Baseball Cards - Buy, Sell, or Hold?

frankhardy

I have a collection of baseball cards. I was wondering if I should buy more, sell all I have, or just hang on to what I have. I have a bunch of really good players. Some of them are pretty old too. The ones that are old are in pretty good shape for their age. I also have a Beckett, so I know what they are worth. Most of the good ones are in those plastic holders to protect them.

itzagoner

be like Hef w/the Girls Next Door and do all three!

samspop

CollectorAtWork

In general the value of baseball cards follows the economy, so it is going down (w/ exceptions of course). Saying that, collecting cards is a hobby, so saying that there is a certain amount of enjoyment for collecting that goes beyond the value. However, if you collect mainly for investments, you can take stock of your collection and the rest of your investment portfolio. If you need money, you can certainly sell part of your collection. First, I would advise selling commons, low graded cards and over-graded cards. If you don't need to sell, you can certainly do the Goldilocks approach. Sell the cards that you think are hot and currently overvalued (e.g., IMHO, Strasburg). Buy high grade cards of stars/HOFers that you think are undervalued. Relatively low pops and cards that are widely collected would be good. Tread very carefully with the shiny modern cards. Those tend to be very high risk/reward cards. Don't trust Beckett or SMR. The values in those guides tend to be much too high. VCP or the latest sales on ebay are better trackers. Good luck.

drewsef

<< <i>

<< <i>I have a collection of baseball cards. I was wondering if I should buy more, sell all I have, or just hang on to what I have. I have a bunch of really good players. Some of them are pretty old too. The ones that are old are in pretty good shape for their age. I also have a Beckett, so I know what they are worth. Most of the good ones are in those plastic holders to protect them. >>



It is this group of smarta$$e$ that have pushed most of the good people off of the board. Good job Shane!! 90% of the threads on this board are useless carp and this one just adds to that. >>



Could you name names so we don't get confused?

judgebuck

Hey, Shane. I am using the downturn in the economy and the hobby in general to upgrade my baseball card sets (1951-55 Bowman and 1954-73 Topps). It is sometimes tough because many eBay sellers are only using BIN rather than straight auctions. I can usually get less (10-25%) than SMR price guide prices on straight auctions. Selling the cards I've upgraded is difficult because the market for lesser grade cards is very soft, too.

As for the long-term outlook on vintage baseball cards, I think it will likely be like the coin hobby. As I understand it, values have been pretty much stagnant over the last several years (with the exception of coins whose value is tied to gold and silver prices).

JMO.