How much are you "into it"? Should it matter....

[Exhibitman]

Sometimes a sale isn't the way to go at all. Shortly after the Great Recession I was approached by a fellow collector who wanted to buy a marquee-type card that I'd bought at the height of the market. Rare card and mine was in peak condition. My card was probably worth 20% of what I'd paid for it because I got auction fever and went after it hard. We negotiated fruitlessly for a while; I wasn't ready to take a loss of that magnitude. Eventually, we decided that we were both in the same place: he had a ton of stuff he'd bought at the peak and was at a huge loss on too. We ended up trading losses instead. Worked out great for both of us.

[Frankish]

From an economic perspective, the sunk cost, as it were, is irrelevant (tax advantages/implications aside). But it's a hard logical fallacy to get around. I know I always feel bad letting something go for a lot less than I paid for it and feel like a genius if I sell something for multiples of what I paid for it...mostly in other fields, as I haven't really sold cards. But it really shouldn't matter at all....

[RayBShotz]

This may sound a bit odd.
If I've held a card for a while, I no longer equate it to what I paid. In a lot of cases I don't even keep a record.
Everything I make if I ever sell it is 100% profit to me at that time of sale.
I usually look to get market price at that time but most of all just want to make a good deal for both parties.
To the Great Exhibitman's point; sometimes a trade or a trade and cash makes things even more pleasant.
RayB

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Sometimes a sale isn't the way to go at all. Shortly after the Great Recession I was approached by a fellow collector who wanted to buy a marquee-type card that I'd bought at the height of the market. Rare card and mine was in peak condition. My card was probably worth 20% of what I'd paid for it because I got auction fever and went after it hard. We negotiated fruitlessly for a while; I wasn't ready to take a loss of that magnitude. Eventually, we decided that we were both in the same place: he had a ton of stuff he'd bought at the peak and was at a huge loss on too. We ended up trading losses instead. Worked out great for both of us.

Adam, I really like the idea of trading losses in a down market and am glad it worked well for you. Tax losses on cards can be useful, I've found, when doing tax planning.

[Exhibitman]

Absolutely, John. If I make a killing on a card I will generally realize the losses on other stuff (usually stuff that I am mad at myself for buying in the first place; there's lots of that in my PC aka The Festival of Bric-A-Brac) to offset the profit.

[Touch'EmAll]

If I know there is decent profit to be had, I usually go ebay auction with free shipping. If questionable profit or not, List a healthy BIN, see what happens, then lower BIN. If it's my "Good Stuff" then I don't even want to consider selling in the first place.

[Leon]

On some short sales, for me, it does matter what I have into it. Things are rarely black and white.

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