Friends giving up collecting in 2022
 

Over the last few years, I have developed a lot of friendships through the card collecting community, whether net54 or other trading card groups. This weekend, I found out that two collectors that I am friends with have officially given up collecting.

One built a rather large prewar collection since about 2010, mostly tobacco and gum baseball. While he loves collecting, he feels “priced out” in future cards he needs and doesn’t see prices from this era coming down. He consigned part of his collection and sold the rest to a local collector. He may get back into it in the future, but isn’t sure right now.

The other started maybe 5 years with 60s and 70s baseball. Build a few sets, some stars. For him, current financial concerns are pushing him to get out of a hobby and to sell. Mostly likely, he will sell his collection online. He is adamant he will not get back in and will pick up a new hobby or sport.

I know collectors and collections cycle through, but this year, I have seen more of this than anytime I can remember. It will be very interesting how the rest of the year pans out.

I've heard quite a few collectors over the last two years complain about prices. we've all speculated whether prices will come down for pre-war. I'm about to take a voluntary pause myself, but I'm not going to sell my collection. Mine is due to family goals that require financial sacrifice. Not buying cards will help us accomplish a family vacation and possibly a couple other goals. Although I'm not sure how long my pause will last, it'll likely be for longer than a year. I paused while in college, and when I started collecting again I went into vintage and pre-war. I've enjoyed myself in this area of the hobby.

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Understandable. Personally, I'm content to take it very slow with high priced things I'd like to acquire. I'm inspired by the many members on here who have been at this for many decades!

I have pulled back from high ticket AH items, but it’s still amazing to find something cool on eBay or a small AH at a great price once in a blue moon. Found a Sandy Koufax Yom Kippur ticket in mint condition a few months back at a really great price and almost fell off my chair. With patience you can land really cool interesting stuff that doesn’t need to break the bank. Not easy but it does happen.

Theres a running joke here how people keep saying they 'leaving the hobby' yet never leave if they did 'leave' nobody really noticed because they already back..

leaving
 

Yea, thats true ! LOL

This has been me the last few years and I am happy with it. I don't want to stop and never will, but I have diversified into fun additions that still make it very enjoyable. I also think the market has been a perfect time to downsize some big ticket items and I have done that as my enjoyment of them does not equal the financial return of late.

I have a long time friend selling his collection. He has to be around 80 and none of his family collects and they really don't want anything to do with having to get rid of it either.

I bought a card from him that I had been trying to buy or trade him out of for years. I have many many other cards from trades over the years but that one is special to me.

People come and go in any hobby. It's in ones blood to collect even in the downtimes..

You could say I have given up collecting pre-ww2. But I have absolutely no desire to give up my pre-ww2 collection.

I just can't get jazzed over buying a PSA 1 or 2 big name HOFer, when all I own is PSA 5+. Would be like a shot to the groin for my collection. You used to be able to drop a grand and come away with a nice card. Now that same card is $4-5k and out of my budget.

But I don't want to stop collecting altogether. So the last year or so I have been buying the best I can afford. Nolan Ryan cards and modern Steph Curry, Giannis, few Trout's in PSA 10, Star Wars for giggles - that's the best I can regularly afford, so that's what I now buy.

In the last 12 months, I did pick up a nice '56 Ted Williams and a T206 Matty white cap - that's it. Few & far between nowadays.

It's inevitable with the rise in values of pre-war and a drop in the economy you will see this happening more often. I came back in around 2019 and followed the rise up while trying to build a respectable collection of no more than 1000 cards, I've made a pretty good dent in my goal so now I can follow the advice of some long time collectors here, back off a bit, focus on specific cards while fine tuning my collection. Of course, sometimes that discipline gets tested on auction night...

Besides the price escalation, my excitement about the hobby has been seriously dampened by the proliferation of non stop auctions. There are some AHs (and you know who they are, I’m not naming names) that have seriously hurt their brand with non stop roll out of auctions. When the same stuff is sold over and over by the same auction houses, how much excitement is there really to another auction. Hell, “major” auctions come and go and are barely mentioned on the board anymore. The excitement surrounding many seemingly monthly or biweekly auctions now is non existent. Maybe the AH are happy to be selling off collections non stop. Maybe revenue is higher than ever for these guys. But their product has suffered. Big auctions used to be special. Now they are just never ending.

