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How intense is your documentation of card purchases and sales ?
1970s
Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭✭✭
I'm just a collector, so I never keep any documentation of purchases or sales.
I guess if I were a seller, I would have to have some kind of record.
Just was wondering how everyone treats this situation. How far back do your records go ? Do you
have a running tally each year (month) of how much you made ? spent ?
Or are you just like me and you have things go in and out without any documentation ?
2
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I use folders in Gmail to organize invoices for sales and purchases. In addition to this, I have a running spreadsheet with Date, Item, Purchase, Sale (if applicable), Profit and Item Notes.
IG: goatcollectibles23
The biggest lesson I've learned in this hobby, and in life, is that if you have a strong conviction, you owe it to yourself to see it through. Don't sell yourself, or your investments, short. Unless the facts change. Then sell it all.
I use Excel spreadsheets and keep pretty good records going back several years. It gets a bit tricky when it comes to lots or sets that I accumulated over the years and remembering which example came with which set. Whether you intend to sell or not, keeping good cost basis records can be helpful to your heirs when they choose to part with them, or if you decide to sell at some point in the future.
This is the big reason why I love the PSA registry.
Often I could care less where I stand vs other collectors but every card I buy and its mostly PSA
I scan it and add it to my registry with cost, date and source and any other info
This is going back a long time
1948-76 Topps FB Sets
FB & BB HOF Player sets
1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
I did it for a small group of purchases which, as it turned out, was pretty pointless since the cards get traded so infrequently that I'd be able to see and remember my purchases years from now just by looking at VCP.
The rest of it is just happy fun time and not worth it.
Arthur
It's all in my head.
Which is to say very little.
Same here.
None. I really need to a better job in this area.
As soon as it’s out of my eBay history it’s history.
Kevin
Kevin
Yep, many of us I assume like above, it’s in the in the head in the card corner of the hypothalamus if there is no eBay or email history. Luckily I’m a very bad email delteter.
Kevin
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This. Makes it easy
I track all my purchases in an Excel spreadsheet - records go back to 2006. I track my sales in a Google spreadsheet.
For purchases I track by month to try and help me stay on budget.
Robb
This, plus my wife doesn't need to know. I don't keep any other secrets from her. She's not stupid though, I'm sure she has a rough idea.
I went to the National in Cleveland in 2015 or ‘16 with a list of mid grade cards that I had always wanted..... Namath in psa 6.......Koufax in a 6.....39 williams in a 6 etc. I picked up about a dozen cards all together I would say. I scribbled down what I paid just for the heck of it..... then when the market went crazy I moved some of them and bought others that I wanted and bought back the ones I sold when the market settled down. So that is when I picked up a good old fashioned ledger and have been documenting every purchase and sale ever since
I am just a collector but have generally kept track of the basis in my collection. While my collection might get a stepped up basis in my estate, if I should decide to sell it before my death through a 3d party the amount involved would be substantial and deducting my basis would help with any taxes due.
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
To answer the question in the title: not very
Although I’m sure I could dig up whatever I have to if I needed it.
I've kept every PayPal email receipt, buy or sell, since I opened my Ebay account in 2005.
They're actually really fun to go through. Remember when a Carlos Gomez Gold refractor RC was worth hundreds? Glad I got rid of that one.
Not so lucky with the Deolis Guerra Black Refractor RC. Still have that one.
Photographic evidence of my cards for insurance no records of purchase price. Never sell anything only buy. Unless something unforeseen happens my heirs can do with it what they may.