When card prices jump...again...after you already sold them

[tommyfro21]

I sold a lot of four 2017-18 Optic Jayson Tatum (base) PSA 10 cards to a board member just last week. Prices had stayed around $10-15 each for months with the occasional card hitting $20 during that time.

I decided that since I could triple what I had in mine that I would go ahead and sell all four. I figured there was still a little room to grow, but I was happy with what I would get...and honestly I'm still happy with what I got. Price jumps happen.

Decided to check eBay completed sales to see how they were doing....

Last 5 completed sales in the last 3 days:
$102.50
$117.50
$78
$80
$117.50

Feels like Zion, Luka, and Acuna are driving collectors to spend big on stuff now. Like I said, these cards stayed $10-15 for MONTHS, and definitely for over a year. I know Tatum has gotten hot, but didn't realize he was THIS hot! WOW!

[splum]

It's an impossibility of the hobby and probably all hobbies. I think about the luck involved with timing dramatic price increases like this - the difference I would've got at its peak and what I got when I sold it is not going to make or break me.

Be nice to have that extra cash? Sure. Feel good to be right about timing? Absolutely. Is my life going to dramatically change over a few hundred bucks? A few thousand bucks? I sure hope not!

[Pierce09]

I bought a Kawhi Silver Prizm for $400, sold it for $700 a couple months later.....

As a collector I have a price range I am not comfortable holding if a card value gets too high (around $500). Sometimes you sell on a one time spike, sometimes you sell on a rising asset.

Life gets easier as a collector (note I said collector, not speculator or investor) if you make guidelines and stick to them. Don't dwell on the past.

[Willikn]

Since I sell almost exclusively on Ebay, I have conditioned myself to enjoy the buyer realizing at least a little bump. No returns that way. "Never go broke taking a profit" also applies.

[ThePackLife]

Only in basketball... With Acuna and Mahommes being the exception.

[waulk11]

I was lucky to buy my Optic psa 10 for $12 dlvd with Ebay bucks and a 3 off coupon.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by ThePackLife

Only in basketball... With Acuna and Mahommes being the exception.

There are a lot more players/sets on the rise than just Acuna and Mahomes.

Base cards rule. Get used to it. Cards for the many, not the few.

[armyml]

In December I needed money for holidays so I sold a Luke Impeccable RPA /99 for 2k cash at a trade show in the Chicago suburbs. It was going for around $2500 raw on ebay at the time so I saw it as a good deal. Fast forward a short while later and the card value doubled and still climbing for a nice graded one. It was a beautiful card and I knew I was gonna kick myself for selling it, but it was nice to have Christmas locked up.

[mvp]

For every time this happens, there is probably a dozen times it went the other way. The market always goes where there is the most pain.

[90sbasketballin]

I'm the king of selling too early...
Sold a TATUM AND BROWN PSA 10 for basically $65

Tatum does $250
Brown does $75

The man who bought it turned $65 into $325...

But I turned $35 into $65

Still sucks to this day though

[gomiamigo]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Base cards rule. Get used to it. Cards for the many, not the few.

That's a nice theory with zero evidence behind it so far.

[packfan15412]

About 2 weeks ago:

Lebron 03 Topps RC bgs 9.5 - $400/$500

This week:

Lebron 03 Topps RC bgs 9.5 - $900/$1100

I sold mine for 1K via facebook... im gonna probably hate myself because i'm sure it'll be 1.5-2K during playoffs

[n9nqw]

Tatum is hot right now but after the bucks win the east his prices will come down this summer.

[KidKards101]

Sold my 2003 Lebron chrome refractors (BGS 9 and PSA 9) one towards end of 2019 and another beginning of this year and my PSA 10 chrome earlier this year as well. Yea I'm kicking myself and should've held on to them longer..

[mossoholic]

In the last 2 1/2-3 years If I still had every box of cards I bought within that time they would be worth well over $100k more than I sold them for. In that same time frame, I’m also down close to $100k in the stock market. My work take home pay is less than $40k a year. Not sure if anyone can beat me at least over this short of time period.

[byronscott4ever]

On the bright side, no returns when there’s a price jump, when their kid was buying it accidentally lol

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by gomiamigo

That's a nice theory with zero evidence behind it so far.

US175, US250, US300, Mahomes Prizm, Zion Prizm, Luka Prizm, LeBron TC. All base cards. All with massive increases over the past few months. Highest volume, most talked about cards in the hobby.

[thefranchise3]

Originally Posted by 90sbasketballin

I'm the king of selling too early...
Sold a TATUM AND BROWN PSA 10 for basically $65

Tatum does $250
Brown does $75

The man who bought it turned $65 into $325...

But I turned $35 into $65

Still sucks to this day though

Let me know what you plan on selling next!

[BuddyKobe18]

Sold 3 base prizm Zions for $270 about 10 days ago. I'm really not even mad at the current prices as I'm still happy with what I got for 3 base cards.

[FT35]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

US175, US250, US300, Mahomes Prizm, Zion Prizm, Luka Prizm, LeBron TC. All base cards. All with massive increases over the past few months. Highest volume, most talked about cards in the hobby.

No doubt about it. Giannis too. Now...parallels and short-printed cards are spiking too, but right now even more so, it all comes down to the player more than the card. All cards of the great players have taken off--and the baseline cards that we use to judge their value is almost always the most well-known...base cards. It's not a new concept either. When there's movement on a base card, it's an indicator that the player is becoming widely pursued. When people are being priced out of the high-end cards--it forces enough people to pick up the most well-known/popular copies of that player's cards because any card of that player is about to take off. This logic: "If you want a really nice copy...you better get them before they take off," is driving the process.

We're in a time where now these "essential base cards" (many of which are mentioned above), are becoming staples to anyone's collection or investing strategy. One could build an incredible collection/investment by just targeting the most well-known base cards ONLY--simply because these cards have the largest on-going liquidity in the market. It's ironic that success in the hobby today has strong roots in the essence of collecting...base cards are king.

[KhalDrogo]

Sorry about leaving off Giannis!

As cool as scooping up some rare parallels and inserts is, if your primary goal is to make money, your best method is to buy bulk base RCs of popular players from popular sets, grade, and sell in increments as prices rise.

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by 90sbasketballin

I'm the king of selling too early...
Sold a TATUM AND BROWN PSA 10 for basically $65

Tatum does $250
Brown does $75

The man who bought it turned $65 into $325...

But I turned $35 into $65

Still sucks to this day though

It kinda gets worse for me.

I bought a Kawhi and Klay Prizm Silver RC for $40 for both I think. Never thought much of either card. They sat there for ages. Like a year.

Eventually sold them for maybe a whopping double the price I paid.

And now.......gasp.

I don't miss the cards at all, but more money is always nice.

And I am also the king of selling stuff too early. Like my Exquisite stash.

Live and learn.

Keep an eye out for a home run release from Panini (if they ever make one) and hold, hold, hold. If you want to invest that is.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Sorry about leaving off Giannis!

As cool as scooping up some rare parallels and inserts is, if your primary goal is to make money, your best method is to buy bulk base RCs of popular players from popular sets, grade, and sell in increments as prices rise.

this, right here

worry about what people want, not what is "rare"

[Timo]

Originally Posted by mossoholic

In the last 2 1/2-3 years If I still had every box of cards I bought within that time they would be worth well over $100k more than I sold them for. In that same time frame, I’m also down close to $100k in the stock market. My work take home pay is less than $40k a year. Not sure if anyone can beat me at least over this short of time period.

Damn. At least you still have your health, or so I hope.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

this, right here

worry about what people want, not what is "rare"

I learned this from you. But the collector in me just can’t do it.