get the collection and had already done some checking around and had decided to give the cards to the Alachua County, Florida Historical Society. Said he found there was no Baseball Card Hall of Fame to give them to, and that the Baseball Hall of Fame would probably do nothing with them, as they had too much stuff already, but since Howe was from Alachua County, and looked like he had spent most of his life there, he wanted them to go back to where they came from and stay as one collection as I had reassembled them.

I was pretty impressed that he had researched where Gainesville was located, and had at least discovered there was no Baseball Card HoF, or that the Baseball HoF would do nothing with them. He said he wouldn't feel right about using my funds or work to pay off his school loans, that was up to him, but that he didn't want to see my work go to waste having the collection busted up again.

Have I ever mention how proud I am of my son?

[Sean]

My girlfriend knows little about cards or baseball, but she is interested in my spending. She will support me when I get a high grade Cobb or Johnson, but not a Street/ Piedmont 42 and definitely not a brown/ yellow scrap.

Sometimes I end up passing on cards that I would like to have. Other times I end up getting them secretly (luckily she doesn't read this forum).

And once I actually told her that if it came to it, I would choose a card over her. She gave in that one time. At the time (2006) we had been together less than a year and the card was the Plank. She resented the card for a while, but when she realized how much it has increased in value she acts like it was her idea to get it all along.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I'd like to know who everyone has been told to go to when they meet their demise.

I have a standing account with Heritage auctions, where I have zero seller's fee, so I've told my family to use Heritage when I meet my demise, if they don't want to keep the collection. I like Heritage because they are a large auction house, and can split my collection over several auctions per year. Obviously, there are many other great ones like REA. I'd advise folks to pick someone they are comfortable with, and have the lowest fees possible, at least from the seller's side. I don't want my family to get ripped off where someone charges her 40% seller's commission + 20% the buyer's premium, where my wife doesn't realize that there are better deals out there. Most of my valuable stuff is graded, so that makes it easier for me to tell my family what's worth selling and what's garbage.

[MULLINS5]

She's always been pretty supportive, but I moved all of my collectibles to my office last year. I have a rule not to have anything at home so I can spend as much time with family doing activities that mean are meaningful to them, rather than impose my collecting habits onto them.

[ALR-bishop]

I have spent a lot on cards over the years but my collection represents a very small % of my estate. Family comes first. I have left instructions with her, my financial guy and executor about how to liquidate it when I am gone, but made sure she and family won't need the funds

I did tell her that if Mr Mint shows up with a handful of crisp $100 bills to call 911

[WillBBC]

Originally Posted by HOF Auto Rookies

Of course! I let her know not to buy any sports memorabilia without me knowing. So she won't get ripped off

This piece is so important!

My wife knows how much I spend and whenever the holidays roll around the only card item she'll ever pick up on her own accord is a pack or hanger box from Target.

She's a bit of a video game collector herself so she understands she'd be buying blind and probably not getting the best deal if she went looking for singles.

[Delray Vintage]

My wife thinks buying cards is like her buying a dress. She does not get the concept of one growing in value, the other worth 10% at a consignment store a year later. When I buy something costly, she shakes her head no matter what I tell her about it appreciating in value. And when I tell her something is worth a lot more than I paid, she tells me to sell it.

[jason.1969]

My ex was not a supporter of spending on socks without holes, much less on old cardboard pictures of baseball guys. Rather than rock the boat, I simply spent $0.00 (on cards and on socks!) during the marriage.

These days, I have the freedom to try to finish the collection I tried to build in my 20s. I have a girlfriend who seems genuinely happy for me when I add a new card.

In general, having experienced a very difficult marriage and a fresh and agonizing divorce, I would recommend honesty and openness to any fellow collector. An honest relationship is more valuable and I suspect more gratifying than any card.

Though my ex never supported the idea, I always favored and would still recommend that each spouse get a play money acct...perhaps 5% each of combined gross income (with possible premiums from work bonuses, inheritance, lottery jackpots, etc.).

Such an approach keeps the collecting bug from cutting into financial well being while also allowing for full trust and guilt free spending.

[scottzoe]

My wife actively encourages me with my collecting and is usually the one telling me to "bid more that that, if you want to win it". She can also be quite critical (and accurate) about some as well. A couple of month ago, I picked up at a show, 10 or so 2004 Leaf Sportcaster Yastrzemski's. for less than $1 each I was OK with them, but she gave a huge thumbs down. "Those are stupid" she said, "I don't like them, don't buy any more of those". The next month she is telling me, If I want to win the Ted Williams lot, I need to bid more that $2000 to get it. As usual she was right again. As long as I bring her home a Fred Lynn or Butch Hobson card (or even a Buck Rogers or Luke Skywalker) from a show every now and then, she is quite happy.

Scott

[yankeesman]

My wife knows I spend on cards but she honestly doesn't show any interest in any it so it's kind of a "don't ask don't tell" kind of deal. She does buy me plenty of Yankees clothing and stuff but she won't buy me cards. She gets me to buy a couple things at Christmas time she can wrap up. It's worked for 24 years to this point.

[bn2cardz]

My wife is, in my opinion, too supportive at times. I wish sometimes she would be more of a conscious against buying. I have to hold myself back against the addiction because she doesn't speak up even when the money could be used for diapers (I have 4 children and the oldest just turned 5, so we have had diapers in the house for at least one child for the last 5 years).

