Cashing in a Starting All Over
 

In light of the recent auction sold prices. I’m getting close to selling/consigning all my high end vintage cards. Never in a million years would I have thought my cards would be worth what they are now. Many seek to enjoy collecting low grade on platforms such as here,OBC, Facebook Ect and have a great time doing so, it can keep me in the game. Chasing higher end cards for my collection is no longer fun or financially a option.

The profits will be very nice. You only need to get rich once, this could be the time. I have no fear, none when it’s gone it’s gone.

Has anyone else started this process ?

Please no emails soliciting interest in buying or consigning my collection, thanks.

Nope

Nope…im too young. BUT...if all of a sudden my cards...after selling and paying taxes could fund a comfortable retirement...I wouldn't give it a second thought!!!

Nope. I get too much enjoyment out of the cards. I wouldn’t sell unless I had to at this point.

Nope, but cant lose money taking a profit.


Ask, if they sell higher in 10 years, would you be upset?


Can the money be put to something that sparks joy in your life?

Collecting is great, but I have to say with numbers floating around, I've been tempted to do the same.


I just have that sinking feeling "when my come for sale, at an auction without shenanigans, they wont achieve these prices"

Yep. Haven’t regretted it for a second. At the end of the day they’re inanimate pieces of old cardboard with baseball pictures of old guys who 99.9% of the world has never heard of.

doesnt have to be all or none
 

You dont have to sell 100% or nothing at all. Start with a few things and see how you feel as you go.... then proceed accordingly! Best wishes for whatever you decide! Rocky

Thanks Rocky !!

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ze/pickens.jpg

Fortunately for me, my collection isn't worth anywhere near what I would need to retire, unless my plan was to be homeless, so I can keep it.

I have taken a hard look at my collection and decided to sell a number of cards that have appreciated which I really don't have strong feelings about. One of two maybe I have regretted selling, but if you paid $5k for a card now worth $25k, that profit in effect pays off a lot of other purchases.

I have no interesting in leaving behind 1000s of cards for others to have to deal with. A nice size interesting collection as an inheritance is cool. More than that is a burden. I've seen it with friends and family members with coins and stamps. You are not doing anyone a huge favor. Sell some of your stuff and take that trip you've always dreamed about. I really can't imagine on my death bed my last utterance is going to be "God damm it I should I have bought that Eddie Plank card when it was $4000."

If you think everything just goes up, up, and up, remember the old Wall Street saying "trees don't grow to the sky."

Inheritance? Pfft! I plan to line my casket with my collection and take it into the afterlife like a Pharoah. A poor, nerdy Pharoah.

I enjoy your quips. :)

Would be a great story on CNN.

This is an interesting idea which I've employed to a lesser degree. I've never sold everything at once, but I've had cards/sets that I've fallen out of love with and sold. I can't say I've ever really regretted it. I think an occasional examination of your priorities and interests (both with respect to specific cards/sets, and life in general) is a healthy part of collecting, and I have no hesitation when it comes to purging cards I don't love.

I'd rather have a small, well selected collection of cards I absolutely love than a large selection I'm lukewarm about.

L O L

My wife was startled by the suddenness and volume of my laughter.

My Two Cents
 

Yes, Johnny, I started the process seven years ago.
Here's my two cents:

1) Make certain your top 10 "stars" from each set are graded and accept the grade given by PSA/SGC if you're submitting now (don't resubmit over and over for a higher grade)
2)Test a few auction houses. I tested Heritage, Mile High, and PWCC before ending up with REA. Don't base your final decision on the PRICES you get. Auction houses can't determine price. Instead base that decision on CUSTOMER SERVICE
3) Enjoy the auction process when it goes live. It should be FUN to watch your set move up, especially in those final hours. I wrote a piece about this in particular on my website, www.markearzoumanian.com. I titled it "Why am I Addicted..." and it can be found under the "Love of the Hobby" section.
Hope this helps. Peace and stay healthy.

That's a good way of looking at it.

Trees never grow to the sky is true, but some do grow considerably tall, they maintain their height as a pillar of nature, and some trees have recorded life spans of 3,000 years.

