For seniors

[Bcwcardz]

Originally Posted by tlake22

I can tell you 1st hand as a coin dealer after someone passes, the heirs just want to be rid of that stuff. I sold off my autograph collection 3 years ago. I'm 57 now. Not to offend anyone here, but noone in your family wants your cards. Sell it now and spend the money on them building memories.

This is actually good advice. I know there is that “ I’ll never sell!!” crowd but you can’t take it with you. I’m slowly liquidating certain parts of my collection since I turned 50. It’s true that family wants nothing to do but get rid of it after you die. I have enough sets to keep me busy.


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[homerunhitter]

First off and most important Happy Birthday!!!

I have found that by selling some items on ebay that what we "paid" for an item and what it is "truly worth" is most often times not even close! what I mean by this is selling on ebay humbled me to what "I thought" my cards were worth and what they were "actually" worth (the old saying that an item is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it) most times pennies on the dollar!

This got me to think, why not just sell everything now and enjoy the money now and let some other sucker take a loss on it in the future!

[Deertick]

I 'retired' from a corporate job in 2019. Working as an I/C for 6 years now. Still a few years away from SS.
I am in the same boat as many, no one has any real interest in maintaining my stuff. I have sold pieces for quick cash infusion several times over the years. I feel better about it because the sales were directly attributed to something, like I could say "I sold a few balls, photos, and autographs to pay for that roof". When faced with something less tangible, I have a much harder time. "Insurance is due" has not caused a major sale....yet.

I am facing a surgery that will put me out of commission for nearly 3 months, so the harder choices may be coming. I am prepping for that nightmare now, getting my space set up that I could do sales more easily in my condition, lining up items, help packing/mailing, etc. I also have a list of all my contacts, websites, usernames and passwords stowed away.

Part of the prep is cataloguing and setting out instructions for how to dispose of what, where, and how much in a manner that my wife would have an easier path. Doing it earlier than (hopefully) necessary may relieve some anxiety and maximize it's value.

I could just take commishbobs approach and clear it out at a discount and be done with it. There definitely is a positive time/value/hassle component to that that may offset some of the valuation loss.

That said, I envision keeping certain pieces, and once the process is at a manageable level, narrowly refocusing. Old collectors never stop collecting, it is just the cubic footage should get smaller.

[BuzzD]

I am 76 on Friday and still whacking away at getting a card, original photo and/or autograph of everyone who has played for the Yankees. I have no idea how to quit or sell - major avoidance I guess. After 40 yrs of chasing, I may have the most complete effort at this, but never paid much attention to high end Yankee stuff, so may be be hard to sell even with many rare items.

[cubman1941]

I am 81 soon to be 82. I know my wife could care less about my collection, not only my Cubs and Bears stuff and the other baseball and football stuff I have collected over the years but I still look for vintage stuff (and some non-vintage Cubs stuff). I also know she could care less about my A&W Root Beer mug collection, Mighty Mouse collection and other things but I hang on to this stuff for no reason other than it gives me pleasure to look at it and enjoy the memories of where (when I can remember) I got it. What I have done is to send the collection of stuff I have acquired over the years of the small town in Wisconsin I grew up in to a business owner in that town who is going to add it to his display of memorabilia he has for local people to enjoy. I also have acquired a small batch of stuff from the city I currently live in and am going to give that to the local archives. As for my collection of sports stuff, I have contacted a member of this site and he has agreed to put it all in his auctions when the time comes. I find the pleasure of looking at, finding and acquiring new Cubs stuff far out ways the dollars I would get by selling it all now. I don't need the money so why not continue to get pleasure out of life.

[rand1com]

Unless you have a collection that is worth a lot of money(half a million or more in real value), I would just keep collecting.

However, I would have a way for your loved ones to liquidate the collection upon your death that is pre-planned.

Obviously, high end stuff should go to major auction houses to be sold. Just leave a list of who they should use with contact information.

The problem is that most collectors have a lot of lesser items that have significant cumulative value but is not material for auction houses. This stuff normally just gets given away for a pittance of the true value. You should have a wholesale dealer who buys collections like this and pays a fair price knowing that they have to make money on it and leave that contact for your family.

Most senior collectors still enjoy their collections.

Unless the amount of value would truly change your loved ones lives for the future, I say enjoy it to the grave.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Not a senior here, but I've always seen it this way:

If you still enjoy collecting, you shouldn't stop regardless of age! It is one of the things that likely brings you great joy and fascination. It engages your mind and excites your being. These positive characteristics tend to extend one's life, do they not? You're not dead yet, so why deprive yourself? Chances are that you're leaving many more assets to your loved ones besides the value of your collection, so it's OK to be a bit "selfish" (you're really not being selfish!) and collect away!

As others have noted, it's always good to have a list of trusted people at the ready for your family when the inevitable moment comes, and it's very helpful to catalogue everything, complete with accompanying photos. This is very time consuming, but you'll do it or pay someone else to do it if you're concerned about your family.

If your collection is sizeable, make sure that most of it is always in a state of being easily transported. One thing that I do see as being selfish are collectors who have entire properties crammed full with their stuff, including outbuildings. We see this all the time on the reality TV shows. Leaving your loved ones to contend with acres of your crap is the ultimate act of selfishness. As we've seen, and much to tlake's earlier point, the kids and wives rarely care about anything other than getting rid of the stuff and seeing a pile of cash. Thankfully, cards and autographs tend to take up much less room than what we see on these shows, but be kind to your families and at least make your collections easy to move when the time comes. Other than these points, my advice is collect till you drop!

[Hankphenom]

1) 77 years old, still love hunting for and then looking at and handling my stuff. Why should I cut my love for the hobby short just because I'm getting closer to the end?
2) Over my lifetime, when I needed money I had no trouble selling stuff. When I had money, I loved to buy stuff. If I need money to age more comfortably, I will have no trouble selling stuff.
3) My heirs will have to deal with a bunch of stuff they can turn into cash fairly easily. I wish I had had that problem to deal with when I was their age. I would have jumped into that challenge with a big smile on my face. If I find the time, I will write some stuff down to make that process easier for them, but I'm not sweating it if I don't. They're smart, and will do just fine.
4) Everyone's situation is different. Live long, prosper, and happy collecting (or not!)