My heart hurts and my pocket even worse my personal rant against Josh Hamilton

[uniquebaseballcards]

That doesn't make any sense. Your basically saying that it's common for people to lose 75% of their investment capital, so that's why they flip cards?

It makes complete sense - flippers sell before value decreases. Don't you do this?

 

[morgoth]

If you want to invest for a short term high profit potential, collect modern rookies. If you want slow but steady gains with virtually no chance of value regressing collect vintage. A good mix of both keeps me happy.

 

[jdbrak]

he actually did lose my fantasy league for me - i traded him for carlos gonzalez right when he sucked and cargo was killing. then cargo slumped and ultimately got hurt, hamilton went on a tear towards the end of the year, and i got 3rd place while hamilton got the other guy into 1st

 

[nappyd]

If you want to invest for a short term high profit potential, collect modern rookies. If you want slow but steady gains with virtually no chance of value regressing collect vintage. A good mix of both keeps me happy.

So you're saying to diversify is a solid investment approach...but that sounds like common sense...

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[markakis8]

LAA.....where superstars go and card prices tank................thanks Pujols.

Now's the time to buy, IMO.

 

[allstars]

Josh doesn't give a ***** about you lol.

 

[predatorkj]

It makes complete sense - flippers sell before value decreases. Don't you do this?

Yes I'm sure a lot of people do. Even "collectors". You'll get a ton of people saying they are going to hold and collect a guy but sell if prices just get way too crazy. To me, that's cool but it all goes back to the fact that if you are buying cards with the intention to ever really sell on any market based condition, your mindset is based more on investment than collecting. It's different if somebody gets hit with a hospital bill or something crazy like that. Then I can understand it being a "collection" you had to part with, not an investment you're cashing in on.

One thing I always find odd is that people choose to sell cards in an emergency rather than any other thing. You might say it's easier to sell a card but to me, it depends on how much money you need, how quickly you need it, and if the cards are replaceable. You can sell a tv or video games or golf equipment or jewelry, or any other thing pretty quickly, get the cash that day, and if you decide you want it back you can just pawn it. Those things won't garner you a ton of money but neither will sportscards unless you have some mega high end of one of the highly collected players. Like if I had to sell my Bagwell collection, I'd be lucky to get a quarter of what I put into it, I'd be waiting for auctions to be won and paid for or BIN's hit and paid for, and I'd have a hell of a time putting that collection back together again.

 

[predatorkj]

Unless you've been waiting to add an auto of his to your collection, then you say thank you!

His stuff was affordable before last season as well.

 

[Mozzie22]

Yes I'm sure a lot of people do. Even "collectors". You'll get a ton of people saying they are going to hold and collect a guy but sell if prices just get way too crazy. To me, that's cool but it all goes back to the fact that if you are buying cards with the intention to ever really sell on any market based condition, your mindset is based more on investment than collecting. It's different if somebody gets hit with a hospital bill or something crazy like that. Then I can understand it being a "collection" you had to part with, not an investment you're cashing in on.

+10000

 

[Fandruw25]

Prospectors / "hobby investors" - :lol::lol:

 

[hive17]

It makes complete sense - flippers sell before value decreases. Don't you do this?

Yeah, but you said it was more common to lose, meaning there would be LESS flippers, not more. You're confused in your statement.

 

[zach]

Sometimes cards are like stocks. People hold the bad ones too long and sell the good ones too soon. That's the risk you take when collecting card for money or investing in stocks. You can't become personally attached to a stock. If you do, you will lose money. When investing in cards, the same rules apply.

However, history shows that many cards usually drop in price sooner or later. The trick is to knowing when to sell before they start to drop. I think we can all name plenty of player cards that were hyped and the price was really high that are now not worth the paper they are printed on.

 

[MOFNY]

Buying high is risky. Hamilton was affordable for years! There are better investments out there.

