Minimizing your Losses

[HRBAKER]

Here's a way to make sure you never lose money. Put them on ebay with an insane Buy It Now price.

[ValKehl]

I have been slowly and steadily buying pre-War cards for pleasure (not with an investment motive) for 20-25 years. Yes, I realize that if I were to sell all the cards I bought over the last few years, I would incur a loss on many (perhaps most) of them. But, if I were to sell my entire collection, I fully believe (I've never tried to run any numbers) that I would realize a gain that is greater percentagewise than the than the gain in value of my house and the gain in value of my IRA investments over the same time period. I look at this as "having my cake, and eating it too!"
Val

[Fred]

Alex, I can see where you could really lose it on modern cards. You can also lose it on vintage cards but at least you'll have something that is a bit more difficult to obtain and probably easier to sell than the new shiney stuff.

Nobody can predict with certainty what's going to happen with card prices but it would sure be a lot more cool to have a T206 of Cy Young or Ty Cobb than to have a 1986 Barry Bonds or some other rookie card from the not so distant past (even in a "10" holder).

Don't collect for investment, collect because you enjoy it. If you collect for investment then you'll be miserable if you see a devaluation in the cards. If you collect because you like baseball then at least you can appreciate the player on the card and the era from which it came.