“Wall Street is piling into sports cards as prices soar”

[Orangejello727]

Originally Posted by yaoming

ok, so for your "big" cards in your PC - hold ? at what price point would you sell ? (serious question)

I faced this predicament in the Summer of 2020. I had to make a choice. FOMO on even more gains or improving the quality of my life. I chose the latter. I cashed out a chunk and did a 150k Reno to my house. I feel like I made the right decision but have regrets for not taking the profits and re investing them to make more or the opportunity to make more.

The wife is happy so Im okay with the decision I made. The hardest part is find the same capital to get back in the game. Its too hard and I dont know if there is enough time to even make it back up to play the game with these Boyz today.

The key here is... its okay to to make a decision and be happy with it eventhough it could have been led to more $$$.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

I faced this predicament in the Summer of 2020. I had to make a choice. FOMO on even more gains or improving the quality of my life. I chose the latter. I cashed out a chunk and did a 150k Reno to my house. I feel like I made the right decision but have regrets for not taking the profits and re investing them to make more or the opportunity to make more.

The wife is happy so Im okay with the decision I made. The hardest part is find the same capital to get back in the game. Its too hard and I dont know if there is enough time to even make it back up to play the game with these Boyz today.

The key here is... its okay to to make a decision and be happy with it eventhough it could have been led to more $$$.

Truth

[Sikkcaden]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

I faced this predicament in the Summer of 2020. I had to make a choice. FOMO on even more gains or improving the quality of my life. I chose the latter. I cashed out a chunk and did a 150k Reno to my house. I feel like I made the right decision but have regrets for not taking the profits and re investing them to make more or the opportunity to make more.

The wife is happy so Im okay with the decision I made. The hardest part is find the same capital to get back in the game. Its too hard and I dont know if there is enough time to even make it back up to play the game with these Boyz today.

The key here is... its okay to to make a decision and be happy with it eventhough it could have been led to more $$$.

You for sure made the right decision. There will always be other entry point, cards of interest you can afford down the road. You put the money towards something you can literally enjoy every day.

[GeechQuest]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Available down the road is a key to all this

Let’s use my situation (and this is honest)

I have my eye on a new car. It costs $85,000. I don’t need to sell any cards to get it... but...

Kobe Chrome and LeBron Chrome, as of today, pay for it

Do I sell those 2 and buy the new car?

Do I hold those 2, even at those insane prices, because I can buy it regardless?

Do I sell those 2 knowing I might not buy them again?

Do I sell those 2 knowing that in 2023 maybe I could buy back the pair for $50,000? What if they are $100,000? Would I buy them again as I don’t want to stop collecting?

It’s tough with this kind of money

I honestly can’t decide... and it’s why my car is still a 2012

It's impossible to decide and the truth is there is no "correct" answer.

My though process is always "will I be able to get this card again regardless of the price?". If the answer is "no", I keep the card. Hell, this is what gives cards perceived value in the first place.

Even if I have to spend 5x more down the road to get the card I sold, I can do 1000 different things in between the time I sell and the time I re-buy to offset the gain in cost. If the card *gasps* goes down in value, I'm in the same boat as if it goes up in value.

Generally speaking, if your selling cards and putting it into other cards, you will make up the "losses" on the card you sold.

Kobe Chrome PSA 10 could go to $10 or go to $10M. Either way, it will be available and I should be able to purchase it even at the elevated level if I play my cards right.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by GeechQuest

It's impossible to decide and the truth is there is no "correct" answer.

My though process is always "will I be able to get this card again regardless of the price?". If the answer is "no", I keep the card. Hell, this is what gives cards perceived value in the first place.

Even if I have to spend 5x more down the road to get the card I sold, I can do 1000 different things in between the time I sell and the time I re-buy to offset the gain in cost. If the card *gasps* goes down in value, I'm in the same boat as if it goes up in value.

Generally speaking, if your selling cards and putting it into other cards, you will make up the "losses" on the card you sold.

Kobe Chrome PSA 10 could go to $10 or go to $10M. Either way, it will be available and I should be able to purchase it even at the elevated level if I play my cards right.

