Home Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum

Auctioning your high-end cards is truly terrifying

I don't think I ever made a post about this but my wife is due with a baby girl (our first) in January! It was time. I'm 39 and she's 36 and we've been together 17 years. As such, time to give up the apartment we've gotten by with for 15 years! Unfortunately, it also means I had to give up my high grade signed HOF rookie (formerly #2 ranked) 4 Sport set and most of my other graded cards. Housing prices in Los Angeles are a joke and even with savings, a downpayment for basically anything is still 200K+.

So I made the tough decision to send all my cards to REA (currently going with the best 19) and PWCC (going up later this month with 750+ more). Do me a favor and bid because oh my god this is terrifying. I was really hoping to come up with a lot of downpayment from the two auctions but my lord I keep checking the REA site 6X/day. I can't even imagine when the PWCC ones post. Do any of you guys that have consigned have advice? How often are you destroying yourself with worry?

Also, if any of you have any good tax advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Honestly, with signed cards, you're taking many more losses than wins by selling (example: 1988 Score Traded Craig Biggio - card was $40 in PSA 10, cracked it, sent for signing ($140 w/ HOF inscription + shipping both ways plus grading fees and NO WAY does it auction for more than $200+). I can make a very reasonable guess at what I have into each of the 800 graded cards being sold but my accountant says I need to pay roughly 20% of the profit. In truth, there is no profit, but somehow I doubt the government will believe that.

Hope everyone's been well!

«1

Comments

  • tonylagstonylags Posts: 568 ✭✭✭

    Congrat's on the baby {I have 3, so it does easier as they get older} and good luck with the sales. Ask you accountant {or check legal zoom} about setting up a business this year and than you can incur losses in your first 3 years. Also, you can deduct all expenses with the cards. Also, since these cards are coming from your personal collection you can determine their cost basis. I am not an accountant so check with them for your state specifics.

    I have to much S**t; so if you working on sets or are a player/team collector, send me your want list, with conditions desired. Keep in mind I have a another job so please allow me a few days to respond.

  • rtimmerrtimmer Posts: 1,347 ✭✭✭✭

    Good luck, it's a great time to sell the cards too bad it's a horrible time to buy the house. My advice is to look at the auctions the day before they are set to close. Some will surprise you and some will disappoint but it's a great time to sell be thankful your doing this at a great time instead of a bad one.

    Follow me at LinkedIn & Instagram: @ryanscard
    Join the Rookie stars on top PSA registry today:
    1980-1989 Cello Packs - Rookies
  • Dpeck100Dpeck100 Posts: 10,910 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Good luck!

    I am terrible at predicting my auction selling prices so I can’t imagine the stress of that many lots running and hoping for good results.

    I check them non stop and it can drive you crazy when there not even expensive cards.

    REA seems like from what I have read a high quality auction house so you would think the right eyes are seeing them.

  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    @ElvisP said:

    @shouldabeena10 said:
    Move out of California .. and you can probably keep half the cards.

    That's what I was thinking. For $200K you can buy a very nice house in S.C. not just a down payment.

    When they start doing feature film post production somewhere other than SoCal, I'll be doing that in a heartbeat. HAHA!!!

  • FINESTKINDFINESTKIND Posts: 374 ✭✭✭

    Can't touch a house around Boston under $500,000. Unless you want to commute an hour.

  • perkdogperkdog Posts: 29,340 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Vito congrats on the baby coming and best of luck with the auctions.

  • jay0791jay0791 Posts: 3,508 ✭✭✭✭

    Congrats to the new baby and new house when u get it.

    Cards are secondary to the important things in life. However I love mine so I know exactly how you feel.

    My suggestion. Make a spreadsheet of all the cards that will be sold and costs associated with them.

    It sounds like you may be able to guess final selling figures and determine profit/loss

    Talk to an accountant and see what you best move is.

    Collecting PSA... FB,BK,HK,and BB HOF RC sets
    1948-76 Topps FB Sets
    FB & BB HOF Player sets
    1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
  • fergie23fergie23 Posts: 2,078 ✭✭✭✭

    Congrats on the new baby.

