How do you value a collection?
 

I would appreciate input on how you place a value on your collection.

How do you value your collection
 

I find this very interesting that there has been no reply. We are all collectors.
We can value PSA graded cards, no problem. If we collect type 1 Babe Ruth photos, we can value them .... but as real collectors that may collect a certain team, player, etc and collect various items who knows? I know it doesn't matter to some, we don't care, etc. but actually it should care to some extent.
I was just curious as others thoughts, but I guess there are none .....

I think your post was just too vague, we have no idea what you are seeking to value.

I think about that a little more each year as I get older and wonder exactly how I will get rid of my collection, or if I will even have the chance. My boys have no interest at all in it at 13 & 15. My wife threatens that she'll "just get rid of it" if I die first, but the reality is that despite a lot of relatively worthless bulk, there is some real value tucked away in it.

The problem is mining that value. My common sense brain tells me that I need to start selling stuff now, but the passionate collector who wants to keep everything is making it hard for that to happen. I would almost rather will it to someone who would appreciate it as much as me, instead of trying to sell it. I can see me trying to sell something "good", get less than I felt is should sell for and get discouraged that I am "giving it away". I have tried to dip my toe in the selling pool recently, but I am starting with basically junk stuff and not surprisingly, I am not having much luck. On top of all of this, I absolutely hate the selling experience online.

Doesn't exactly answer the question posed, but my collection is priceless right now.

To be used as a add on to your Home Owners Insurance for replacement value of your collection

What is my collection worth?
 

Certainly for insurance purposes. The reason I pose the question is that as a certain team, player, etc. collector you probably own all types of items from from posters, checks, lineup cards on and on. And ... I wouldn't be surprised
for a number of years. There are items that are one of a kind or certainly limited. And I would think there is value in it all being in one collection. We see it all the time in some of the auctions of Heritage, etc.
Those are mostly the very old items, but as the days go by items from the 70's, etc. will be very old. I am just curious.
We see companies that want to insure your collection, at what? lol's

A 1933 Goudey Ruth PSA 3 would be valued at $3kish ..... these can be easily tracked for "value"

A one of a kind item may have a value of less than five bucks .... or one that exceeds 100K.

I "value" my collection based on the current/historic market. I do not place a value on boxes of modern cards. At least not yet.

Have it appraised, You should take pictures of your most valuable cards and include the appraised value of each card for your records which will be proof and a benchmark for value at the time of the appraisal for the insurance company

One of the top vinyl collectors by band owns the "#1" set, if there were such a thing. On all this albums over $100, he puts a sticker on them. That way his wife knows its worth at least $100, and to sell accordingly. You could do something similar for certain cards. Or just leave instructions on what to send to PWCC or a big auction house or COMC. Not really that difficult.

Besides, if you have kids 13 & 15, you must not be THAT old :) For now, just enjoy them!

My wife is at least a bit knowledgeable about all my hobbies. So no worries of stuff getting tossed, even if some of it might be someones great find a few years from now.

Value is tough, one way to see it is a bunch of individual cards, each with a value. The other is as a collection (Or accumulation) That has some good stuff and some stuff that's just not so good.
Or something in between. Individually is usually the most value, but also the most work to sell. As a batch it'll be a lot less, but the sale should be pretty easy.

I mostly buy lower end stuff. The most recent batch was a bunch of cards that had been put in holders for sale maybe in the early 90's. Maybe 4-5 cards I knew were pretty good, a couple of the Nabisco signed cards. And the supplies were worth roughly the asking price, so it was a good deal.

I will be 49 this year. I agree that I am "not that old", but you never know when your time will come and for some, it unfortunately can be earlier than expected. I had a pulmonary embolism a few years ago and apparently it surprised a few doctors that I walked into the clinic in the state I was in.

I started collecting for the fun of it and continue to do so. I am not a big ticket guy, but have slowly and steadily pumped a lot of money into it. As I said, there is a lot of bulk stuff from buying wax and keeping everything, but I have become more selective in the last 20 years. Still, I focus on what I like and not necessarily what will be most valuable. Of course it's my stuff and I am biased, but I would imagine someone like me finding this collection and going through it and enjoying the discoveries as they went box by box.

