Unfortunately, considering getting completely 100% out. Advice/thoughts?

[Charlie Faust III]

Hello Dan,

Please do not get out! I know times are difficult for you and I feel your pain but you need your collection to turn to when things really get rough in the future. Based on what you wrote; this is probably what I would do.

1) Box all of your collection up and put it in a big closet and forget about it.
2) Do not buy or look at another card until well after you have landed another side job.
3) Once your new side job is secured and you are able to get stable again; still hold off on buying any cards.
4) Make paying down all credit cards a priority before buying cards.
5) Save a chunk of cash that is your card stash.
6) Budget $2 per week and play Powerball for the rest of your life. Use your favorite players jersey numbers from the bygone era for your winning ticket numbers.
7)Lastly, always stay positive. Your luck is about to change!!

Charlie

[Dewey]

Go straight to 6 and 7.

I got out of collecting 10 years ago when my third kid surprised us. Then I lost my job in the "great" recession. Sold some stuff. But discovered that just because I didn't make some buys didn't mean I couldn't still learn, love, and follow the hobby. Now with a fourth kid and an awesome job, I'm back. But now I know even more what I like and value. The best is ahead, Dan.

Originally Posted by Charlie Faust III

6) Budget $2 per week and play Powerball for the rest of your life. Use your favorite players jersey numbers from the bygone era for your winning ticket numbers.
7)Lastly, always stay positive. Your luck is about to change!!

Charlie

[markf31]

It was about a year ago that I decided to pull the string and sell off my entire vintage collection. I ended up consigning my cards and memorabilia to one of the auctions houses and I straight sold all of my autographed items to Jim Stinson.

I had always been pretty conscientious when it came to buying and bidding reasonably for items and I kept detailed spreadsheets on my acquisitions especially in regards to what I paid. In the end I recouped 95% of the cost of my collection which I considered to be a pretty great result. I can easily chalk up the remaining 5% to simply having thoroughly enjoyed all the time I spent working on my collection over the previous years.

And honestly despite my trepidation on getting rid of everything, after I packed all the items up in boxes to ship off to the AH and Jim Stinson... from the moment I dropped them at the post office and walked out the door of the post office, I have not regretted my decision once.

I had some unique pieces, some rare and tough to find autographs, and some items that might not show up in an auction or for sale again, at least not for a number of years. But if I should decide to start again, and the itch is there sometimes, I know that in a given year across all the various auctions I'm bound to find items of similar uniqueness and scarcity to ignite my interest again.

[53Browns]

Dan you will be missed. I call it the "seesaw effect". Been there, too many times. $ gets way tight, have to sell off the collection. But I always come back because it's in the blood and I suspect, and hope, you will too when you can. Until then good luck to you buddy.