Cards you wish you sold in the last 3 years

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

I’m happy I sold several bigger cards. I used some of the money to buy the S&P500 early last month when the market was down and out. The rest I set aside for card purchases in the upcoming future.

I have no regrets.

Johnny the eternal cardboard bull is selling cardboard???!!!

What is the world coming to??!! I better get out before it’s too late.

[raulus]

Maybe two data points I'll share. One was a sale I was tempted to execute, and another sale I actually completed.

As I've recounted in other posts, I picked up a 51B Mays in PSA 8 in May 2020 for what is now an otherworldly price of $48k. The seller had actually just marked it up the week before from $42k, so I missed out on an even better deal. Fast forward a few months, and the price started spiking. Going nuts, Through the roof. To the moon! At one point, it hit $325k.

I certainly had thoughts of selling, with a plan to buy it back later when it came back down. However, I ultimately demurred. Primarily, I was focused on the notion that this was a crown jewel of my collection, and you don't sell the crown jewels. I'm a Mays collector, and as such, you don't sell his rookie in one of the highest grades on the planet if you're a Mays guy. The other factor was the taxman. Paying 41% of my gain (fed + state) would have been painful, big time.

Ultimately, it has come down a bit today, closer to $200k-$250k, depending on the auction. But it would have been a stretch to buy it back today after paying the tax man. It might go down from here, for sure. But living without it for several years while I wait for it to come back down, and all the sleepless nights that come with it wouldn't be worth the potential upside of trying to time that market on one of my crown jewels.

On the other hand...

I picked up a 1987 OPC Barry Bonds PSA 10 a couple of years before the pandemic. It's a nice little card. Hard to find at PSA 10. I picked it up for around $2,750. While it wasn't nothing, it certainly wasn't an important part of my collection, and it definitely wasn't one of my crown jewels. I sure wasn't going to lose any sleep worrying about whether I could replace it in the future. A couple of years ago, it started to go nuts as well. $5k. $10k. Then it spiked up to around $24k. At which point I put it on eBay with a BIN price at $24k.

I got a few nibbles, and then finally got a bite. I took a little off and sold it for $23k. Definitely don't regret it. While there are a few examples on eBay right now with BIN prices even higher, a few have sold at auction in the last 6 months in the $10k-$15k range, and I'm 100% confident it will come back down even further.

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by raulus

Maybe two data points I'll share. One was a sale I was tempted to execute, and another sale I actually completed.

As I've recounted in other posts, I picked up a 51B Mays in PSA 8 in May 2020 for what is now an otherworldly price of $48k. The seller had actually just marked it up the week before from $42k, so I missed out on an even better deal. Fast forward a few months, and the price started spiking. Going nuts, Through the roof. To the moon! At one point, it hit $325k.

I certainly had thoughts of selling, with a plan to buy it back later when it came back down. However, I ultimately demurred. Primarily, I was focused on the notion that this was a crown jewel of my collection, and you don't sell the crown jewels. I'm a Mays collector, and as such, you don't sell his rookie in one of the highest grades on the planet if you're a Mays guy. The other factor was the taxman. Paying 41% of my gain (fed + state) would have been painful, big time.

Ultimately, it has come down a bit today, closer to $200k-$250k, depending on the auction. But it would have been a stretch to buy it back today after paying the tax man. It might go down from here, for sure. But living without it for several years while I wait for it to come back down, and all the sleepless nights that come with it wouldn't be worth the potential upside of trying to time that market on one of my crown jewels.

On the other hand...

I picked up a 1987 OPC Barry Bonds PSA 10 a couple of years before the pandemic. It's a nice little card. Hard to find at PSA 10. I picked it up for around $2,750. While it wasn't nothing, it certainly wasn't an important part of my collection, and it definitely wasn't one of my crown jewels. I sure wasn't going to lose any sleep worrying about whether I could replace it in the future. A couple of years ago, it started to go nuts as well. $5k. $10k. Then it spiked up to around $24k. At which point I put it on eBay with a BIN price at $24k.