 

[TelePlayer22]

"Investing" in baseball cards is a losing game most of the time. It's almost like purchasing stock options.. you're betting on not only a player performing well but in a certain window of time before their starpower diminishes. Worse yet, not only do many player's cards peak at release or early in their minor league career, but cards tend to lose their value if a player maintains the status quo.

For example, David Wright has maintained his performance and experienced a limited amount of regression in terms of his overall statistics since he broke into the league. However, his rookie autographs are worth less than half of what they were 5 years ago. It's a losing bet over time and the only smart money in the market is the person that is able to take advantage of a discrepancy in the marketplace and what the "true" value of a card should be.

Card buying/selling for the sake of consistently churning a profit is damn near impossible, particularly when you're emotionally involved in the market.

 

[Hallsgator]

I wish it was.....

me too. thats sad that you would hate a human being for not making you money. or bringing you happiness when he has no obligation to.

 

[predatorkj]

"Investing" in baseball cards is a losing game most of the time. It's almost like purchasing stock options.. you're betting on not only a player performing well but in a certain window of time before their starpower diminishes. Worse yet, not only do many player's cards peak at release or early in their minor league career, but cards tend to lose their value if a player maintains the status quo.

For example, David Wright has maintained his performance and experienced a limited amount of regression in terms of his overall statistics since he broke into the league. However, his rookie autographs are worth less than half of what they were 5 years ago. It's a losing bet over time and the only smart money in the market is the person that is able to take advantage of a discrepancy in the marketplace and what the "true" value of a card should be.

Card buying/selling for the sake of consistently churning a profit is damn near impossible, particularly when you're emotionally involved in the market.

I want to be able to afford a Pujols rookie auto. But I don't see that happening. The player you described is a good one(Wright) but there are some guys whose cards start out decent and then go through the roof and stay there. Pujols is a good example but limited too. There aren't many players like this. I think what irritates me is it ends up being a pick and choose type deal. Some guys produce their rear end off and never get the kind of attention they should. The hobby is weird when it comes to stuff like that.

 

[nosterbor]

If people bought in for the right reasons, they will make that money back and then some. Gold is a long term investment/store of wealth. If you are in for the short term you will get burned.

Wake up. in 1980 gold peaked at $850. 33 years later it has gained 70%. That SUCKS! If you would have bought a bond in 1980 it would have gained 150%. Land/house even in the crap market of today has gained 280%. Lets say you bought a new Datsun 210 wagon in 1980 with a sticker price of $4716. Put it in your garage and covered it and put it in long term storage. It would have gained 250%. So how long term you talking about? 100 + years when you are dead and gone? Do the math. Gold is a very short term money maker if you get lucky.

 

[Austin]

You guys are going off on investment tangents that have nothing to do with this
thread.
jbm161 did not buy Josh Hamilton cards as an investment like you're arguing about.
Hamilton was his favorite player and it was a player collection.
But when Hamilton gave up on the Rangers and then went to the rival Angels, he didn't like him anymore.
jbm161 also wrote that he sold the cards because he needs the money, and made this thread to vent that he made back far less than what he paid.

 

[zach]

You guys are going off on investment tangents that have nothing to do with this
thread.
jbm161 did not buy Josh Hamilton cards as an investment like you're arguing about.
Hamilton was his favorite player and it was a player collection.
But when Hamilton gave up on the Rangers and then went to the rival Angels, he didn't like him anymore.
jbm161 also wrote that he sold the cards because he needs the money, and made this thread to vent that he made back far less than what he paid.

Sorry, I disagree. His last sentence of his first post states that if he sold sooner he would have made a killing. This is done for investment purposes. Yes, he sold because he needed the money, but he bought because he thought he would make money.

 

[predatorkj]

Sorry, I disagree. His last sentence of his first post states that if he sold sooner he would have made a killing. This is done for investment purposes. Yes, he sold because he needed the money, but he bought because he thought he would make money.

Or "collected" because he figured if he wanted to sell, Hamilton stuff would get decent coin. There's nothing wrong with it. Just a weird way to collect. I think we're all just not too shocked because stuff like this happens all the time.