    My advice is to try not to check until the day before the auctions end, if you can't manage that then pick one time a day that you will log in and check how things are going. Also, after you have sold do not track future sales unless you want the potential to be depressed. Last year, before my cancer surgeries, I sold a 2001 Contenders auto Drew Brees PSA 10 - a bump from 9 to 10 via a review sub - at auction for $3,000 which a decent price but not a great one. PWCC sold one last month for $24,000.

    For taxes do what jay0791 recommends. Determine you cost basis, including any evidence you have - ie receipts, screen shots of prices for signing fees if you don't have a receipt, etc. Then provide that cost basis and the amount you received from REA & PWCC to your accountant for them to calculate your taxes. I would not recommend deducting anything from your income if you end up in the red since cards are not a business for you but you can go with whatever your accountant recommends. If you don't like what they recommend then I would get a second opinion, not all accountants are created equal. You are incredibly unlikely to be audited by the IRS but if you have a spreadsheet and evidence of your costs will go a very long way in making the audit pretty smooth. Fortunately with all the cuts to the IRS staffing they don't really have time to audit small potatoes folks like us so as long as there is nothing in your return that they flag as suspicious - like a tax loss for a hobby - you should be good.

    Best of luck!

    Robb

  • 1951WheatiesPremium1951WheatiesPremium Posts: 6,225 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If it helps, purchases can be tracked a long way back on the eBay app...

    Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?

    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest

  • baseballfanbaseballfan Posts: 5,449 ✭✭✭

    congrats on the baby all the best.

    good luck with the sale, hope you sell HIGH

    Fred

    collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.

    looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started

  • yoda99yoda99 Posts: 184 ✭✭✭

    @1951WheatiesPremium said:
    If it helps, purchases can be tracked a long way back on the eBay app...

    Just 3 years right? Or am I missing something?

  • brad31brad31 Posts: 2,530 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Good luck. I hope you have a couple of bidding wars and get more than you expect.

  • originalisbestoriginalisbest Posts: 5,911 ✭✭✭✭

    Wishing you the very best! Congrats on your addition and it will get easier as they age (my wife and I had our girl at 40, she is 6 now.) My advice would be not to hurry on the house. Sure, sell cards and save money -- but tread carefully on a very expensive house purchase. That was my mistake where I live and I'm still paying for it. Frankly, a baby doesn't need a lot of room and can get by in an apartment more than fine. I hope you eventually find something just right for you. :)

  • pheldaphelda Posts: 207 ✭✭✭

    Since this is not a business for you and these are collectibles, and assuming the holding period was more than a year, your tax rate on the net gain is 28%

    Don't forget that you must add any auction or consignment/broker fees to your basis.

    If you held the collectible for less than a year, it is taxed as ordinary income (at your current rate).

  • pheldaphelda Posts: 207 ✭✭✭

    https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409

    Part 2.) middle of the page

  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    Thanks. Will I have to prove that these are not profit (unless I get some crazy bidding wars)?

  • pheldaphelda Posts: 207 ✭✭✭

    Any price you get above your cost (basis) of the item is taxable income (capital gain on a collectible). "Profit" isn't the same, this term is more generally applicable to businesses. The only way you don't realize a taxable gain is if you sell the cards for a loss or if you sell them for exactly what you paid. I assume these high-dollar cards appreciated in value since the time you bought them. I wouldn't try to under-report or manipulate the numbers. If you are attempting to buy a house (an expensive one too), the mortgage, tax returns, assets, bank accounts, and other reports are going to be looked at by the bank/lender. If something looks amiss, it might cause complications. Better to hope for really high sales results. Since banks have tightened up a little and it is no longer the Wild-West days of 2002-2006, they will want to know the source of the cash you accumulate for the down payment ($200,000 in your case).

    Keep in mind that some of the following can't be included in your basis. Insurance to protect the cards, grading fees, storage costs, vaults and safety deposit boxes. Many times people that sell collectibles such as coins, paintings, bottles of wine, Rolex watches etc. include insurance, restoration costs in the basis. Unless they are in the business of selling these items, they should not be included in the cost basis of the item. Those costs are expenses and allowable for businesses, but not for the collector. The IRS has specific rules for certain classes of collectibles, so check with your accountant to see if any storage, insurance costs can be included in your basis, but generally they are not.

