Consignor's Pickle
 

As a collector/consignor myself, as I know many here are, I often find myself on the horns of dilemma when it comes to selling my cards. Normally, I would sell something only when:
1. Family emergency.
2. Loss of outside income.
3. When Pauly Walnuts comes around and asks me when I am going to repay that little gambling debt.
4. Fund myself for a big purchase.
What makes consigning tough these days is soaring card prices, including pre-War top shelf HOF'ers, so timing for consignment delivery becomes a factor. What I think I have learned is that when you decide to consign your precious cards, even those that sleep with under the pillow at night, just do it and the market be damned.

You really want to consign on your terms. Too often, families are left with those decisions, not the actual collector.

I have found from this time of year till spring training is slower for selling than the rest of the year.

If you see me selling it is to fund a new purchase. I can't remember the last time I paid out of pocket for cards/memorabilia and the reason my wife never says anything about my collecting.:D

It is nice to get to the point with your collection that if you fall in love with something new you can just sell something that has lost its luster. A nice feeling.

That would be nice but I am more like an addicted border and once I buy I never/rarely want to part with something if there is something else I want

My experience was a bit different. While I have never sold a big ticket item before, I decided to pull the trigger on my Dietsche Cobb batting and fielding about six months ago. After realizing that I could pay off some debt and make my life a little easier, I called an auction house and got them sold.

I was certainly cognizant of the fact that some folks were calling for the Cobb Fielding to be a 100K card in the future, but I also remember the collectibles crash of the early 1980s when interest rates skyrocketed. While I don't "invest" in cards, I thought now was as good of a time as any to sell those two cards. There is a lot of free money floating around out there and I thought I better get some of it for myself!

As it stands, those two cards were the best investments I ever made in my career. They went up about 2000% in about 15 years.

Yeap.. but after that last collection sale I had, I am a bit more reluctant to let something go again. It could happen though.

Back to subject, I have spoken with my daughter about my cards when I am gone, but she doesn't want to talk about it. :)
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"Just do it": I agree. The adage that pigs get slaughtered applies to cards as much as any other asset. So does paralysis by analysis. I hung on to a few basketball cards past their 'sell by' dates in the run-up rather than taking a big profit and walking away and regret it now. That said, I also hung onto my vintage baseball cards when they were doing nothing and they are running with the market now. I guess it all tends to unfold as it should.