[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by lumberjack

These are collectibles, unless you can go into a bank with your cool stuff and say, "I have $20,000 worth of priceless gum cards, give me a home improvement loan," and the banker says, 'If you say 20 grand, that's good enough for me," cards and sports collectibles are only worth what two people (or in the case of a bidding war, three people), say they are worth.

There may be a general agreement as to what something is worth, but when two people sit down to hammer out a deal, the general agreement is simply a starting point.

If you buy a new car, it drops about 10% in value as soon as you drive off the lot. Same car. You weren't being cheated by the dealership, that's how it works.

My neighbor down the street just cut the asking price of his house by 25 thousand dollars. It may be worth more to him, but not to any prospective buyers at this precise moment. That's how it works.

I sold a Satchel Paige (rookie) photo last year for $6,800. A like image just went for 32 hundred on eBay. To my neighbor down the street, it is worth absolutely NOTHING (excuse me for shouting). That's how it works. The next Paige may go for 10 grand.

Prices aren't etched in stone.....When Dr. Beckett came out with his price guide, he said he feared that the guide would become not a guide, but a bottom line that nobody would go below. My point bein'.....

No one should be insulted by an offer (and it would be equally nice if nobody made insulting offers). It would also be nice to get feedback on an offer.

Being polite isn't a crime.

lumberjack

Well said. We are all just trying to make a deal.