Player collectors, how do you react when you see ...

... someone posting on eBay or any one of the various forums, a card you enjoy hoarding (let's say the print run is to 50 serial numbered copies for discussions sake). You know what you've got your (let's say) 9 copies at and have an "average" of what you don't mind paying and wouldn't mind going 15% above that average price, because it's a card that's very visually appealing or it's just a rare card you fell in love with and don't mind going after every available copy.

Now, what do you do when one pops up (saying that one hasn't popped up in at least a minimum of 6 to 12 months). You get excited at seeing this item pop. You get giddy. You get chills. The only drawback is the seller's asking price. It's multiple times what you've paid for the card in the past. Bear in mind, this isn't superstar player A or HOF'er B. This is Joe Somebody, barely. Not even near a HOF consideration, just a solid overall contributor. But the seller has it up for $175 and you've paid (at a max) $70 for it in the past.

So, after that long-winded, typical Amish Dave spiel, what do you do in the negotiation process ? Do you offer around that "in the past" mark and go from there and let the dust settle where it might ? Do you throw out that offer, the seller counters with "Nah, I can't do that, this card is super rare, the lowest I can do is (ex) $150" ? What do you do next ? Do you counter lower, move on or take the ball completely out of your court, tell the seller that you've got 'x' amount of copies and that you know the going rate, knowing full well the seller could turn complete ****** and raise the price on ya ?


If you understand any of this, you are a better person than I

I leave it alone. Chances are noone else will pay the price so the seller has two options. A) fall in love with card and keep it, or B) throw it up on ebay and let the market determine the price. In my experience, more times than not choice B is made when interest disappears.

I've seen it before. Just recently, new Garvey buyers have been throwing the market off what it has been for a number of years though, so you never know when that "unreasonable" price will all of the sudden seem reasonable and "POOF", the card sells! In my experience, sellers who over price their items aren't looking to negotiate. They have a price in their head and that is what they want and most of the time, they will keep the card. Trying to convince them otherwise almost always fails.

Definitely don't tell the seller how many copies of the card you already have or you're just validating their position on how rare the card really is. If anything they might even raise their price.

As a player collector, I don't understand the concept of "hoarding." Give me one of everything, and I'm happy.

gmarutiak said:

As a player collector, I don't understand the concept of "hoarding." Give me one of everything, and I'm happy.

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If it's a card I like, I want more. If I can get many w/in my budget, then give me all.

It's kind of your own fault that they don't pop up for that long, thus creating an inflated market price. You are the one keeping a large percentage of them out of the market. lol

Probably true, but then again who is watching to see if any lesser known players are popping up except the collectors of that player or set builders. I always assume when i get close to a complete run that the missing cards are already home in someone's collection and may never see the light of day. If I have 5 of 6 cards and have never seen the last one, odds are against me ever seeing it.

gmarutiak said:

As a player collector, I don't understand the concept of "hoarding." Give me one of everything, and I'm happy.

Click to expand...

I don't get it either.
Think of all of the money that could be saved, or what could be bought for yourself or a loved one, or used on dates or kids or trips or home improvements or a child's savings account or college fund.
Why buy 20 of the same 2006 Topps autograph or whatever?

Buying multiple cards for investment is one thing, but most player collectors who buy multiples of common cards or the same autograph or game-used card do it out of compulsion.
Multiple $10 cards add up to massive amounts of money over the years, and the cards just sit in a box, usually losing most of their resale value over the years.

Unless you have a lot of disposable income, it just seems like a waste of money to buy duplicates when you can be using that money to better your family's life.

(Sorry to be so preachy. It's just my opinion, and is about no one in particular).

I'm curious... for the admitted "hoarders" out there, whom do you collect? Would be great to get some trades going that folks are really passionate about... Cheers

Offer the price you are willing to pay and decline anything other than that price.

Austin said:

Unless you have a lot of disposable income, it just seems like a waste of money to buy SPORTS CARDS when you can be using that money to better your family's life.

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Fixed that for you.

I take the stance of the President... I don't negotiate with terrorists.

I usually try logic and reason once (offering a price above what the established rate is), and if that's met with ridicule, I move on. Sooner or (usually) later, they'll put it to auction. If they don't, they can keep it.

I think about that a lot and to take it to the next level, why do I continue to battle for new Garvey autographed cards for example? I have more than my fair share and his signature will never be worth that much in itself. I don't have a Jorge posada autograph for example and would like one, but i'll willingly spend $40 on my 20th Garvey autograph of the year though instead of buying a Posada. WHY?

