To sell or not to sell? Also asking rookie questions

[BBB]

I'm totally new to buying and selling cards beyond Ebay and the good ole days (1990s).

2 quick questions:

1) I think it is a great market to sell 1950s-60s HOF cards. Am I a fool to sell my 1951 bowman mantle and mays? I feel like it might keep going up or potentially roll back. So seems like a time to sell since its riding high. In fact , im selling everything from that era through a the best auction house I could find.

2) how do you protect yourself during the handoff to the auction house? I've never handed thousands in cards over to someone. I know he's going to cut me a check for some of the value, but still feels weird to do this as I haven't dealt w auction houses before on the selling side. Please advise what I should look for in terms of paperwork or other instruments to protect myself. The guy I'm dealing with acquires cards like the wags , so not exactly afraid for my cards which are worth a fraction of that. But still wondering what I should do as this is big money for me.


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[Leon]

Make sure he is trustworthy, get several references and a receipt for your cards. Any of the known auction houses are safe to deal with. Sending them items (insured) is a safe way to go. As far as when to sell, that is a personal decision with lots of factors involved. The prices are high right now but they could go higher, kind of like the stock market.

Originally Posted by BBB

I'm totally new to buying and selling cards beyond Ebay and the good ole days (1990s).

2 quick questions:

1) I think it is a great market to sell 1950s-60s HOF cards. Am I a fool to sell my 1951 bowman mantle and mays? I feel like it might keep going up or potentially roll back. So seems like a time to sell since its riding high. In fact , im selling everything from that era through a the best auction house I could find.

2) how do you protect yourself during the handoff to the auction house? I've never handed thousands in cards over to someone. I know he's going to cut me a check for some of the value, but still feels weird to do this as I haven't dealt w auction houses before on the selling side. Please advise what I should look for in terms of paperwork or other instruments to protect myself. The guy I'm dealing with acquires cards like the wags , so not exactly afraid for my cards which are worth a fraction of that. But still wondering what I should do as this is big money for me.


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[pokerplyr80]

It was a little disconcerting for me the first time around. Sending thousands or 10s of thousands of dollars worth of cards in the mail with nothing in hand to show for it. As Leon mentioned insure the package and make sure you know who you're dealing with. Any major AH or Ebay seller should be fine. I've dealt with a few with no problems as of yet.

As far as the 51 Mantle and Mays, I recently picked up one of each, so I'm of the opinion that there's still room to grow. They have increased a lot over the last year or two, so you may be getting out at the right time. Hard to say. If nothing else at least you know you should be able to sell them for more than you paid, assuming you've had them for a while.

[BBB]

If nothing else at least you know you should be able to sell them for more than you paid, assuming you've had them for a while.

That's what I'm going with. I bought for ~1k in 1995 and it's now worth ~7k. Guess it makes up the ground from what I spent on a bunch of 80s/90s stuff that went nowhere and I sold for pennies long ago

I too think it has room to grow. But i suspect the biggest leap has just occurred . Though I could see looking back in 2020 and weeping giant man tears to the $20k card I gave up haha.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by BBB

That's what I'm going with. I bought for ~1k in 1995 and it's now worth ~7k. Guess it makes up the ground from what I spent on a bunch of 80s/90s stuff that went nowhere and I sold for pennies long ago

I too think it has room to grow. But i suspect the biggest leap has just occurred . Though I could see looking back in 2020 and weeping giant man tears to the $20k card I gave up haha.

There are certain price points out there though....many collectors wont pay more than 10k ever for a card but will pay 5-8k.....some wont pay 5k ever but will pay 2k-3k.... some wont ever pay more than a k ever but will do 500-750....it all depends....sometime a card hits a price point and it real hard to break that number especially if its not a high graded example of the card

[Rich Klein]

One should always sell into an up market so this is a great time to take profits on those 1951 rookies

Rich

[MikeGarcia]

[QUOTE=BBB;1537130]That's what I'm going with. I bought for ~1k in 1995 and it's now worth ~7k. Guess it makes up the ground from what I spent on a bunch of 80s/90s stuff that went nowhere and I sold for pennies long ago



Does anyone know what effect the long-term-gain of 6k is , in this particular situation.....assuming he is not "a business" , just your normal collector , and has no remaining proof whatsoever of the long term losses for the "80s/90s stuff".......... ?? This happens to a lot of us , I'm sure , and I've seen many conflicting answers and responses .....

Thanks for your replies and answers..

..