I think the “will I” is key

Could I buy another LeBron Chrome for $40,000 if sold mine? Yes

Would my brain allow me to? Probably not

I feel like if I cash out now I’m cashing out for good

I’m not cashing out because I need money. I’m cashing out because I think I should. I don’t even know what I’d buy. I’d probably want to buy back the cards I sold.

That’s my dilemma

[yaoming]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

I faced this predicament in the Summer of 2020. I had to make a choice. FOMO on even more gains or improving the quality of my life. I chose the latter. I cashed out a chunk and did a 150k Reno to my house. I feel like I made the right decision but have regrets for not taking the profits and re investing them to make more or the opportunity to make more.

The wife is happy so Im okay with the decision I made. The hardest part is find the same capital to get back in the game. Its too hard and I dont know if there is enough time to even make it back up to play the game with these Boyz today.

The key here is... its okay to to make a decision and be happy with it eventhough it could have been led to more $$$.

thanks for the input, others as well.
I remember your name as you have been here for a long time, one of very few username that I recall when i joined BO in 2009!

if you need the fund for something else more important in life, sure.
if you dont need the money though, hold?

[jzx1103]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Available down the road is a key to all this

Let’s use my situation (and this is honest)

I have my eye on a new car. It costs $85,000. I don’t need to sell any cards to get it... but...

Kobe Chrome and LeBron Chrome, as of today, pay for it

Do I sell those 2 and buy the new car?

Do I hold those 2, even at those insane prices, because I can buy it regardless?

Do I sell those 2 knowing I might not buy them again?

Do I sell those 2 knowing that in 2023 maybe I could buy back the pair for $50,000? What if they are $100,000? Would I buy them again as I don’t want to stop collecting?

It’s tough with this kind of money

I honestly can’t decide... and it’s why my car is still a 2012

I just want to know what car it is lol. My wife wants me to sell a part of my collection and get a C8 Corvette lol.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by jzx1103

I just want to know what car it is lol. My wife wants me to sell a part of my collection and get a C8 Corvette lol.

Just a new Yukon. It’s nothing “fancy” as I’m not a car guy

The 2021 Yukon Denali I want (with all the bells and whistles) is $85

Just replacing my 2012

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

I faced this predicament in the Summer of 2020. I had to make a choice. FOMO on even more gains or improving the quality of my life. I chose the latter. I cashed out a chunk and did a 150k Reno to my house. I feel like I made the right decision but have regrets for not taking the profits and re investing them to make more or the opportunity to make more.

The wife is happy so Im okay with the decision I made. The hardest part is find the same capital to get back in the game. Its too hard and I dont know if there is enough time to even make it back up to play the game with these Boyz today.

The key here is... its okay to to make a decision and be happy with it eventhough it could have been led to more $$$.

Absolutely true.

I sold the holy grail of my PC in the summer of 2019 because I had just lost my job and wanted to pay off my graduate student loan debt to offload the financial stressor. I sold it for a great price too (at the time). I knew the card would be worth more later (unsure as to how much more).

Fast forward to now, that same card in a PSA/BGS 6 (can't remember which) recently sold for $121k via Goldin auctions.

Right now, I don't regret the decision because it improved my quality of life during a very stressful time (went on to be unemployed for 6 months too) and it's pretty cool to say that I paid off my student loan debt with the card sale. But I might regret it if a student loan forgiveness plan (covering the amount I paid) is passed though LOL

[Orangejello727]

Originally Posted by yaoming

thanks for the input, others as well.
I remember your name as you have been here for a long time, one of very few username that I recall when i joined BO in 2009!

if you need the fund for something else more important in life, sure.
if you dont need the money though, hold?

Its the toughest question. I didnt need the money I took out of cards. With money being so cheap, I could easily have taken equity out of my home for the Reno as cheap as 2% without touching my own cash. But I still liquidated cards. I did it because it made sense in taking profits to fund it because thats the type of person I am and the way I treat my investments/hobby.

It really comes down to individual goals and being okay with it. What may work for you, may not work for others. Each one of us has to figure out the goal and how to achieve it. Then you can set your path. Mine made sense.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by GeechQuest

It's impossible to decide and the truth is there is no "correct" answer.