I am a hoarder. I want to change, really, I do. I have been trying to look at it that way to see if i can take the money I'd spend anyway and get some more unique things for it. Unfortunately, that may open another door that may be harder to close if I don't have a solid focus.

Austin said:

I don't get it either.
Think of all of the money that could be saved, or what could be bought for yourself or a loved one, or used on dates or kids or trips or home improvements or a child's savings account or college fund.
Why buy 20 of the same 2006 Topps autograph or whatever?

Buying multiple cards for investment is one thing, but most player collectors who buy multiples of common cards or the same autograph or game-used card do it out of compulsion.
Multiple $10 cards add up to massive amounts of money over the years, and the cards just sit in a box, usually losing most of their resale value over the years.

Unless you have a lot of disposable income, it just seems like a waste of money to buy duplicates when you can be using that money to better your family's life.

(Sorry to be so preachy. It's just my opinion, and is about no one in particular).

Click to expand...

Austin said:

I don't get it either.
Think of all of the money that could be saved, or what could be bought for yourself or a loved one, or used on dates or kids or trips or home improvements or a child's savings account or college fund.
Why buy 20 of the same 2006 Topps autograph or whatever?

Buying multiple cards for investment is one thing, but most player collectors who buy multiples of common cards or the same autograph or game-used card do it out of compulsion.
Multiple $10 cards add up to massive amounts of money over the years, and the cards just sit in a box, usually losing most of their resale value over the years.

Unless you have a lot of disposable income, it just seems like a waste of money to buy duplicates when you can be using that money to better your family's life.

(Sorry to be so preachy. It's just my opinion, and is about no one in particular).

Click to expand...

Okay, I see your preachy side on this. Like MRMOPAR, I too, hoards a lot of Ripkens. To date, I own 5800 different cards BUT around 40,000 Cal Ripken Jr cards. Some worth a penny (about39,990 ), others a couple hundred. Reason?
!) The 5800 different cards - NO WAY in hell anyone is taking a card from there. My master set, MINE. Period. Sad to say but my wife CAN'T even touch this set. Sorry, MINE, Personal Collection (PC), MINE and MINE alone.
2) 4050 Second set.
3) 3800 Third set
and so on. Something happens that I NEED to sell, the least amount of cards set is going first. By the time I get to the third set, hopefully I won't have to lay a finger on the second set.

The way I see it, if I wait for the Ripken card I need to show up, I'll end up buying other player(s). Every now and then a card I need
shows up but the seller wants way more than I'm willing to spend. I submit my offer and decline his/her counter offer and move on.

The last 18 months I ended up collecting Aubrey Huff, Victor Martinez, Josh Beckett, Johnny Estrada, Grant Green, Carlos Hines, Pedro Lopez and Jose Guillen while waiting for Cal Ripken cards that are reasonably priced. I ended up spending over 5K for these eight players and now I don't know what to do with their cards. I DON'T COLLECT this guys. I don't even enjoy organizing their cards. Don't get me wrong, I have nice cards (multi colored patches, autographs, 1os1's, printing plates, etc.) but it's just not the same. If my choice is spend $1 on a Cal Ripken card I already have or spend 25 cents on another player, I'll buy the Cal Ripken any day.

You are also right on $10 multiple cards. I stopped on SIXTH set and I have TWO one thousand card boxes full of $10 and up. When I was a Beckett subscriber about two years ago, each box has a BV of 22K & 27K. Bare in mind that on some cards, I try to stop buying after 12 copies but if the price is right, bring it on. Cards like 05 Ultimate Dual Patches w/ Tejada - 3 copies (serial #'d to 10), 98 Donruss Fantasy Team - 15 copies, 10 Panini Century Collection - 10 copies (serial #'d to 25), 97 Finest #334 - 14 copies and the most I have is 200 of 1991 Donruss #52 . The way I see, the more I have the less is out there.

Don't ask why I collect this way because I DON'T NOW WHY, I just do.

Austin said:

I don't get it either.
Think of all of the money that could be saved, or what could be bought for yourself or a loved one, or used on dates or kids or trips or home improvements or a child's savings account or college fund.
Why buy 20 of the same 2006 Topps autograph or whatever?

Buying multiple cards for investment is one thing, but most player collectors who buy multiples of common cards or the same autograph or game-used card do it out of compulsion.
Multiple $10 cards add up to massive amounts of money over the years, and the cards just sit in a box, usually losing most of their resale value over the years.

