Considering selling everything - Final Update/Tally

[drcy]

If you were going to spend it on a car for sons, you would have spent in to on something that depreciated quickly anyway. In the strictly financial scheme of things, you may come out better financially having spent it on the collection.

And some people spend good money on fakes. There are real horror stories there. You got something authentic and worth money out of it.

The autographs are the wild card here. Along with what you get for the entire collection. In your funk, perhaps you'll get more than you're thinking right now.

Overspending on a collection happens to everyone, even experienced dealers. Even the Mr. Mint you mentioned has overspent. He wrote about buying super rare football card boxes sitting in a garage or warehouse, only to discover when approaching them that they were infested with bugs. I know a well known dealer who bought a high grade 1971 Topps, but when he took the cads out of the binder he discovered many to most were recolored in black pen.

The best thing to do to make up for a bad deal, overspending or whatever, is to save some money and cut spending that you already wouldn't have-- a little here and a little here. Over time, you will make up the lost money by saving money you wouldn't have spent if this situation hadn't happened. If a loss causes you to alter your actions and habits for the better, it can actually lead to profit.

They say a difference between people who are overweight and healthy weight is both will sometimes overeat way more than normal at a meal, but the healthy weight person will make up for it by eating less at the next meal (a light dinner after a big restaurant lunch) or by skipping some snacks he or she would ordinarily have, while the overweight person will continue to eat the same amount as normal.

Personal setbacks and mistakes can make for a better person, short term financial losses can lead to long term profit and a big early season loss can make for a better football team. It's all a matter of how you handle and react to them.

[Al C.risafulli]

I wouldn't call it a $14K mistake. It's something less than that, depending on what you can get for the cards. If you're careful and diligent about selling them, you'll probably pull quite a bit of that back out of the cards when you sell. Perhaps in your enthusiasm, you overestimated the value, but I'm sure you didn't overestimate by THAT much.

If I had a nickel for every time I paid more for a card than it was worth because I was enthusiastic about buying it, I could cover your losses and then some.

I agree with Tom's suggestion that you sit tight and let the emotion seep out of this for a while, and I'm sure you'll find it wasn't such a bad deal after all.

And every one of us has done something similar at one point or another, whether it be in the hobby or out of the hobby.

Best of luck,
-Al

[HRBAKER]

Been there (most of us have), brighter lights at the end of the tunnel. Take the advice, sit back for a while and then prudently recapture what you can and chalk the difference up to experience and a lesson learned. I've had to do it before, not fun but not world changing either.

[btcarfagno]

If you have any questions regarding the autographed cards feel free to PM me with any questions. There are certainly others on the board who know more than I do but I can hold my own in that area of the collecting world. Would be glad to help in any way I can.

Tom C

[timber63401]

Just be thankful you had $14,000 to make a mistake with.