For seniors

[SyrNy1960]

I’m 63 and retired last year. When I hit 60, I sold 90 percent of my collection. I have 10 really nice pieces that I kept to enjoy, without the thought of selling. We never know when our day will come, and I don’t want to burden my wife with my collection to deal with. I’ve enjoyed 40+ years of collecting. I used the money for upgrades on our home. Never regretted it! I still dabble a bit, but nothing too much.

[Wihawk]

Happy Birthday Michael!

I'm 63 and continue to purchase though less expensive items than I used to buy. I've trained myself to being more content with lesser grade cards and not so focused on star players, it helps satisfy my collecting urge.

[tlake22]

I can tell you 1st hand as a coin dealer after someone passes, the heirs just want to be rid of that stuff. I sold off my autograph collection 3 years ago. I'm 57 now. Not to offend anyone here, but noone in your family wants your cards. Sell it now and spend the money on them building memories.

[Smarti5051]

What?!? I assumed I just had to outlive everyone, and there would be a flood of vintage cards on the market so I can complete my collecting goals. If everybody sells while they are alive, how is the vintage market supposed to crater over the next 20 years?

[SyrNy1960]

Originally Posted by tlake22

I can tell you 1st hand as a coin dealer after someone passes, the heirs just want to be rid of that stuff. I sold off my autograph collection 3 years ago. I'm 57 now. Not to offend anyone here, but noone in your family wants your cards. Sell it now and spend the money on them building memories.

Couldn't agree more! That's the mindset I had when I sold. However, we all look at things in our own way. Many collectors die with their collection, and I'm sure they were happy doing so to the end.

[Bcwcardz]

Originally Posted by tlake22

I can tell you 1st hand as a coin dealer after someone passes, the heirs just want to be rid of that stuff. I sold off my autograph collection 3 years ago. I'm 57 now. Not to offend anyone here, but noone in your family wants your cards. Sell it now and spend the money on them building memories.

This is actually good advice. I know there is that “ I’ll never sell!!” crowd but you can’t take it with you. I’m slowly liquidating certain parts of my collection since I turned 50. It’s true that family wants nothing to do but get rid of it after you die. I have enough sets to keep me busy.


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[homerunhitter]

First off and most important Happy Birthday!!!

I have found that by selling some items on ebay that what we "paid" for an item and what it is "truly worth" is most often times not even close! what I mean by this is selling on ebay humbled me to what "I thought" my cards were worth and what they were "actually" worth (the old saying that an item is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it) most times pennies on the dollar!

This got me to think, why not just sell everything now and enjoy the money now and let some other sucker take a loss on it in the future!

[Deertick]

I 'retired' from a corporate job in 2019. Working as an I/C for 6 years now. Still a few years away from SS.
I am in the same boat as many, no one has any real interest in maintaining my stuff. I have sold pieces for quick cash infusion several times over the years. I feel better about it because the sales were directly attributed to something, like I could say "I sold a few balls, photos, and autographs to pay for that roof". When faced with something less tangible, I have a much harder time. "Insurance is due" has not caused a major sale....yet.

I am facing a surgery that will put me out of commission for nearly 3 months, so the harder choices may be coming. I am prepping for that nightmare now, getting my space set up that I could do sales more easily in my condition, lining up items, help packing/mailing, etc. I also have a list of all my contacts, websites, usernames and passwords stowed away.

Part of the prep is cataloguing and setting out instructions for how to dispose of what, where, and how much in a manner that my wife would have an easier path. Doing it earlier than (hopefully) necessary may relieve some anxiety and maximize it's value.

I could just take commishbobs approach and clear it out at a discount and be done with it. There definitely is a positive time/value/hassle component to that that may offset some of the valuation loss.

That said, I envision keeping certain pieces, and once the process is at a manageable level, narrowly refocusing. Old collectors never stop collecting, it is just the cubic footage should get smaller.

[BuzzD]

I am 76 on Friday and still whacking away at getting a card, original photo and/or autograph of everyone who has played for the Yankees. I have no idea how to quit or sell - major avoidance I guess. After 40 yrs of chasing, I may have the most complete effort at this, but never paid much attention to high end Yankee stuff, so may be be hard to sell even with many rare items.