My though process is always "will I be able to get this card again regardless of the price?". If the answer is "no", I keep the card. Hell, this is what gives cards perceived value in the first place.

Even if I have to spend 5x more down the road to get the card I sold, I can do 1000 different things in between the time I sell and the time I re-buy to offset the gain in cost. If the card *gasps* goes down in value, I'm in the same boat as if it goes up in value.

Generally speaking, if your selling cards and putting it into other cards, you will make up the "losses" on the card you sold.

Kobe Chrome PSA 10 could go to $10 or go to $10M. Either way, it will be available and I should be able to purchase it even at the elevated level if I play my cards right.

Can't tell if you took this quote from me or just think on the exact same lines...but this is how I operate.

The only issue though, is that I now am in a situation where I own a number of cards that I couldn't readily get back if I sold. To name a few:

-2015 LeBron Galactic
-2015 Giannis Galactic BGS 10
-2012 Tom Brady Prizm Gold
-2017 Mahomes NT RPA BGS 9.5
-2009 Steph Curry Next Day Auto
-2013 Giannis Next Day Auto 'Personal Edition'
-2016 Giannis Mosaic Black 1/1
-2016 Optic Preview LeBron PSA 10

They next level for me is taking into consideration how significant each of these cards are. Everything on that list is ultra rare, but now it's a decision of what can become a truly significant card.

That's the stuff I won't get rid of.

[Willikn]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Available down the road is a key to all this

Let’s use my situation (and this is honest)

I have my eye on a new car. It costs $85,000. I don’t need to sell any cards to get it... but...

Kobe Chrome and LeBron Chrome, as of today, pay for it

Do I sell those 2 and buy the new car?

Do I hold those 2, even at those insane prices, because I can buy it regardless?

Do I sell those 2 knowing I might not buy them again?

Do I sell those 2 knowing that in 2023 maybe I could buy back the pair for $50,000? What if they are $100,000? Would I buy them again as I don’t want to stop collecting?

It’s tough with this kind of money

I honestly can’t decide... and it’s why my car is still a 2012

The correct answer is..

Make someone else buy the car and trade you for the cards. Ergo, eliminate capital gains. Am I wrong Mr CPA?

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by yaoming

thanks for the input, others as well.
I remember your name as you have been here for a long time, one of very few username that I recall when i joined BO in 2009!

if you need the fund for something else more important in life, sure.
if you dont need the money though, hold?

It probably depends on your hobby views.

When you first started buying cards, was it primarily to collect or to invest? Or did it start as one and become the other as time passed and value increase?

If cards were always an investment play for you, then it becomes a matter of timing the peak. And because you'll never know when/how to time it (as no one would), it's better to sell before the peak than after it.

If cards were for collection purposes and transitioned into a investment play, sell some and hold some.

If cards were (and still are) for collection purposes, only sell/trade to add another (ideally better) piece to your collection.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by Willikn

The correct answer is..

Make someone else buy the car and trade you for the cards. Ergo, eliminate capital gains. Am I wrong Mr CPA?

I’m having beers with my Dad tonight so I’ll see if he is interested

Or if anyone on a Blowout lives near Mark Wahlberg GMC?

[GeechQuest]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Can't tell if you took this quote from me or just think on the exact same lines...but this is how I operate.

The only issue though, is that I now am in a situation where I own a number of cards that I couldn't readily get back if I sold. To name a few:

-2015 LeBron Galactic
-2015 Giannis Galactic BGS 10
-2012 Tom Brady Prizm Gold
-2017 Mahomes NT RPA BGS 9.5
-2009 Steph Curry Next Day Auto
-2013 Giannis Next Day Auto 'Personal Edition'
-2016 Giannis Mosaic Black 1/1
-2016 Optic Preview LeBron PSA 10

They next level for me is taking into consideration how significant each of these cards are. Everything on that list is ultra rare, but now it's a decision of what can become a truly significant card.

That's the stuff I won't get rid of.