I got a few nibbles, and then finally got a bite. I took a little off and sold it for $23k. Definitely don't regret it. While there are a few examples on eBay right now with BIN prices even higher, a few have sold at auction in the last 6 months in the $10k-$15k range, and I'm 100% confident it will come back down even further.

Great decision on both cards. And great pickup on the 51 Mays!

[puckpaul]

My biggest regret is not having things graded years ago….so there are things i would have sold, but I would have had to pay a lot to get them graded, wait on them, and then maybe miss the market i was trying to time…sure could have sold a Gretzky rookie, but then i would need to buy it back again….i guess that one is liquid enough to do that, but other rarer stuff its very hard to do. So only the more common stuff that ran up would i be sad I didn’t get to sell.

On the other hand, some things i bought more randomly or thought they were just cheap i have been able to sell for very good prices and move into cards i need for my sets i am collecting. This has all been a very enjoyable move for the most part.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by puckpaul

My biggest regret is not having things graded years ago

Ohhh, good point, Paul. I look at so many cards I have that would have been great to slab for resale at pre-pandemic prices but that just aren't worth it at present.

I can't really say i regret not selling much. I was pretty ruthless when it came to selling into the price increases. Maybe a T227 Jack Johnson, maybe a Gatorade Michael Jordan, but I really like them...

[puckpaul]

The T227’s are a fantastic set. Beautiful cards.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by raulus

Johnny the eternal cardboard bull is selling cardboard???!!!

What is the world coming to??!! I better get out before it’s too late.

Never get out of high quality, you have many of those pieces. I trimmed things that we're quality, just not top quality.

[mrreality68]

I guess it depends on what you are in it for.
As a collector I have no regrets of not selling any cards I have.
As a long long term investor I am still happy not selling anything.

Only regret is not being liquid to buy more before the spike(as we all say now)

[JollyElm]

306. Basebull Market (also Batmitt Crazy)
How economists in the future will describe the drastic upsurge in baseball card buying and selling during the pandemic.

[Leon]

There are no cards I wish I had sold in the last 3 years.
I wish I hadn't sold some things in the past, but we can almost all say that.
.

[Bigdaddy]

I have a 1986 Fleer PSA 8 Jordan that I wish I'd had sold at the peak, though the peak was so steep and short lived that it would have been hard to time it with the delays of sending to an auction. It's now selling at about 1/3 of the peak.

The only good part is that I've got more in the slab than in the card.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

I have a 1986 Fleer PSA 8 Jordan that I wish I'd had sold at the peak, though the peak was so steep and short lived that it would have been hard to time it with the delays of sending to an auction. It's now selling at about 1/3 of the peak.

The only good part is that I've got more in the slab than in the card.

I’m with you.

I wish I had loaded up with a few dozen 87 Jordans in PSA 8, 9, and 10 about 5 years ago, and then cashed in for a few million.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Never get out of high quality, you have many of those pieces. I trimmed things that we're quality, just not top quality.

How was the quality after you trimmed them? I’m hoping it improved them, if not the grade at least aesthetically. Kidding obviously.


As to the original post, I wish I’d sold all my Mantle cards at the peak last year and maybe not bought into the Pokémon craze…. Such is life. At the end of the day, I’ve only got two cards I really care about in my collection and it would be nice to one day get it down to just those two.

[jingram058]

I have never bought cards or memorabilia thinking of selling them or what their value might be in the future. Don't care. I buy things to keep, because I like them. Likewise, I have not sold any cards, with the exception of one very painful foolish mistake when I was in the Navy. You all know the story; I won't bore you with it again. I have all those cards again. Make no mistake, I will never do that again.

[bmattioli]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I have never bought cards or memorabilia thinking of selling them or what their value might be in the future. Don't care. I buy things to keep, because I like them. Likewise, I have not sold any cards, with the exception of one very painful foolish mistake when I was in the Navy. You all know the story; I won't bore you with it again. I have all those cards again. Make no mistake, I will never do that again.

I feel exactly the same as you except AirForce..