Have you ever wanted to just sell your Autograph collection?

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by hawaiian bam bam

which is correct is my credit card debt is NOT from cards.the debt i was talking about is when i buy something from ebay and pay with my bank account. so in lamans terms. if i buy $1000 worth of cards and pay for it with my bank account (not a credit card!) then over time that money coming out directly from my bank account can add up pretty fast. then i have to use credit cards to pay regular bills, versus if i didnt buy cards, that money in my account would pay for the bills (instead of cards) that money coming out of my bank account directly could of been used to pay off my bills and credit card debt instead of buying more cards.. im pretty sure i probably just confused you more, but i tried my best to explain it as clearly and elementary as possible. thanks for your concern though!

At the end of the day it's all coming out of your income, so if you're paying through checking or by CC or with magic beans, you're still clearly amassing debt by buying cards. In other words, if your bank account runs dry, and then you use your CC to pay what would have come from your bank account, then wouldn't it be true that the things you used your bank account for (cards) would be what's driving your debt?

You mentioned emergencies coming up and that happens, so you need to have that set-aside money to be able to handle those curveballs when they come your way. Maybe just put a tighter focus on your budget? I find that paying in cash helps reduce spending. In this day of Paypal and automatic withdrawls it's easy to spend money and not realize the impact it has because it's just numbers on a computer screen. Holding cash in your hands make you think twice about what you're using it for. At least for me it does.

[hawaiian bam bam]

very true! thank you for your post, i appreciate it. i have cut my spending a TON since this thread started. I finally got away from the mindset that i NEED that card NOW! and now my mindset is, if i see something i like, i will first sell cards for the price i need. then once the price i have is deposited into paypal, THEN i buy what i need. so far that approach is working much better for me. i think one of my problems before was that i always worried that if i dont get the card NOW it will never show back up on ebay so i must get it now. im learning that is not the case with most cards as i might have to wait longer to buy ,but im seeing that eventually everything resurfaces on ebay at some point , so if i dont get the card now, eventually another will show up on ebay later to buy. so i no longer have the need to buy cards right now, i simply now wait until i have the money.

[Econteachert205]

I think most hobbyists have gone through some sort of budget issues. I consider myself very good with money, but with so many cool things out there, I can sometimes get overly hungry-eyed. I keep a close monthly budget and sell items to offset purchases. I occasionally take an inventory of my collection and weed out things that no longer speak to me.

[theshleps]

There is a reason other than $ that sometimes makes me want to get out. I had given my son about 200 signed vintage cards to help with his mortgage alittle bit. For the most part sales went fine. They there have been 5 cards which were returned for being "fake". One was a Stengel the buyer sent in and it was rejected by PSA (I felt it was good). I then had a friend take it to JSA who then slabbed it. I just heard that a Durocher and a Gehringer were rejected as was a Faber. I know these guys autographs very well. Can tell the difference easily between a Faber and a wife signed. Not only are some of the companies slabbing fakes right and left but sometimes they reject good ones. And you have collectors who are not well versed trusting these guys as the gospel truth. I am not the expert some of you are but I know a decent amount and I know who to trust if I am unsure but for me the authenticators have ruined the hobby tho I guess they do some good. It was so much nicer collecting in the 1960's. Tempted to sell it all and buy an amazing condo somewhere. I'd probably have to collect something tho as I went from cards to autographs to comic books, to persion Jewish antiques and then back to autographs. No idea what would come next.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by theshleps

There is a reason other than $ that sometimes makes me want to get out. I had given my son about 200 signed vintage cards to help with his mortgage alittle bit. For the most part sales went fine. They there have been 5 cards which were returned for being "fake". One was a Stengel the buyer sent in and it was rejected by PSA (I felt it was good). I then had a friend take it to JSA who then slabbed it. I just heard that a Durocher and a Gehringer were rejected as was a Faber. I know these guys autographs very well. Can tell the difference easily between a Faber and a wife signed. Not only are some of the companies slabbing fakes right and left but sometimes they reject good ones. And you have collectors who are not well versed trusting these guys as the gospel truth. I am not the expert some of you are but I know a decent amount and I know who to trust if I am unsure but for me the authenticators have ruined the hobby tho I guess they do some good. It was so much nicer collecting in the 1960's. Tempted to sell it all and buy an amazing condo somewhere. I'd probably have to collect something tho as I went from cards to autographs to comic books, to persion Jewish antiques and then back to autographs. No idea what would come next.

