What happens when....

mrc32

the cards for your set are going up faster than your budget?

I have been seeing such enormous price jumps in Pre-war cards, especially the T-205s that I collect, that I have had a heck of a time picking up any new additions. When I started in April of last year, I could pick up nice PSA 3s for $20 and PSA 4s for $35-$40 on ebay pretty regularly(prices have close to doubled in some cases!). Sometimes bidding wars would occur that would drive the prices up, but for most part my disciplined collecting could be indulged.

But over the last few months the prices on these cards have gone through the roof. I mean I could pick up PSA 3 hofers for $65-75. A Tris Speaker SGC 3 sold the other day for $200+. The PSA 4 HOFers are worse.

I could spend a lot more if I wanted to on my cards, but I just don't see the real necessity to compete in this inflated market. So am I SH!T out of luck?

Has this happened to anyone else in their set building? What do you do? Sit out for a while or compete knowing that prices will not likely come down.

Michael

PS- Of note: when I registered my set (last spring) I think there were 10-11 sets at the time. Currently there are 20!

spacktrack

From what I have read in your many posts about the T205 set, you are quite passionate about it. For that reason, I would take the position of riding out the wave. Continue to search for the cards and put in the bids that you would be happy to win them for. If this is at the old rate, so be it. You might win some, you might win none, but if you do get a few you will have new cards to add and a happy wallet. You know that you love the set and you should continue to monitor the market. You might find that it's a short lived trend and that you can get back to where you left off in no time. If, in six or so months, you see no stopping, then you might refocus and decide whether or not you want to get in at the higher rates.

Good luck

qualitycards

MRC32 - Look at the bright side, if the cards cost more to purchase, then your cards in your collection have gone up in value as well ...jay

helionaut

You could sell easier cards you picked up cheap and bank those profits, then just wait a while. If it's a permanent price shift, well then be glad you got a good chunk of the set in already. But it's probably just the top of the cycle. Most every set has periods where prices go up across the board but they settle back down sooner or later, usually sooner. I was whining a couple weeks ago about prices on 71 Greatest Moments when a large group of auctions closed a lot higher than is normal for those cards, forcing me to seriously think about reaping my set. But auctions since then have been back to accustomed levels. The same thing has happened for 75s several times, and I've seen it in sets I watch casually like 67s and 65s.