What are some tips on making money in this hobby?

Vintageclout · #1 06-06-2018, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Overpay today for cards that are in great demand. Ruth Goudeys. Gehrig Goudeys. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackie Robinson rookies. Mickey Mantle. Your overpayment today will look like a steal in 2 years. But buy the card everyone seemingly wants. Buying the third or fourth most desired card won�t work out as well. And like houses buy a better one than you were planning on.

Stick to iconic names. If your coworkers have never heard of the player probably not a great investment. Are exceptions. Yes, Eddie Plank, I�m talking about you.

All my opinion. I am sure others will tell you I am an idiot.

Exactly! Spend strong money on the �best of the best� for Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Jackson, etc. rarities and then put them away for several years. For baseball�s most iconic players, todays retail is tomorrow�s whokesale. Show a little patience and you WON�T be disappointed.

ronniehatesjazz · #2 06-06-2018, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Exactly! Spend strong money on the “best of the best” for Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Jackson, etc. rarities and then put them away for several years. For baseball’s most iconic players, todays retail is tomorrow’s whokesale. Show a little patience and you WON’T be disappointed.

Sadly this is all too true. Ruth Goudeys were going for ~$1k or so in the 1-2 range a few years ago. I held off thinking they would come back below four figures only to see them catapult to $2k+ since. Iconic cards will always be in demand and the higher grade the better. There still are quite a few value cards out there right now. IMO any Jackie rookie is very undervalued right now. The same could be said about Mays 51 Bowman and perhaps even the 52 topps. Also T201’s are currently very under appreciated right now and I think collectors will “wise up” in the future and prices will rise as a result. The Cobb/Jennings card is one of the most undervalued cards in the hobby and is a total steal (no pun intended).

Then again you could always mortgage your house, flip a 52 mantle, and be living on a private island in the West Indies in a few short years.

toledo_mudhen · #3 06-06-2018, 05:00 AM

Buy Low - Sell High

Johnny630 · #4 06-06-2018, 05:10 AM

I stick with other ways of making money, however if you have some discreationary money/patience, you may wanna give this a try. I know it's not sexy, in fact it's rather boring as hell, you maybe saving for a long time until the right time to buy comes. If the right time does not come hell you will still have a nice chunk of cash to do whatever the heck you want!! Most probaby think this idea is way out in left field.

Save your money up until the next resecisson. Wait for people to panic like Buffet. Buy the highest eye appeal graded Ruth/Mantle/Jackie/Clemente. Do not buy overgraded ugly cards with early grades, a lot of these were gift grades. I also like to buy virgin cards without vcp history.

If you land a few killer cards hoard them away for 10 years plus if not more.

This stratagey may only land you a handfull of cards in a 5-10 year strech, in the long run I've been very happy.

Goudey · #5 06-06-2018, 06:12 PM

Best advice I can give is buy when people are desperate. Tough times in the economy etc. Look for people on here who say they need to sell to pay rent/car/college. Best deals I�ve found are throwing them a low offer with a little sales pitch.

samosa4u · #6 06-10-2018, 12:09 PM

This is an interesting thread, and I have enjoyed reading some of your posts.

Here is my advice: invest in key vintage rookie cards from ALL sports. The higher the grade, the better. Baseball cards have become so expensive, and now we are starting to see cards from other sports catch up. For example, a PSA 8 1951 Parkhurst Gordie Howe rookie went for $50,000 USD (goldinauctions) and a PSA 8 1958 Topps Bobby Hull rookie $84,000 USD (REA). Ten years ago, if you had told me that these cards were going to sell this high in the future, I would have laughed in your face and called you an idiot (actually I wouldn't have done the last part because I wouldn't have wanted to get my a** kicked).

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