True. When you've pushed into solely rare cards you have 2 options:

-Sell and get into other rare, but as you stated "more significant" cards
-Start the journey all over again. You of all people could run the flip thing back without selling a thing.

If it was me, I'm keeping the bolded and moving the others. That's just me though.

Now if I was you, I'd do the second option on the list above and keep it all. You can do the flip game and make it work out. I'm lazy.

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Can't tell if you took this quote from me or just think on the exact same lines...but this is how I operate.

The only issue though, is that I now am in a situation where I own a number of cards that I couldn't readily get back if I sold. To name a few:

-2015 LeBron Galactic
-2015 Giannis Galactic BGS 10
-2012 Tom Brady Prizm Gold
-2017 Mahomes NT RPA BGS 9.5
-2009 Steph Curry Next Day Auto
-2013 Giannis Next Day Auto 'Personal Edition'
-2016 Giannis Mosaic Black 1/1
-2016 Optic Preview LeBron PSA 10

They next level for me is taking into consideration how significant each of these cards are. Everything on that list is ultra rare, but now it's a decision of what can become a truly significant card.

That's the stuff I won't get rid of.

Big ones. Nice.

Surely you just set a price you'd be happy with on these cards right?

I'm big on championship years for players and particularly for LeBron as they came in sporadic spurts mostly.

His 2012 stuff with Miami
His 2015 stuff with Cleveland is a biggie. I think that Galactic has a crazy high ceiling. $500k to a cool million? What would you be happy to let those go for?

What's the ceiling for you?

[regularp]

Originally Posted by GeechQuest

I definitely don't think it's a hard box that everything fits into, but it's remained the one constant throughout any peak and valley.

I've pointed out before that the Luka Net Marvels card outperformed EVERY LUKA ROOKIE in 2020 in a straight % gained basis. Gained more than any Prizm, more than the NT, more than anything.

As it sits currently over the past 3 months:

Luka Prizm PSA 10 down 16%
Luka Net Marvels PSA 10 down 4%

I'm sure if you polled the majority of the hobby in the past year as to which would be the better buy, 99% would have said the Prizm rookie and they would have been wrong.

The player matters for sure, but the set matters more. I can show you stacks upon stacks of Jordan cards that don't matter and Brandon Knight Counterparts that would outsell them.

Steph Curry cards are BOOMING. Would you be able to guess which one has appreciated more than all others in the past year without looking?

Kevin Durant has a card in the same set, but his version would have been the 5th best buy from his catalogue over the past year.

I'd say maybe 1% of the hobby could guess the card/set without checking prices. This is the type of stuff that leads to massive opportunities within the hobby.

Wise words right here^^^

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Available down the road is a key to all this

Let’s use my situation (and this is honest)

I have my eye on a new car. It costs $85,000. I don’t need to sell any cards to get it... but...

Kobe Chrome and LeBron Chrome, as of today, pay for it

Do I sell those 2 and buy the new car?

Do I hold those 2, even at those insane prices, because I can buy it regardless?

Do I sell those 2 knowing I might not buy them again?

Do I sell those 2 knowing that in 2023 maybe I could buy back the pair for $50,000? What if they are $100,000? Would I buy them again as I don’t want to stop collecting?

It’s tough with this kind of money

I honestly can’t decide... and it’s why my car is still a 2012

Ultimately only you can make this decision. A car is a depreciating asset, whereas there's a case to be made the cards are appreciating assets.

I recently took a 3 month break from the hobby. I had cashed out low six figures of ultra modern stuff and was thinking if I should buy a house or reinvest. I'm pretty young so a lot of $ for me and ultimately I made the decision to reinvest about 20% of that, put some into hard assets and save the rest in safer yielding investments for a down payment on something smaller if I don't make my money back with the 20% reinvestment. I'm also sitting on more which I can use to sell and reinvest of course.

Pulling myself away from the hobby helped me see what was happening more objectively. It's high end investors who are putting 1% of their net worth into alternative assets who are driving this market. Everyone else is just chasing them and finding the value left in their wake. They're very interested in the cards you just mentioned. Are they here to stay? Who knows! Another wave of retail investors might actually follow next cycle leading to another boom...There's a world in which we are still early in regards to the high end part of the market and us little guys should be weary about cashing out of our big stuff too early.