    If you received any of the cards as a gift or inheritance, the cost basis is different. In those cases the basis is the fair market value of the item at the time of the gift or inheritance.

  • GreenSneakersGreenSneakers Posts: 908 ✭✭✭✭

    One slight comment to @phelda's great post and one item I'm not completely sure about

    The 28% tax on collectibles is on net capital gains, meaning if you sell any cards at a loss (but still generating cash flow for your down payment) that loss can offset other gains to minimize tax due.

    Also, I think there could be at least an argument that grading fees could be added to basis. I think any of us could provide ample evidence that the value of the card increases once graded (unlike value increasing with insurance or storage, which are clearly expenses). Has anyone gotten a CPA opinion on that?

  • burghmanburghman Posts: 797 ✭✭✭✭

    I feel your angst. I have 2 items, nothing close to high-end or the dollar amounts you’re talking about - in the HA October catalog auction. They were listed and open for bids several weeks back and I was addicted to checking their bids multiple times daily. They’d go through hot and cold spells - a bunch of bids to run them up at seemingly random times, then a week or more of dead time, rinse and repeat. I’ve gotten better, partly as a result of this thread but I’m going to be a nut late next week when the auction wraps.

    Good luck with your stuff, and try to keep in mind that it’s out of your hands now, and constantly monitoring progress isn’t going to impact the final sale price one bit.

    Jim

  • daltexdaltex Posts: 3,477 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @VitoCo1972 said:
    Thanks. Will I have to prove that these are not profit (unless I get some crazy bidding wars)?

    Only if you get audited.

  • sportscardstopsportscardstop Posts: 526 ✭✭✭
    edited October 11, 2018 2:10PM

    Definitely post links to your auctions in the buy/sell/trade section to get more eyeballs on them. Some people may have a problem with you posting the links to your auctions in this thread (I don't care).

    Congrats on the baby and good luck!

  • galaxy27galaxy27 Posts: 7,112 ✭✭✭✭✭

    congrats on the baby & the new casa to be

    please tell me you are not parting ways with those magnificent flags?

  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    @galaxy27 said:
    congrats on the baby & the new casa to be

    please tell me you are not parting ways with those magnificent flags?

    A lot of them went in the summer Green Jacket Auction. I kept some that I really liked.

  • 53BKid53BKid Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭

    Congratulations on your wife's pregnancy.

    On the auctions, it is nerve racking, but I think you'll find by and large the prices will come in close to expectations if you have a good sense of the market.

    There will be some you value more than other people will, but I recently sold off a 52 low # set card by card with Greg Morris and it came in right on the screws.

    Looking often doesn't reduce the anxiety any. Take your wife for a nice walk or dinner, have a nice glass of wine and relax!

    --

    HAPPY COLLECTING!!!
  • tonylagstonylags Posts: 568 ✭✭✭

    So, have you checked? How's your stuff doing?

    I have to much S**t; so if you working on sets or are a player/team collector, send me your want list, with conditions desired. Keep in mind I have a another job so please allow me a few days to respond.

  • I'm going to win your 1972 Erving & 1969 Alcindor !!!

  • lahmejoonlahmejoon Posts: 1,666 ✭✭✭

    Congratulations, Mike! It's definitely a noble reason to sell. Sending positive vibes for favorable outcomes (baby AND auctions).

  • thehallmarkthehallmark Posts: 1,332 ✭✭✭

    Congrats on the family news and also cashing in on cardboard. I hope you are able to re-capture some of the fun of the journey of building a collection back up after the dust settles.

    Serious question though... With you selling so many cards of a certain category at around the same time, are you worried at all about oversaturation? Or are there enough diverse buyers out there that you aren't worried about emptying the wallets of the most active hunters?

  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    Terrified of saturation. That said, I do think there are levels of buyers financial limits and a diversity of interests. But I suspect one person will walk away with 50-60 cards.

  • 53BKid53BKid Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭

    I bid on a couple of your cards.....That is one AWESOME collection.

    Best of luck!

    HAPPY COLLECTING!!!
  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    The crazy ones in REA aren't mine. I only have 19 cards in that auction. My other 800 are in PWCC starting 10/21. The 19 I have in there are pretty good though. The PSA 9 signed Dr J, George Mikan RC, Unitas and Gordie Howe should all do quite well (I'm hoping).