She does like looking at the cards sometimes and does buy packs of cards from the store for our 2 year old when he has been behaving.

Last week, though, she asked what card came in the mail. I showed her it was a e92 Dockman's Lobert. She asked if I had a card like it or similar. Playing it cool I asked her "Why? Do you think you have seen this before?" She began to state that she may have been wrong it may just look like a t206 I owned. I asked her to follow me to my hobby room asking which one looked like the one I had just opened. She laughed as she looked at the 12 (including this one I have 2 duplicates) other Loberts I had on display from my back run. She just said "I knew I had seen that before" as she listened to me explain that this was actually a duplicate because I couldn't determine if I liked it better than the one I currently had.

An outdated image of the run (missing the 2 General baking and the new duplicate Dockman I acquired):

[Exhibitman]

Mine demanded full access to all data, which I gave her. She also has access to the safe deposit box. If I can't trust her with it, we probably should not stay together. She also could not be less interested in the Hobby if she tried. She encourages me to go to the National and have fun but her standard take on any Hobby-related event is "go play with the other dipsh**s."

As for purchases, we have a deal: I don't take up other expensive hobbies like golf or season seats for a sports team, and I get to spend my fun money on cards instead. Though for the foreseeable future I am on a 'kill and eat' budget: I have to generate my card purchase money from the proceeds of card sales due to college funding commitments starting in the fall. That's fine with me, BTW: my kid trumps all else.

[DHogan]

My wife doesn't know anything about my collection. I let her know when I'm going to buy a card over $100.00. She just gives me that look . What ever makes you happy honey. I show her the new pickups and she gives me that other look. She used to say "but you don't even follow any sports." I told her I would sell everything if we needed for her medical expenses. She said no. It makes you happy. I have a great wife.

[dabigyankeeman]

She is pretty clueless. She knows grand total my collection is worth some bucks, but as individual cards come in I tell her they are cheap, she has no idea of what they really are worth. Dont want a divorce.

[brass_rat]

I had my wife read this thread to see her reaction. She laughed out loud at several of the lines/jokes.

She knows about my collection and encourages me to buy things I'd like, but she's not overly involved in learning about the cards or players. She can tell you that I'm collecting Walter Johnson, knows T206 is a set name, and high fives me when I'm excited about a card that came in the mail. She'd rather sit in the car and wait for me than walk around a card show though. haha.

The only thing that she doesn't understand is why I don't have a Whitney with Dog.

[David W]

If you have to hide your purchases from your significant other........ You probably shouldn't be buying baseball cards

[kmac32]

Originally Posted by David W

If you have to hide your purchases from your significant other........ You probably shouldn't be buying baseball cards

Completely agree. LOL

[JoeDfan]

Or, do what I did...just get a girlfriend who tells you that your baseball room is "too busy" and maybe we should hang some of the signed photos and game used jerseys in the hallway.

My ex wouldn't let me spend a nickel on cards, but now, when I agonize whether I should buy something, she is like "Do it!!!!!"

[dabigyankeeman]

Originally Posted by David W

If you have to hide your purchases from your significant other........ You probably shouldn't be buying baseball cards

If your wife is VERY fiscally conservative and you are not, and if you are not hurting the household with your buys but it would cause major arguments and problems if she knew what you spend, then I say its ok to hide your purchases. Sometimes honesty is not the best policy.

[BicycleSpokes]

My lovely wife is from Turkey, and would not know the difference between Honus and Heinie. I kind of like it that way...

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[jchcollins]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but this topic struck me as interesting.

We’ve been together since we were teenagers, so she knows I collect - but for me it’s probably a don’t ask, don’t tell thing at best - mainly because she could care less, and I have sometimes in the past even gotten in trouble for “caring too much” about baseball, and baseball-related things. Not that I really do, but sometimes I think this is just a convenient point in an argument if I have been careless about something else important. As for the finances, 9 times out of 10 I’m selling something old from my collection to finance whatever new it is that I’m buying - so it’s usually a wash and because there is little long-term $$ impact anyway - I don’t really feel the need to keep her posted on the day-to-day. At worst, I’m earning her extra bonus points on her credit card. Other purchases are funded sometimes from one-time windfalls, birthday and Christmas money, or bonuses and that kind of thing, and I’m always careful not to do anything outlandish that would have any real impact to our family’s budgeted finances.

All that said - cards for me are still kind of a guilty, solitary pleasure though. Interesting to me to consider why that is. I have 2 daughters and have gotten them into it somewhat, but not nearly to the extent that I am. I guess some of this stems from being an only child and always seeing my collection as a private, personal thing when I was growing up.
The hobby is my “forget about the rest of the world” thing, and has helped me through some tough spots over the decades. I guess that’s what a hobby is supposed to be all about.

[Bram99]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I was wondering as I bought an item recently if your spouse is as "clueless" as mine is about my collection. She has no idea how much I can spend on a 19th Century or T206 Cobb etc. When it arrives in the mail or by truck, I open it in the basement and add to my collection. I never reveal the price , do you ?

Are you trying to develop a list of Net54 members to blackmail?