Personally, I could never stomach the Autographs being real or not unless I got them myself or they were on legal documents (which probably have a very high percentage of being real). It's hard enough on the cards side. But a card that is deemed AUT instead of getting a number still has good value, most times. Not so much with Autos.....I have acquired some autos just because they came with the card, and sometimes I didn't even know they were real!! Still, I know a lot of collectors have fun with autos and it is a great collecting niche. (for others)

[whyconform]

I have been collecting since 07 and from time to time think about it.....

People need to have hobbies, otherwise, they're boring.
I know people who play golf, or own/ride horses, etc...and that can be just as expensive as autograph collecting, BUT my take is that at the end of the day, I still have the investment, whereas a horse owner can't get back board/changing shoes, etc....

But like I said, I do think about listing my entire PC up for a lump sum, just as a feeler. Maybe nobody bites, or I get lowballs, (probably a ton of people hoping I part out) but there might be some rich person that wants to jump in, and maybe just get it all at once.....I don't think I would turn that down......so if you see a massive HOF collection on ebay one day for like 50k or more, lol it might just be me.

[Fuddjcal]

Excellent points Schleprock... except "Tempted to sell it all and buy an amazing condo somewhere"

IMHO, Condos are a complete waste of money especially for investments. A good rule of thumb is, if you ain't buying dirt, it ain't Real Estate. The association fees will kill ya. If it's not for an investment, save up until you have a 25% deposit for your dream home where you want to die. It's really that simple.

As per Fudd, the real estate guy

[murphusa]

3 years ago I took everything and put it in an auction and received about 30% more than I hoped for. Took the money and brought a house at the Jersey shore on the water.

didn't buy anything for a year, then started again but was more specific to what I am buying

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by murphusa

3 years ago I took everything and put it in an auction and received about 30% more than I hoped for. Took the money and brought a house at the Jersey shore on the water.

didn't buy anything for a year, then started again but was more specific to what I am buying

NICE TOUCH Murph!

[baseball tourist]

Originally Posted by Fuddjcal

Excellent points Schleprock... except "Tempted to sell it all and buy an amazing condo somewhere"

IMHO, Condos are a complete waste of money especially for investments. A good rule of thumb is, if you ain't buying dirt, it ain't Real Estate. The association fees will kill ya. If it's not for an investment, save up until you have a 25% deposit for your dream home where you want to die. It's really that simple.

As per Fudd, the real estate guy

Too simplistic of an answer.....if it weren't, I wouldn't have sold my Toronto condo 8 years after I purchased it for a $75K profit after legal/closing costs etc.

In addition, to some (like a City boy such as myself) a high rise condo in a cosmopolitan city is a dream home location. Ticky-tack suburban homes...no thanks! Country living? Nice to vacation to, but to live...no thanks.

To each their own of course, and every market is different.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by baseball tourist

Too simplistic of an answer.....if it weren't, I wouldn't have sold my Toronto condo 8 years after I purchased it for a $75K profit after legal/closing costs etc.

In addition, to some (like a City boy such as myself) a high rise condo in a cosmopolitan city is a dream home location. Ticky-tack suburban homes...no thanks! Country living? Nice to vacation to, but to live...no thanks.

To each their own of course, and every market is different.

Absolutely correct... it all depends on the geography and specific real estate market in question. Seattle is "gold" right now, and a majority of condo owners are thriving and/or realizing big profits.