3-4 years ago, much of the board was posts
about anticipation of big auctions about to hit. Can you believe what they have. Gee, isn’t their catalog amazing. What an auction! Today, almost none of that. Now occasionally you see a little after big auctions and that’s it.

Just my opinion of course.

Agree 100%

Plus no free shipping


Yup

Thats the part of this hobby that means the most, building friendships is the important part, the cards are a byproduct. Good for you Ben.

Something to ponder....
If people are leaving the hobby due to constant price hikes
Are they happy that their collection is worth alot more too?

Good point Jay, I'm not sure of the answer. I know for a true collector there are cards that no amount of money could compensate for the emotional attachment to that card. There is an emotional/financial tipping point that turns a collection or cards into a commodity and it's different for everyone based on circumstances but for me money would never fill the void for certain cards in my collection.

A lot of the average collectors have been priced out. These collectors have to find aspects of this great hobby that gives them happiness. Could be research, autograph thru the mail, etc,...

I’ve sold and traded…..
 

a lot of material I thought I’d never let go of. One thing I’ve learned is that pretty much everything has a price - and after all, it’s just cardboard. I took a big step back, consolidated my collection down to just a few things that I “care” about, and everything else is expendable. It’s a very liberating feeling not having an Old Judge wantlist anymore. Heck, I may have single-handedly collapsed the demand for Cleveland OJ poses by removing myself from the marketplace :).

Angyale

It isn’t all or nothing. As others have said, the nice thing is you can take a hiatus without quitting. I’ve been thinning out my collection for a couple of years and I don’t miss anything I’ve sold. Lots of downgrading too. I found that a nice vg card makes me just as happy as a near mint card. And leaves me lots of money for more cards. When the bubble bursts.

folks with the expensive shiny stuff losing there shirts

.

I am one of those whom exited the hobby this year. In my case, it was parting with my collection of vintage baseball autographs (in particular, Detroit Tigers). While the high cost/low availability of the "wants" on my list contributed to my decision to sell, it was primarily a combination of factors starting with the transition to having less "stuff" as I get older (estate planning), and eventually preparation for retirement and downsizing my home.

While the topic has come up in one way or another (what happens to your collection when you die, etc.), I know that my wife literally is terrified with the prospects of dealing with (disposing) of my "stuff". I have no kids. And my wife has no collecting knowledge of any kind. So parting with my collections while I am still able to do so is a huge relief (kindness) to her. And lends well towards the other life events ahead. Will I miss it ? Yes, and no. Collecting is always going to be a part of my DNA. But the thrill of the hunt, and joy from acquiring are greatly diminished as I have gotten older. A shame perhaps. But it has been a great ride for the most part. And while I might not have realized as much in dollars and cents from the sale of my collection (as I had hoped), the sense of relief is quite real.

Nice thoughts. Working in the auction business, the fallout of family members dealing with the deceased's collection isn't often pretty.

I've been lucky so far, but have definitely heard the horror stories.

One nice thing for the family to pass down to children, grandchildren, etc,...would be for the auction house to create a separate hard copy catalog for the person's collection. In most cases, it won't be the size of the usual auction catalog, but it could be a separate section within the regular catalog, an insert, a flyer, etc,... especially if they have rare cards/memorabilia rather than just the usual cards.

I'm not leaving the hobby, but my focus is changing. I just can't see paying the crazy prices. Some sets that I planned on completing I will likely give up on. I'm just not willing to pay the going price for a 52 Topps Mays, 49 Bowman Paige, or a E121 Ruth/Cobb. A bummer but there is still plenty to collect and friendships to maintain!

Across the board I've been hearing from fellow collector friends in the hobby that they're not coming this year due to the expenses and or location, AC.

Collecting, and giving up on friends.

That’s cool. Already seems over crowded. Hotel rooms are impossible to find.

I forgot to say that another reason for my slowdown are the addition of sales taxes to every purchase due to my location.

I can't even count how many times I have been on the trigger, but then pulled out on a larger ticket item as that additional cost pushes it over my happiness vs cost mental line.

The cost savings on these state taxes has seriously placed moving to a non-sales tax state high on my priority list as the constant dings to my income seem to place 25% of the country at a distinct advantage while making purchases. As well as the taxed retirement penalties I have to worry about in the near future.

