Misery Loves Company - Any Stories About Taking a Loss at Auction?

[mechanicalman]

I've been back in the hobby for about three years now, and this week, I watched as a number of my early pick-ups were auctioned off through PWCC. These were some cards I bought mainly as "rookie" mistakes*, and ones I have since upgraded or just thought I could live without. (*Mistakes such as: buying the holder, not the card; buying lower grade than I could afford just to check a box; buying anything post 1912 outside of a PSA holder - yeah, I said it; buying anything from eBay Buy It Now; buying stuff at card shows just to buy something, etc...)

Anyway, needless to say, took a bit of a beating on the final prices. After the commission, probably lost $500-$600 or so when compared to my original purchase prices. I realize there are far worse lots in life than losing money on cardboard, but I wonder if anyone is willing to share similar stories of taking a loss when auctioning cards?

I know that the average experience level of the board members far surpasses mine, but we were all rookies once! Was thinking that any humble stories might make for an interesting thread (and selfishly make me feel better.)

Please note: NOT an invitation for anyone to jump on the soapbox and tell me what I did wrong. (I have a lot to learn, yes, but there are other threads for that.) Just looking for an honest dialogue about past mistakes.

[Leon]

You didn't do anything wrong. You had a cheap learning lesson. I had to have a 19th Century card where a total of 3 were known. I paid 25k for it privately and sold it for around 16k in aucton. Sweet deal, just not for me. And I could go on and on and on......Live and learn.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Leon

You didn't do anything wrong. You had a cheap learning lesson. I had to have a 19th Century card where a total of 3 were known. I paid 25k for it privately and sold it for around 16k in aucton. Sweet deal, just not for me. And I could go on and on and on......Live and learn.

Thank you for your honesty, Leon. I get the sense you more than made up the margin a few weeks ago! I know I tried to do my part... (e95 cCobb - Love it!)

[Leon]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Thank you for your honesty, Leon. I get the sense you more than made up the margin a few weeks ago! I know I tried to do my part... (e95 cCobb - Love it!)

That is a really, really great card. It has great centering and huge borders. I paid $2600 (privately) for it not too long ago. After juice it sold for $2692.

Overall my auction did very well (thanks to everyone who bid) and went a little above high estimates. Some really good friends got great deals and I made money at the end of it all. Not a bad hobby if you ask me. It is great to see some of my collection cards in good board members/friends collections. I just wonder how many I end up buying back? (actually, hopefully not too many, but no promises)

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Leon

That is a really, really great card. It has great centering and huge borders. I paid $2600 (privately) for it not too long ago. After juice it sold for $2692.

Overall my auction did very well (thanks to everyone who bid) and went a little above high estimates. Some really good friends got great deals and I made money at the end of it all. Not a bad hobby if you ask me. It is great to see some of my collection cards in good board members/friends collections. I just wonder how many I end up buying back? (actually, hopefully not too many, but no promises)

I bought my first 2 cards from my 1st collection back last night. That didn't take long . It was 2 cool D311s from our BST......thanks Brian!!

[Exhibitman]

Over the long haul it tends to even out. I bought quite a few items at the absolute market top. Liquidating them has been painful. I try to time those sales with sales of highly appreciated items so I don't feel so bad overall. On the plus side if you run your card sales as a legit business endeavor a nice loss for the year can offset other income. I always prefer to make money of course.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

...
(*Mistakes such as: buying the holder, not the card; buying lower grade than I could afford just to check a box; buying anything post 1912 outside of a PSA holder - yeah, I said it; buying anything from eBay Buy It Now; buying stuff at card shows just to buy something, etc...)
...

I think it will help you to re-think the above ideas - some of your best deals are going to come through doing some of the exact things that you consider rookie mistakes.

Many of the beatings I take when re-selling have involved purchases that I thought were great ones. Unfortunately, the market told me I was wrong.

[packs]

Haven't had too many re-sale beatings but there have been plenty of times I thought I got a good deal on something that I didn't want, but figured I could make a buck on--only to resell the same card years later for the same price I bought it for.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by packs

Haven't had too many re-sale beatings but there have been plenty of times I thought I got a good deal on something that I didn't want, but figured I could make a buck on--only to resell the same card years later for the same price I bought it for.

That happens way to much -- whenever I try to buy something at what I perceive to be a value that I am not otherwise interested in, when I try to flip it it rarely if ever works out.

[arcadekrazy]

Part and parcel to the Hobby, I gather. I purchased, in a private sale, a really hard to find type card. I paid over $2,000. When I decided to part with my cards, this particular card sold, in auction, for less than $1,000.

Since I use disposable money for my collection, it wasn't the end of the world. Annoying, but not something that will bankrupt me. At the end of the day, I enjoyed owning the card and view the loss as a cost of deriving excitement from the chase.

[glchen]

I've set record lows for cards when selling them at auction whether it's my own store, starting at 99 cents or sending to consignment shops or major auction houses. Sometimes, it's all about hoping that the right people see your cards, and if not, you can take major hits.