In the end, if I don't sell it first, I won't be around to see what happens and that will be my families call. I did start holding on to some business cards as I got them from eBay sellers and such and reaching out to any of them (if they are still around by that time) would probably be the best start for someone who doesn't know what they have. There will probably always be the internet (or something like it) too...

Do you collect George Brett? Among many other areas of interest, I do have an extensive Steve Garvey collection. His appeal seems to have diminished over the years as he went from sure bet Hall of Famer to whatever you'd describe him now. I have many, many signatures, most of his cards (pre and post retirement) and A LOT of oddball stuff that I value a great deal that may have very little collector value to anyone but a similar Garvey collector. How he will be received in the future, especially if he never makes the HOF through one of those veteran committees is anyone's guess?

How do you value your collection
 

Curt, I do hear you. Yes I am a Brett collector. A number of years ago I sent a Steve Garvey collector a bunch of cards. I was curious to see what people had to say. We see collections featured and auctioned. Just this week a collection of autographs was featured and I am curious to see what happens in the future with some of these "modern collections". If you are a player collector you have "stuff" and yes it does have a value. You probably couldn't put a collection together again with all of the items. Does that have value?
Who knows. I have a collector friend that will help my children and I will help his, that is our promise to each other so that is covered. But I do wonder with
the PSA registry for one, all these player collections what one will really bring at auction(not sold off one by one) and I wonder what a total player collection will bring. Maybe one of these days we will see.

Value on a normal collection of players, teams, etc is really tough. If you believe Beckett my collection is worth $125k but that's using their inflated values as single cards (I collect a team).

My collection is in no way liquid- it is extensive but anyone who would want to have it would either already have most of it, or want to collect it themselves. After all, that's part of the fun.

To answer your question, I value my collection on what is liquid. My vintage cards and higher value rookie cards are the main things that come to mind. Stuff like my 1989 Score team set isn't even part of the equation because it isn't at all liquid. Same thing for some of my more scarce things like my 2003 Kanebo Silver parallels.

Lots of good points here, especially any large collection will have many pieces that everyone else has or doesn't want. The really unique and tough items in a large collection are what would drive the end price probably more than anything else. I could not even imagine what my collection is "worth" in Beckett value. It seems reasonable that an "average to above average" extensive collection could easily top $1 Million in BV. That is only 100,000 $10 cards after all!

I can't say that I have ever seen a really nice and extensive collection of anything sold in one lump sum, at least not on eBay. Lots of "collections" with a few eye catchers and pounds of junk.

Years back, before it was common to have free listings, I decided that I would try to sell it all when there was a free listing day. However, I was not prepared at all and when I created the listing, I tossed out a huge number to protect myself and then set out to backfill the photos and details. I never got around to actually adding anymore details though and wasted my listing. I had no grand illusions that anyone would buy my collection in an eBay auction in one shot, but it would be fun to see how high a great collection might go in an open auction.

What is my collection worth?
 

I agree Curt, and its bound to happen sooner or later. If you are a true collector of a player or team, etc your collection can go from very rare to junk, all in one place. What the unknown is the time, if you could ever, put it together again. One of these days we will see one go up for auction. I notice a few year PSA sets are going up to for sale, not the same thing but an interesting thing to see what they bring.

My valuation is probably not very accurate at all...I tend to value it like most of my possessions: by my cost.

When you make purchases emotionally an accurate e-val frequently flies out the window.

For insurance purposes, I try to get a rough market estimate. I have maintained pretty good records of what I paid for things over the decades so I have that data too. Given the relatively modest cost of collection insurance (you can get a collectibles policy in six figures for several hundred dollars a year), I don't sweat it too much as long as the estimate is in the ballpark. If there is ever a loss, we will have to go through an adjustment and/or appraisal process anyway.