When will you overpay?
 

I just bought something this morning that I have never seen before. I think I greatly overpaid for it. It was between $500-$1000, so wasn't really life changing, and if I ever want to resell it I will probably be happy to get back half of that. As a type collector though, and never having seen one before, I had to have it. What do you overpay for (concerning cards or memorabilia)? :eek:

Apparently I've overpaid for a lot of stuff. It seems when I take myself out of the buying equation things go for next to nothing, but when I'm in the equation the sky is the limit.

I won't go into details, but I've had to sell some stuff that I never thought I would and one item only sold for 10% of what I paid. :mad:

Since I've now limited myself to only Lincoln minor league items and Nebraska Indians and cut the rest of Nebraska off I'll overpay for those items only if I don't already have them.

Leon,

What was it you picked up?

I'd gladly overpay for certain slabbed lower grade OJs if the image quality was superior. That is one thing I like about grading - the companies HAMMER the grade if there is a bit of glue residue or slight back damage. I've seen OJs graded "1" or "2" that are absolute beauties but they have a few back issues that resulted in a low grade. I'll "overpay" for the low grade on those items.

Leon, if you've never seen it before, how do you know you overpaid?
If its that rare or unique, you might have gotten a steal ;)

Leon....

did it have a calendar on the back?

When several cards from a particular set I'm collecting appear on Ebay with closing times about one minute apart. If I lose the first couple of cards and the winning bids are significantly higher than I anticipated, my bidding discipline will occasionally evaporate and I'll decide I'm going to win the next card come hell or high water.

When will you overpay
 

When it’s something that takes me at least 6 month’s to find or anything unusual that I may never seen before or rarely have seen.

Jimmy

I will overpay for almost anything Connie Mack.

Anytime I've won something in a Goodwin auction.

I'm in the same boat as Dan B. on this one. I primarily do this when I have never seen another example of the item.

It wasn't a life-changing expense and you wanted the item. I say, sometimes you just have to overpay. Life is short.

It's easier for me to overpay when it's a one-of-a-kind item. Unfortunately, when you collect oddball stuff like I do, there's a lot of unique items out there, including many that can be had for a song. I'm considering overpaying for something today, but I'm also trying to talk myself out of it ...

Something very difficult for which I have been searching for a while.

Something unique.

Something not seen before.

I echo Anthonys previous post, I usually overpay if I become very determined when a card(s) from a set that I am collecting comes up for sale. I think one of my resolutions is to be more patient. Unless a card is deemed scarce it will usually come up again in the not so distant future hopefully closer to my pre-determined price range.

Same here, Dan. I wonder if what you said isn't literally true - that you being in the equation is enough to raise prices. I find the same thing on female player items that I collect - it seems I can never sell them for anywhere near what I paid for them.

Since we are both talking about a fairly narrow collecting focus, maybe it's true that it only takes us being in the mix to skew results. I know there is one other ebay'er that seems to keep an eye on woman players, along with one or two others that show up occasionally. Not much other than that. So for these items, my participation could be the difference between two motivated bidders and only one. Same with you and your Nebraska focus.

For mainstream cards, I will overpay for something I need if I haven't seen one in awhile. So T204's might not be rare and T204 Detroiters no more rare than any other, but it seems like you just don't see a T204 Detroiter that often. So I probably overpaid for mine when I saw it come up.

J

Generally on Wednesdays....:)

No, seriously, my "danger sign" is when I have been through a dry spell or I go to a show and find little that I am interested in. It's sort of a "girls all get prettier at closin' time" mentality.

Realistically, I am most likely to "overpay" for the things I get cheaply...you know sometimes you say,"I really don't need that, but man, that's just too cheap not to buy." So you pick it up and then it lives forever in a shoebox without being looked at or appreciated again.

I overpaid for this: <br>
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...aver_Stein.jpg
<br>

But, I wanted it almost to the point of needing it. I still look at it once a week. Is there a support group for this sort of behavior?

I received an ebay gift card for X-mas, so I soon may be overpaying again.

Peter

why is that? does goodwin have stuff you can't find elsewhere? i can understand overpaying for a card or a certain issue found in goodwin's auctions.....but, i'm obviously missing your point.

Stand by for the floodgates to be opened.

No, Goodwin's auctions don't contain items much different from most of the auctions out there. But it's the marketing. I've never seen anything like it. The marketing is so compelling that I'm forced, almost in a trance-like state, to pay 2 or 3 or 100x more than what the exact item went for just months before. I don't know how he does it but he sure is talented.

LOL! I can relate.

I've got a whole storage room which is a testament to this mentality.

I'm a sucker for those big Leland's photo lots. I just can't pass them up because they are so cheap.................then I get them in and realize maybe 10% of them aren't complete junk.................or that I don't really need 100 photos of the same obscure and unpopular boxer, no matter how cheaply they were obtained, and my storage room has just become that much smaller.