The words “great” and “CNN” do not belong in the same sentence. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself (and I think Fox sucks too)

With some of the cards I have and the spike in prices I have been tempted to sell some of the cards and put some of it back into my collection on lower value cards.
But it is tough because I love the collection I am working on and I feel if I moved some of those cards then it takes away from the overall collection
I feel like these cards are mostly connected to each other

But as of now I am the hold and collect and enjoy mode

I don't think you're the first one that's ever done this. Seriously, though, a poll on whether those who have gone down that road would do it again if they could go back in time might be helpful.

Unless you go through a divorce, then the number is exactly "twice"...

Not married, I feel for those who are and have to go through divorce.

cashing in
 

From my many experiences, I say try to sell own you own..and NOT use auction houses...If your not in a rush/ have the time/ know what you have and what your doing..in most cases you will do better

I say - cut out the middle man and sell directly to the collector

Trust your gut. You will know when the time is right.

I do not or will not sell. It would break my heart to sell something I've had over 50 years and the memories it holds... Best of luck with your sales..

Baseball cards are like owning a boat. "The two happiest days in a boat owner's life: the day you buy the boat, and the day you sell the boat.”.

You should go card by card. If a card would net you more money today than you would pay for it today if you didn’t own it, sell it. Otherwise, hold.

I like it well said !

Yes and no as I only sold off my graded cards. I still sell some raw cards to buy other cards/bats but the graded was a purge.

I sold off all but a few oddball graded cards and used the cash to buy around 30 Wade Boggs bats. It was the best decision for me. The cards just sat in piles that I rarely looked at. I made a display that holds 20 bats that is in my living room that I really enjoy being able to look at any time I want.

Only negative is I need to build another bat display that I need to convince my wife would also look nice in the living room.:D

My reluctance to sell hinges on the fact that if I sold some of my higher end items, there is no way I could replace, both out of scarcity and the fact that the cards are so darn high, and do not appear to be lowering , at all.

If I needed to sell though, Im not as "attached" as some of the collectors on the forum.

I have never been able to afford being attached, LOL.

Good luck with your decision.
Thomas

I sold off a big part of my collection in 2020 & 2021. I am in the process of selling the rest now.

Weren't you telling people that you were getting out of the hobby back in 2019?? I do remember you selling off some big cards on this site, including a 51' Bowman Mantle.

I'm relatively new to prewar baseball, but collected vintage basketball for the last 40 years since I was a kid. Got practically everything, but....

There was a time when I cashed in on many of my nicest cards. I sold maybe 20 of my highest valued cards in favor of another financial transaction. Cash came in wonderfully handy, but with the best cards gone, my collection felt incomplete and insignificant, even though I still had many nice cards and sets.

I repurchased everything again in the last 8 years, but at a lower grade as I couldn't buy a Wilt Chamberlain PSA 7 rookie, George Mikan SGC 5, or Jordan graded 9 rookies reasonably anymore. I do have some regret not holding on to items that are now $20K a piece and unobtainable. When I see one of these formerly owned items change hands at auction and read the write ups, my stomach turns!! Oh well, life is about choices, right? Other things are more important than collectables.

Yes, sent stuff to REA in 2016, sent some more this year to REA spring auction

Actually sold different parts of my collection thru the years.

We're all having to adapt with this crazy surge in prices. If I were you I'd be thinking about the same things. My first thought was maybe you don't have to make a decision right away. You could sell a couple of your PSA 8s, then find nice looking raw VGEX or graded 4s to replace those two cards and see how it feels. Maybe it feels good, and you can use the rest of the money to keep going. Or maybe it wouldn't feel great.

I have often sold a card I had in midgrade in order to keep a lower grade copy that I also had and buy an additional couple cards with the rest of the money. That has always felt great to me because I'd rather have three nice looking 2-3s than one nice 5. But, if you are used to looking at really sharp corners, maybe it would be tough to drop down to VG or VGEX.

