There's a Buddhist saying; the past is regret, the present is now, the future is worry.
I've only been back in for a little over a year and started with maybe 50 cards from my kid collection, including about 8 key cards. For me, when I attempt something I have to have a plan that keeps me from losing my focus so I established very specific goals and built a list of 300 cards I wanted for my PC. Here are a couple of goals I started with;
1. Buy back the cards I sold when I was broke AF and couldn't pay rent.
2. Buy specific cards that I wanted as a kid but couldn't afford.
3. Build a well curated collection that would satisfy me emotionally and I'm not sure how to put it into words but make my kids proud of what I built after I'm gone.
Lessons learned along the way.
1. If you're going to commit to collecting today you have to commit financially and make sacrifices in other areas. I sacrificed a 52 Jackie so I could buy a 14CJ Cobb. I would do that everyday because that Cobb was more important than that Jackie.
2. In a rapidly increasing market you can't have it all so you better know what you want. Stay away from the squirrels unless you can make money on them.
3. Recognize what's accelerating fast and if it's on your list buy it as soon as you can. I remember the 1st time I paid >5K for a card (4.5 Wilson Franks Williams) it was a pivitol moment for me because that is a lot of money. In for a penny, in for a pound and all that.
4. You're going to overpay for what you want.
5. There is an incredible group of collectors out there that live on an elevated level of trust and integrity, not money.
I also found this place and was sucked in by Leon and his pre-war henchmen to really get serious about my collection (still considering a class action lawsuit on that one).
To your point about dollar cost averaging, if you were willing to pay 700 for a card that sold for 1k and you lost, put that 700 into an account, do that every time you lose an auction and you'll be surprised how much money you put away. At that point you can afford any card that is important to you. I've lost lots of auctions only to be relieved at the opportunity of time to earn more money for a better opportunity.
And finally, cuz I'm getting ranty, if you didn't buy it at 1K, that time has passed or that card wasn't meant for you, is it worth 1500 to you now? If not let it go. That's the past, stop looking backward and look forward, that's the fun part of building a collection.
Good luck and happy collecting!
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