Jeff- I think it's the secret bidder list, the one nobody else has.

That is an awesome postcard. Never seen that before.

Overpay
 

I overpay when I get close to completing a set. My impatience gets the best of me and I just "have" to win the last five cards or so.

A couple of years ago at the National I found the last two cards I needed to complete my E94 set. Once the deal was done, I told the dealer I just completed the set. He, half-jokingly said, "Damn, if I knew they were the last two you needed, I would have charged more."
JimB

The underbidder strikes again
 

I rarely overpay, because I am usually the underbidder. I make other people overpay.

Brian

woops
 

I accidentally posted this in the 5k investment thread....but here is what I overpaid for today...As I said....now watch 50 of them come out at $5 each... :mad:

Interesting Leon...I wonder if Eddie Boland was the chase card, impossible to find thus ensuring few or any prizes would be given out.

Seriously, I will overpay for any Chase, Cobb or Donlin cards which I don't already have so if any of you kind souls want to be the recipient of such largesse email me with any cards you'd like to sell. :)

As of this time it's the double-secret bidder list.

There is a little known codicil in the N54 Constitution that grants the moderator virtually unlimited powers in times of chat board emergencies.

kind of funny but true
 

Actually this is kind of funny but true. Fortunately with a few people gone there are little skirmeshes but no all out warfare like there used to be. It was pretty much me or them.....so here we are.

I did add something to the forum rules where I/we get a judgement call....it almost never needs to be used ...

"The board moderators have the authority, at their sole discretion, to ban anyone whom they deem detrimental to the welfare of the board."

This has happened in less than a handful of cases in almost 5 yrs....best regards

When I've had too much cash in hand, I've paid too much for a some cards that could have been obtained for less, with patience. I've outgrown that, but there was a day, and that was for cards that are regularly available.

As individual collecting evolves, we start wanting items that are seldom available. And that is when we pay too much, if it is that at all. The last card I bought for a significant price could fall into that category. I paid more than the guides suggest; but for me I didn't pay too much, for my desire or the card was much greater than the general collecting public's desire for the card. I'd have paid more... So this 'too much' thing is a bit relative. More than guide price, I've paid that lately... 'too much', not at all.

If you use an auction service like gavelsnipe, you can actually figure out how much you overpaid by determining your maximum snipe to your actual winning bids. You can sort and total your winning bids, and then comparing that total to your maximum snipe. Warning: if you do it, the results will be scary. My maximum snipes were almost double my winning bid totals.

Max

That just about sums up my overspending habits. Still working on the outgrown part, but I'm getting better. :)

I seem to start overpaying when I have a build up of PayPal play money burning a hole in my account. I know it's gonna happen, but it's still seems unavoidable.

(Better that I use it for cards before the wife realizes its there and starts spending it though!)

Overpay
 

Whenever I pay a buyers premium of 18%.

Although I will make an exception if it's a card that gets me within one or actually completes a set for me.

So your nickname should change to "Dean Vernon Wormer"

Yes sir. And I am here to inform you, that you and your whole gang, have been on double secret probation!! And one of the best clips ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hnwvWhbJw

It's all a matter of perspective...
 

Rather than beat myself up about an item, I think of my acquisitions as a group of items. I've mastered the art of mentally reallocating some of the cost for an overpriced item to previous bargains.

If I really like an item but don't buy it...whether overpriced or not...I spend way too much time regretting it later. I'm one of those people who would rather focus on the windshield as opposed to the rearview mirror. We're fortunate that over the long haul what once seemed overpriced often turns out to be perceived as a good deal later.

At least when I do "overpay" for an item...it's still something that I wanted for my collection in the first place.

Leon- it would be impossible for me to get through life fat, drunk, and stupid...I'm simply too thin.;)

As usual Rick...
 

Not only are we on the same page...we're on the same paragraph! :D

Ah, ...the critcial argument!
 

I overpay for most everything, or so it usually appears.
I know this because:
1) I don't usually recoup what I paid on the occasions that I sell
2) The money is probably oftentimes better spent or saved elsewhere
3) If I don't participate, the prices for the item are often lower
4) When I buy something I am usually in my "rather impatient consumer mode."

However!

I love my collection, and I take great pride (misguided or not) in my perception that the collection is worth more than the sum of its parts.

D-Day: War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...
[thinks hard]
Bluto: the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!
[runs out, alone; then returns]
Bluto: What the **** happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...
Otter: Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.
Bluto: We're just the guys to do it.
D-Day: Let's do it.
Bluto: *Let’s do it*!

I have overpaid and will continue to overpay for...
 

...autographed pre-1917 cards...

......Especially signed T206 card......

............Especially x2 if they are signed T206 cards I do not already have.

When will I overpay...
 

We will overpay anytime a card becomes available from Nashville's Toughest WantList !