With all due respect, I disagree 100%. I think the best investment you can make is to find the right auction house and let them market your cards or memorabilia piece for you. We've all seen first hand the value of good marketing and how the energy of an auction can push the selling price of a cool item up up and up some more. And with the market the way it is today you have no idea if the guy buying your card is down the street or in China. I've been very happy selling items on BST and even on eBay, but for anything special its going to an Auction house with broad exposure who can intelligently discuss the importance of what I have and what's so cool about it. For me that's Love of the Game.

+1 Selling direct leaves rebuilding money on the table, especially for higher end graded cards.

You see, I don't make much money
Only five, uh-uh, thousand per
And some judge who thinks he's funny
Tells me I got to pay six to her
I said now judge, suppose I fail?
The judge says, "Ray, son, son, right on into jail
Ah, you better keep her. I think it's cheaper."
--Ray Charles, Makin' Whoopee

Well yeah, those cards won't be sold regardless. They aren't worth much but are rich with nostalgia for me. I will carry them into (hopefully) old age and remember my childhood fondly through them. If I am lucky enough to have grandkids who are collectors, that's where those cards would go.

Agreed, with the proviso that if the card is one I believe has potential for increases better than what I could earn otherwise over the next decade, I will hold it.

What I have noticed being mainly a player/niche collector is rare items are far far harder to acquire than almost any high $ card. Say a goudey ruth or cobb portrait that you see for sale almost daily. It’s not that these rare items don’t exist it’s people don’t want to sell them.

Humans like rarity, so say when someone is going to retire they think hmm ill sell my ‘51 mantle and my ‘54 aaron. But this obscure 1920s minor league team photo and this 1895 tin type of a random person with a baseball uniform on. Think ill keep them.
(Rip niche collector looking for that photo for the last 20 years) These items can bring the most joy to even the highest of high rollers collections.

I also feel with such intense prices more and more people will turn into niche collectors, especially new vintage collectors. Which seems to be a ton lately.

My main takeaway is this: Buy A 1934 Exhibit 4 in 1 with ruth and gehrig! Boy oh boy those are underpriced and extremely rare!

But seriously, don’t sell something you love that you know you could never get back.

As an amateur egyptologist/archaeologist. I'm going to do a dig and display you and your treasures in my own personal museum. Title the display as "A poor, nerdy American Pharaoh by an even poorer and nerdier Iowa Pharaoh."

+1000. This is the conundrum/rub

I do think things are alarmingly expensive and in the short term it may not be a bad idea to take some chips on the table. But my experience is that over the last 35-40 years, the good cards have continued to go up in value. Long term, I think Cobbs, Ruths, Wagners, Jackson, HOFers from blue chip sets and rare stuff of HOFers are worth more tomorrow than today. So the decision to sell is permanent - if I sell something, I will likely not get it back. You can’t take it with you, so the question is: Is there a better use for the money, either as an alternative investment or personal (tuition, house, retirement, other interest, etc)

Who's going to be buying these cards for THAT much more in the future?

I actually just reached out to REA to start moving some cards. My reasoning is seeing recent APRs and I got an allocation for a car I’ve been wanting. I have been stressed out about selling and constantly flaking about posting anything, but the cleared funds will be enjoyed. I’d love to eventually get some of what I plan on selling back, but I’ll be changing my approach to collecting next go.

Yes I agree.

I am retired and decided recently to sell my cards. I will keep most of my non-card memorabilia and few cards that are special to me. I don’t need the money. I just realized that I have too much tied up in cards. Al Crisafulli will be selling my T206 set (520) and other high end cards in the next Love of the Game auction. Al has been a pleasure to work with so far. Thinking I might use the dough to take my wife on a lengthy world tour. You only live once.

This is what I love about the current state of the hobby, many long time collectors who have built fantastic collections are now releasing their collection back to the hobby. No doubt the price of admission is high but if you want a Red Cross back or a Western Playground etc this is the only way you'll get one. I too have a large consignment with Al in his upcoming auction, he has always been my go to for consignments.
Have fun on your World Tour.

Big trip sounds very nice. The memories will be treasured.