Since you're in the position where you can buy it regardless, you're not risking too much of your NW to hold and I think relative to other available assets it's not a bad place to be. I like driving my 2011 reliable car and playing with money instead of owning a nice car but if you'd have more fun with the car genuinely than that's worth something but this is funner than we give it credit for and you'll always want to come back if you're anything like me. Of course everything could crash like anything else not financial advice, just my 2 cents.

[jk1937]

cashed out a couple cards at the end of the summer that i thought, theres no way they are going much higher. psa 10 kobe i bought in dec 19 for 200 and a lebron topps chrome psa 9 i paid 600 for. got 3300 and 4200 so i was thrilled. thats the investor in me. now not so thrilled considering current value but made good money and wouldn't even buy them back at the prices i sold them at honestly

but still wish i had them and the prices weren't what they are now. thats the collector in me.

[jzx1103]

Originally Posted by eastbayak

Absolutely true.

I sold the holy grail of my PC in the summer of 2019 because I had just lost my job and wanted to pay off my graduate student loan debt to offload the financial stressor. I sold it for a great price too (at the time). I knew the card would be worth more later (unsure as to how much more).

Fast forward to now, that same card in a PSA/BGS 6 (can't remember which) recently sold for $121k via Goldin auctions.

Right now, I don't regret the decision because it improved my quality of life during a very stressful time (went on to be unemployed for 6 months too) and it's pretty cool to say that I paid off my student loan debt with the card sale. But I might regret it if a student loan forgiveness plan (covering the amount I paid) is passed though LOL

Was the Grail card that you sold UD Black Kobe/Jordan/Lebron triple auto?

[Zauron]

Man people talking about cashing out to buy a car is insane to me.

Cash out to buy a home, or something that would be improvement. A car? They depreciate the second you buy it and odds are you're looking for a new one in 3-5 years.

If you were to cash out, I would either put that into another form of safe investment, or buy real estate. Either payoff a house, buy a new house(if you can do that,etc), or buy land.

[Stoiclife]

I'm thinking about cashing out my 86 Fleer MJ BGS 9.5 Even though these prices seem to keep going up, it sure is tempting to cash out (especially since I bought it at 7k) and put a substantial downpayment on a Vegas townhouse. It's difficult to time this crazy market so I have given up trying. Decisions, decisions. Lol

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by jzx1103

Was the Grail card that you sold UD Black Kobe/Jordan/Lebron triple auto?

Yes it was. And I do miss owning the card too haha.

Earlier, I said that I didn't regret the decision to sell but I should also mention that I've benefited greatly from the card boom too. I kept some high-end LeBron/Curry RCs (that have appreciated very well) and made some decent flips over the past 12 months. Had I not done the latter and missed out entirely on the card boom, then I'm absolutely sure I'd have regret the decision.

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by Zauron

Man people talking about cashing out to buy a car is insane to me.

Cash out to buy a home, or something that would be improvement. A car? They depreciate the second you buy it and odds are you're looking for a new one in 3-5 years.

If you were to cash out, I would either put that into another form of safe investment, or buy real estate. Either payoff a house, buy a new house(if you can do that,etc), or buy land.

At the same time, if one isn't in need of money and a specific car brings them greater happiness than owning the card itself, why not make the trade?

I see what you're saying but it's largely dependent on one's situation. I don't know asujbl well (other than through the forums) but I know he isn't hurting for cash. He's a smart man (other than his view on BGS :P) with a lot of money already tied to good investments (think he owns at least one rental property).

[kefskala]

Rather live in a trailer park and drive an AMC then have the thoughts of selling my cards. If you sold your cards then you were an investor not a collector. If you sold your cards then u should invest money into other cards. I have sold plenty and always re investing back into market. So for those that sold and call them selfs collectors or hobbyist I think not....if you bettered you life because of card collecting that’s also great. But no need to hear how one sold to early and missed out... those are the breaks.... a truly rooted collector never sells or pulls money off the table... but that’s me... we are all wired differently...