OT:Auction sales hit record $15 billion as young, wealthy collectors enter the market

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I'm with you. I'd happily welcome all cards permanently costing a small fraction of what they do today; I'd love them just as much, and be able to own and enjoy more.

I'm not drawn to a card because of its potential future value— yet that is the primary reason behind most card purchases I see today on social media (which is admittedly societal poison), especially outside the very collector-centric cyber halls of Net54.

What I find sadly amusing is that we see guys on social media trumpeting high prices, but if you love cards and collecting, the value of cards you love and never want to sell is totally moot. That's money a collector never wants to see, because he never wants to sell. So the high prices only have one actual effect in reality on a collector, namely we have to shell out way more cash to acquire anything new. Or we have to sell pieces when we add a new one. So I don't see how rising prices are good for a collector who is not obscenely wealthy. Now if someone is super wealthy, of course it's to their advantage that everything desirable rises to a level where only they can afford it. To them the cash is nothing and they can just scoop everything up.

We all collect and see things differently. At 48 I've been collecting for four decades now. As much as I love the history and the cards/memorabilia of this hobby, I also personally look at anything that I put thousands and thousands of dollars into as an investment. I'm also in the camp that everything I own has a price; because in the end it's all just "stuff', as much as I love it.