Cards you wish you sold in the last 3 years

[parkplace33]

I see a lot of posts about cards you wish you bought in the last 3 years during the price explosion. But in another group, this question was asked… are there any cards you wish you sold in the last 3 years?

For me, it’s a no. The duplicate cards I have I am glad I kept. It was tempting but I am glad I held.

[ullmandds]

i traded a dupe 1921 ruth exhibit I regret big time...oh well?

[Johnny630]

I’m happy I sold several bigger cards. I used some of the money to buy the S&P500 early last month when the market was down and out. The rest I set aside for card purchases in the upcoming future.

I have no regrets.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

I’m happy I sold several bigger cards. I used some of the money to buy the S&P500 early last month when the market was down and out. The rest I set aside for card purchases in the upcoming future.

I have no regrets.

Johnny the eternal cardboard bull is selling cardboard???!!!

What is the world coming to??!! I better get out before it’s too late.

[raulus]

Maybe two data points I'll share. One was a sale I was tempted to execute, and another sale I actually completed.

As I've recounted in other posts, I picked up a 51B Mays in PSA 8 in May 2020 for what is now an otherworldly price of $48k. The seller had actually just marked it up the week before from $42k, so I missed out on an even better deal. Fast forward a few months, and the price started spiking. Going nuts, Through the roof. To the moon! At one point, it hit $325k.

I certainly had thoughts of selling, with a plan to buy it back later when it came back down. However, I ultimately demurred. Primarily, I was focused on the notion that this was a crown jewel of my collection, and you don't sell the crown jewels. I'm a Mays collector, and as such, you don't sell his rookie in one of the highest grades on the planet if you're a Mays guy. The other factor was the taxman. Paying 41% of my gain (fed + state) would have been painful, big time.

Ultimately, it has come down a bit today, closer to $200k-$250k, depending on the auction. But it would have been a stretch to buy it back today after paying the tax man. It might go down from here, for sure. But living without it for several years while I wait for it to come back down, and all the sleepless nights that come with it wouldn't be worth the potential upside of trying to time that market on one of my crown jewels.

On the other hand...

I picked up a 1987 OPC Barry Bonds PSA 10 a couple of years before the pandemic. It's a nice little card. Hard to find at PSA 10. I picked it up for around $2,750. While it wasn't nothing, it certainly wasn't an important part of my collection, and it definitely wasn't one of my crown jewels. I sure wasn't going to lose any sleep worrying about whether I could replace it in the future. A couple of years ago, it started to go nuts as well. $5k. $10k. Then it spiked up to around $24k. At which point I put it on eBay with a BIN price at $24k.

I got a few nibbles, and then finally got a bite. I took a little off and sold it for $23k. Definitely don't regret it. While there are a few examples on eBay right now with BIN prices even higher, a few have sold at auction in the last 6 months in the $10k-$15k range, and I'm 100% confident it will come back down even further.

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by raulus

Maybe two data points I'll share. One was a sale I was tempted to execute, and another sale I actually completed.

As I've recounted in other posts, I picked up a 51B Mays in PSA 8 in May 2020 for what is now an otherworldly price of $48k. The seller had actually just marked it up the week before from $42k, so I missed out on an even better deal. Fast forward a few months, and the price started spiking. Going nuts, Through the roof. To the moon! At one point, it hit $325k.

I certainly had thoughts of selling, with a plan to buy it back later when it came back down. However, I ultimately demurred. Primarily, I was focused on the notion that this was a crown jewel of my collection, and you don't sell the crown jewels. I'm a Mays collector, and as such, you don't sell his rookie in one of the highest grades on the planet if you're a Mays guy. The other factor was the taxman. Paying 41% of my gain (fed + state) would have been painful, big time.

Ultimately, it has come down a bit today, closer to $200k-$250k, depending on the auction. But it would have been a stretch to buy it back today after paying the tax man. It might go down from here, for sure. But living without it for several years while I wait for it to come back down, and all the sleepless nights that come with it wouldn't be worth the potential upside of trying to time that market on one of my crown jewels.

On the other hand...

I picked up a 1987 OPC Barry Bonds PSA 10 a couple of years before the pandemic. It's a nice little card. Hard to find at PSA 10. I picked it up for around $2,750. While it wasn't nothing, it certainly wasn't an important part of my collection, and it definitely wasn't one of my crown jewels. I sure wasn't going to lose any sleep worrying about whether I could replace it in the future. A couple of years ago, it started to go nuts as well. $5k. $10k. Then it spiked up to around $24k. At which point I put it on eBay with a BIN price at $24k.

I got a few nibbles, and then finally got a bite. I took a little off and sold it for $23k. Definitely don't regret it. While there are a few examples on eBay right now with BIN prices even higher, a few have sold at auction in the last 6 months in the $10k-$15k range, and I'm 100% confident it will come back down even further.

Great decision on both cards. And great pickup on the 51 Mays!

[puckpaul]

My biggest regret is not having things graded years ago….so there are things i would have sold, but I would have had to pay a lot to get them graded, wait on them, and then maybe miss the market i was trying to time…sure could have sold a Gretzky rookie, but then i would need to buy it back again….i guess that one is liquid enough to do that, but other rarer stuff its very hard to do. So only the more common stuff that ran up would i be sad I didn’t get to sell.

On the other hand, some things i bought more randomly or thought they were just cheap i have been able to sell for very good prices and move into cards i need for my sets i am collecting. This has all been a very enjoyable move for the most part.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by puckpaul

My biggest regret is not having things graded years ago

Ohhh, good point, Paul. I look at so many cards I have that would have been great to slab for resale at pre-pandemic prices but that just aren't worth it at present.

I can't really say i regret not selling much. I was pretty ruthless when it came to selling into the price increases. Maybe a T227 Jack Johnson, maybe a Gatorade Michael Jordan, but I really like them...

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by raulus

Johnny the eternal cardboard bull is selling cardboard???!!!

What is the world coming to??!! I better get out before it’s too late.

Never get out of high quality, you have many of those pieces. I trimmed things that we're quality, just not top quality.

[mrreality68]

I guess it depends on what you are in it for.
As a collector I have no regrets of not selling any cards I have.
As a long long term investor I am still happy not selling anything.

Only regret is not being liquid to buy more before the spike(as we all say now)

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Never get out of high quality, you have many of those pieces. I trimmed things that we're quality, just not top quality.

How was the quality after you trimmed them? I’m hoping it improved them, if not the grade at least aesthetically. Kidding obviously.


As to the original post, I wish I’d sold all my Mantle cards at the peak last year and maybe not bought into the Pokémon craze…. Such is life. At the end of the day, I’ve only got two cards I really care about in my collection and it would be nice to one day get it down to just those two.

[bnorth]

Almost all of them. I need to sell off a majority of my way too big collection. I hate selling anymore and have for years because of the very small percentage of horrible buyers.

I did love the big run up in prices because I did sell several thousand cards. Best part was most were cards you couldn't give away before and have pretty much returned to junk statis.

The bigger cards I wish I would have waited longer to unload. It just hurt a little to see the exact same cards flipped for up to double what I sold them for.

[philliesfan]

I wish I sold both of my Julius Erving rookies SGC 88 when they were at their peak of about 6K. And my Gretzky rookies SGC 92 and PSA 8.......These would have been a decent chunk of my son's tuition at Temple.
Bob

[ClementeFanOh]

What a sadistic question

1) 61 Fleer Wilt rookie SGC 84

2) 52 Topps Willie Mays SGC 60

3) 1976 Topps George Gervin PSA 10 (bought him 6 years ago for $75!!)

This hurts...

Trent King