How much are you "into it"? Should it matter....

[JollyElm]

There needs to be a lot more subtlety and nuance involved in this type of discussion.

Granted, there will be people who overpaid or whatever for a card, and won't budge from their selling price because they have more into it than you are offering. Happens everyday, and it's easy to be annoyed by them. But sometimes other factors come into play, too.

1. Say I got a good deal on an expensive card and was able to buy it for less than it was going for at the time. If we had a time machine and went back to that day, people would say, "Wow, you did good!" So it's important to note that I didn't overpay or make a mistake at the time of purchase. Fast forward a year, and now the same card is selling much more cheaply. If someone offered me the 'new' going rate, my first thought would be that I spent more on it than that. It's human nature to not want to take a big loss on something. That's how the mind works, independent of the market. So instead of selling it at a 'bad-for-me' price, I'd rather hold onto it and hope the heck the price starts going back up again. And right now, with card prices skyrocketing, that is a smart thing to do.

2. I don't generally sell anything, as I much rather trade, but sold a couple of cards recently. And that went fine. But, when I had a 'for trade or for sale' thread going with a 1961 high number Mantle, it just got ridiculous. The offers I got were not only literally lower than what I paid for the card, but also weren't anywhere near what cards in the same grade had sold for in the past half a year or so. And do I even have to mention how Mantle cards are always climbing? So, if I said, "No, sorry. I'm into it for more than that." Am I the bad guy??? No freakin' way. Plus, these people would angrily say, "I can get that card any day of the week for X amount!" And my reply, of course, was, "Good for you. So why are you wasting your time with me? Go buy as many of them as you can at that price."

So, it's not a black and white issue. The pendulum swings both ways.