If I can just convince the wife, I would leave Michigan in a second for some of the advantages fiscally. The bummer is all highway of leaving NY and Cali folk keep jumping up the housing prices in the areas I keep looking at. :cool:

(PS - I know that the Captain America crowd on paying taxes will jump on this, but honestly it does not bother me and I feel a wise man does all he can to lower his tax burden.)

Alaska will welcome you with open arms.

Nobody goes to the National anymore. It's too crowded.

I've been through that several times. I periodically get priced out of the hobby, either because I don't move quickly enough with the times, and my brain is stuck in 5-10 year old pricing, or because I just can't afford some things anymore.

I built a mostly poor-fair 48 Bowman set a long time ago. Sold it for something like $40 - yes, a LONG time ago- figuring I could rebuild a nicer one. That still hasn't happened, and probably won't.

I'm currently amazed that T206 commons in VG are pushing close to $100. Seems like just a short time ago I could pick up VG easily for 40, with the occasional much nicer card if the Ebay pics or listing weren't all that good.

So yes to both. I'm sad I can't afford many cards I could have bought decades ago but didn't. But the reality is that in every hobby I've been in there are things I simply won't be able to get - ever.
But I'm also happy there are things I bought that are now worth much more. And that I did buy some things I can't afford anymore.

Friends Giving Up Collecting in 2022
 

Sounds like Yogi at his best!

Re prior post:
Nobody goes to the National anymore. It's too crowded.

Glenn

I am not giving up so much as narrowing my focus now. After finishing my main set run from 69 to 2000 Topps I am just looking for variations, Senators, and some other items that interest me.

Makes it much more easier on the pocketbook and I can still enjoy the hobby.

Cheers,

Butch

Me too. Anything I buy right now that isn't for resale has to be a good match for a project, set or run, or be something rare that I've wanted for a while, or I give it a pass. Even then, I won't pay 200%-300% of what a common cost two years ago just to work on a mainstream set. I'll wait.

leaving the hobby
 

Lots of interesting opinions on this topic. I enjoy it so much, I'll "leave"
when I stop breathing:) Still tons of fun to go to live shows, make friends
through sites like this one, buy and trade. While it's meaningful and
important to make sure you get the 1971 Topps Clemente/Bench/Ryan,
it's still a joy to find an SGC 88 "common" like Manny Sanguillen sporting that
monster mitt, looking thin and young, in a tough set no less. If it's only about
the money, then the word "hobby" seems a bit misplaced, right? Trent King

Shoutouts- Jeff Throm, Bill Brodhead, Jason Bisping, Jason Perlmutter, Kris
Sweckard. There are good ones out there, folks!

I am with you. I want to go to the Oregon coast. I have been retired for some time but the wife is the CFO at a company that owns several other companies and they just keep throwing cash at her to stay. I tell her we have plenty of money but money people never feel that way.

Just be careful and don't only look at sales tax alone. Most all states are going to have somewhat similar costs and needs to operate and run. The fact that some don't get revenue from sales tax likely means they get revenue from other sources, so you want to be sure to check and see that it may not end up costing you even more in some other aspect or tax. All states are different, but some may make up the sales tax through increased property taxes, income taxes, retirement related taxes, other business related taxes or fees, and so on.

Exactamundo! My tax law professor back in the day put it best: taxes are like a balloon. You push down one area and it pops up elsewhere. It is a zero-sum game. We have 'frozen' property taxes in CA due to a law passed 40+ years ago (once you buy a property the max increase each year is 2%; I pay property taxes that are based on less than a third of the actual value of my house because I bought it 24 years ago) but we have high sales tax, income tax, and governmental service user fees to make up for it. The cost of police, fire, emergency services, schools, roads, etc., doesn't go away just because...they are merely shifted to other taxpayers.

awesome analysis. I try to teach this to my high school students. I like the balloon metaphor.

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Good lord man, go to the Oregon coast. It's incredible. Lincoln City, Cannon Beach, these places are awesome. Go!

I like Newport. Been going there since the 80s when my Mom and one of her many ex husbands owned one of the commercial fishing boats.

I love the coast and yes, Oregon is where I was talking about as well. Lived in Portland during the mid-nineties and that has become a shadow of what I remember.

I still love the beauty of the northwest and the coast would be the place. I admittedly have a big soft spot for Astoria and the Goonies memories of childhood just driving through brings, lol. I also love living close to state borders to take advantage of the benefits of both easily.