Unless you have a lot of disposable income, it just seems like a waste of money to buy duplicates when you can be using that money to better your family's life.

(Sorry to be so preachy. It's just my opinion, and is about no one in particular).

Click to expand...

Okay, I see your preachy side on this. Like MRMOPAR, I too, hoards a lot of Ripkens. To date, I own 5800 different cards BUT around 40,000 Cal Ripken Jr cards. Some worth a penny (about39,990 ), others a couple hundred. Reason?
!) The 5800 different cards - NO WAY in hell anyone is taking a card from there. My master set, MINE. Period. Sad to say but my wife CAN'T even touch this set. Sorry, MINE, Personal Collection (PC), MINE and MINE alone.
2) 4050 Second set.
3) 3800 Third set
and so on. Something happens that I NEED to sell, the least amount of cards set is going first. By the time I get to the third set, hopefully I won't have to lay a finger on the second set.

The way I see it, if I wait for the Ripken card I need to show up, I'll end up buying other player(s). Every now and then a card I need
shows up but the seller wants way more than I'm willing to spend. I submit my offer and decline his/her counter offer and move on.

The last 18 months I ended up collecting Aubrey Huff, Victor Martinez, Josh Beckett, Johnny Estrada, Grant Green, Carlos Hines, Pedro Lopez and Jose Guillen while waiting for Cal Ripken cards that are reasonably priced. I ended up spending over 5K for these eight players and now I don't know what to do with their cards. I DON'T COLLECT this guys. I don't even enjoy organizing their cards. Don't get me wrong, I have nice cards (multi colored patches, autographs, 1os1's, printing plates, etc.) but it's just not the same. If my choice is spend $1 on a Cal Ripken card I already have or spend 25 cents on another player, I'll buy the Cal Ripken any day.

You are also right on $10 multiple cards. I stopped on SIXTH set and I have TWO one thousand card boxes full of $10 and up. When I was a Beckett subscriber about two years ago, each box has a BV of 22K & 27K. Bare in mind that on some cards, I try to stop buying after 12 copies but if the price is right, bring it on. Cards like 05 Ultimate Dual Patches w/ Tejada - 3 copies (serial #'d to 10), 98 Donruss Fantasy Team - 15 copies, 10 Panini Century Collection - 10 copies (serial #'d to 25), 97 Finest #334 - 14 copies and the most I have is 200 of 1991 Donruss #52 . The way I see, the more I have the less is out there.

Don't ask why I collect this way because I DON'T NOW WHY, I just do.

CardMarkets said:

I'm curious... for the admitted "hoarders" out there, whom do you collect? Would be great to get some trades going that folks are really passionate about... Cheers

Click to expand...

I've traded with other Ripken collector's before. I'll trade for them now. The only requirement is... Cal for Cal. Most of the time, I trade for their advantage. Sometimes I send extra. I'm a hoarder but I'm not greedy. Let's get some trades done.

Austin said:

I don't get it either.
Think of all of the money that could be saved, or what could be bought for yourself or a loved one, or used on dates or kids or trips or home improvements or a child's savings account or college fund.
Why buy 20 of the same 2006 Topps autograph or whatever?

Click to expand...

I mean this could be said for ANY card, no? Even that one great PC you love and hold dear? You could get that kid of yours something nice if you never bought it?

Austin said:

Buying multiple cards for investment is one thing, but most player collectors who buy multiples of common cards or the same autograph or game-used card do it out of compulsion.

Click to expand...

Collecting at it's basic core is compulsion, no?

Austin said:

Multiple $10 cards add up to massive amounts of money over the years, and the cards just sit in a box, usually losing most of their resale value over the years..

Click to expand...

$10 cards that are not doubles also add up and also sit in a box, why not have an issue with that? Those cards also may lose value.

Austin said:

Unless you have a lot of disposable income, it just seems like a waste of money to buy duplicates when you can be using that money to better your family's life.

Click to expand...

Trying hard to find your point here. So if someone collects like you do, one card, then they are not compulsive and do not take food out of their family's mouth? But the second they buy a second, then it's a gigantic waste of money? :lol:

I'll add that I started a collection for a numbered set with different parallels a few years ago. I'll never own them all but I'm having a ball hunting them down! I build sets, I build type sets (pre war) I have a team collection and a player collection. And my connection that I am hunting down each and every one.

It's all a hobby [MENTION=1900]Austin[/MENTION]. As long as a person is TCB in life it's all ok. Don't worry about how other people enjoy collecting if it's different that what is in your wheelhouse.

DP #thanksserver