Signed Card Collection: Detriment to value forgoing TPAs?

[packs]

No offense to Atkatz or Lordstan but your interpretations are your opinions about how you'd like the hobby to be. They do not represent the reality of the hobby and telling someone they shouldn't use TPAs because you have a POV on the matter isn't helping someone who'd like to know if they'll be taking a financial hit, which in today's market they would be.

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by packs

No offense to Atkatz or Lordstan but your interpretations are your opinions about how you'd like the hobby to be. They do not represent the reality of the hobby and telling someone they shouldn't use TPAs because you have a POV on the matter isn't helping someone who'd like to know if they'll be taking a financial hit, which in today's market they would be.

I take no offense, but you are not hearing what I am saying. I am not saying he shouldn't use TPAs. I am saying he should save his money and send the cards to TPAs when he is going to sell them. Having cards slabbed does nothing, absolutely nothing, for him financially, except drain his wallet, UNTIL he SELLS them. Slabbed cards sitting in a box are worth exactly the same as unslabbed cards sitting in a box. You may think they are different, but all this stuff we collect is only worth anything because someone else is willing to give you money for it. Until someone has offered you money it is meaningless. BTW, I never said not to slab. I, just like Mike Navarro, said to slab later just before sale.

BTW, Nothing I said in my last response was opinion. It was all fact.

1) My reply was that serious buyers are the buyers who need slabbing and authentication the least.
2) The auction houses have decided to slab everything because 1) items across the board sell for more money
3) auction houses have decided to slab everything because it limits their liability. The casual buyers are much less likely to have their items re looked at by anyone else when the items come with a cert.
4) auction houses have decided to slab everything because There is a mutually beneficial relationship between authentication companies and Auction Houses. Auction Houses can claim/imply they are selling something more guaranteed because of the cert and the TPAs can reinforce their legitimacy because they are "accepted" by Auction Houses.
5) It also doesn't mean you absolutely NEED them to tell you your autos are good either.
6) Suppose, instead of slabbing 50 cards at $20 per, you bought 5 Trout signed rookies back in 2011. Previously someone said they are $500-600 per on ebay. So that $1000 that would have gone into slabbing got you ZERO return, but those 5 Trout cards are now worth $2500-3K minus $100 to slab them just before you sell them.

None of things above are opinions. They are facts. I am not sure why, or even how, you would dispute them.

You wrote, "Buying your way limits you to 4 or 5 potential vendors, which is not a reality for collectors as a whole. We will buy from anyone so long as we're comfortable with the item, which often comes down to paper work."

It's only not a reality because you make it so. The dealers that I mentioned have sold tens of thousands of items between them over the years. You want more that is fine. If you wish to take the word of an unknown authenticator with unknown skill set and unknown experience, just because they have a fancy piece of paper or slab you are perfectly within your right to do so. I prefer buying stuff from people who I know know what they are doing or buying from others if I know what I am doing.

Finally, so that you cannot misinterpret my opinion once again. I think he should slab when, and only when, he is prepared to sell the item. Before that he is using up money that he can use to buy other autos. If he doesn't care about the money then slab away, but don't be shocked if the any of the TPAs are gone in 20-30yrs and the auction houses want the cards reslabbed with the TPA that is the current market leader to maximize profits.

[T206Collector]

I gave up on flip uniformity years ago. If there have been this many changes in just the past few years, imagine what it would cost to keep up with this for another decade or more. If you're holding items for a generation, attempting to keep up with the graders will only matter if one of the big ones loses credibility over time. In those cases, I will have the items put into an updated slab with a credible flip. But, what is a credible opinion today -- whose opinion will maximize value -- will necessarily change over time.