    There are some legit impossible ones in PWCC. Nobody will ever see a higher graded signed Buck Buchanan RC. The Ralph Sampson signed 86 Fleer PSA 10, Roger Brown is impossible. I think I have like 40 1/1 none higher HOF rookies in the PWCC auction.

  • good luck mike! link the auction(s) here in this thread, would love to see how it all turns out. congrats on the baby!

  • Wow. That Erving is amazing

  • I'm walking away with your 1972 Erving & 1969 Alcindor !!!
    I'm going to outbid Michael $%^%^&^ Rakosi !!!

  • tonylagstonylags Posts: 568 ✭✭✭

    Well, it looks like REA gave you nice write-ups; especially the Irvin and the Milken. I can't help but wonder if PWCC will do the same or it will be the generic "nice card; one of 18000 cards available". Good Luck Mike.

    I have to much S**t; so if you working on sets or are a player/team collector, send me your want list, with conditions desired. Keep in mind I have a another job so please allow me a few days to respond.

  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    And now my other 775 cards are up on PWCC. I'll make a post in the BST about it. I'm refreshing the total basically every 3 minutes. UGH!!!

  • lawyer05lawyer05 Posts: 2,131 ✭✭✭✭
  • galaxy27galaxy27 Posts: 7,112 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 23, 2018 4:27PM

    this card is so sick. if i collected hoops i'd pound on it

    edit: any golf cards i need to look at vito?

  • rtimmerrtimmer Posts: 1,347 ✭✭✭✭

    That is a nice one and will set the record price too. Already higher than I would have predicted which is always nice if you're selling.

    Follow me at LinkedIn & Instagram: @ryanscard
    Join the Rookie stars on top PSA registry today:
    1980-1989 Cello Packs - Rookies
  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    @galaxy27 said:

    this card is so sick. if i collected hoops i'd pound on it

    edit: any golf cards i need to look at vito?

    HA! I didn't sell the golf but what are you looking for? I could be convinced.

  • galaxy27galaxy27 Posts: 7,112 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @VitoCo1972 said:

    @galaxy27 said:

    this card is so sick. if i collected hoops i'd pound on it

    edit: any golf cards i need to look at vito?

    HA! I didn't sell the golf but what are you looking for? I could be convinced.

    nada in particular. just thought you might have consigned some and i was going to take a looksie.

    gl.....hope you rake

  • rtimmerrtimmer Posts: 1,347 ✭✭✭✭

    Well I gave you a few bids but didn't win anything. Looks like things ended tonight how did they results stack up to your expectations?

    I thought the Erving was a touch low maybe but that Kareem was well above where I thought it would go at and well above the record for an ungraded 10. Nice work there!

    Follow me at LinkedIn & Instagram: @ryanscard
    Join the Rookie stars on top PSA registry today:
    1980-1989 Cello Packs - Rookies
  • VitoCo1972VitoCo1972 Posts: 6,127 ✭✭✭

    I'm slightly ahead of expectations on the whole. I thought Early Wynn would do a little better. It's the best one in existence visually and by grade. Kareem was well ahead of what I thought. Dr J about what I thought. I was hoping 5 figures on the Mikan. On the whole, I'm not disappointed. The PWCC one ending Tuesday is going to be really wild. 775 cards.

  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,450 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Link to the Kareem please? One of my favorite cards off all time!

    Thanks,

    BC

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,450 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @tonylags said:
    Well, it looks like REA gave you nice write-ups; especially the Irvin and the Milken. I can't help but wonder if PWCC will do the same or it will be the generic "nice card; one of 18000 cards available". Good Luck Mike.

    Tony, In general PWCC would have given him nice write ups for those high end items he used REA for. Once you go down to items in lesser value is when they tend to go with generic write ups. Vito is just a baller and had 19 high end items. That is awesome that he still has 750 items with PWCC. I am sorta jealous!

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
  • CakesCakes Posts: 3,450 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Cakes said:
    Link to the Kareem please? One of my favorite cards off all time!

    Thanks,

    BC

    Was this it https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=53987

    Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.

    Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
Sign In or Register to comment.