An epiphany of sorts? Should I sell it all?

[ajbraves25]

I didn't have anywhere near the inventory you have, but I too just sold the last card I have on Friday. I am tired of the rat race of ebay and everything involved with it. It just seems like a job anymore. Good luck to you. I am in the same boat. With my second child coming in October, I just won't have the time and I am just flat out board with it. Plain and simple. I have lost the "feeling" I once had as recently as when Bowman hit. Too many products, so much time and money wrapped up in it. I would love to have a "PC" but that type of stuff is way to expensive for me at this point in my life. I am 100% sure I will come back, I always do, but for now I just can't do it anymore. Especially when Prospecting is the way to go now a days.

Take care

~AJ

 

[Zithy]

To the OP -

With your inventory, I'm thinking you have a good system and it makes you money. If the wife or family is needing more of your time, why not sell a few cards, lock your store and have your cards pay for a trip to the Caribbean somewhere. Having a fully paid for trip to look forward to in a few months is very good incentive.

Also, for people who have the "collecting gene", it seems we usually find some hobby that takes up a lot of our time(not to mention space). So who is to say that once you're done with cards, you wouldn't find something else interesting that could be so fun, new and exciting that it takes up even more of your free time?

Lastly, looking at your feedback to see how many monthly transactions you had, it doesn't appear that you move a ton of inventory, so it does seem like it's manageable without spending 5+ hours per day, although the research time can add up. But whatever you do, enjoy it!

 

[bear0555]

Ten years ago, I dreamed that my room was full of cards and that I could have more than I can handle. I've since realized that having too much makes you lose control of it all. If I forget about something I have, I know I have too much. I try to have a plan for everything and if I don't, I look to move it. With that said, I've started to realize similar feelings to you lately. I just love it too much to give it all up.

 

[miguelcabrera]

do you have any cabrera cards?

 

[Russ S.]

Yes

 

[bozemanbreaker]

you guys are crazy. current number of cards in my holding at the moment is about 50. all of which I'll move when the time is right. I can't even fathom the money you guys put into this hobby :shock:

 

[BowmanChromeAddict]

why do they stop you from spending time with your family?


Do you have to sell them in order for them to not take up time?

You know, Chris...I stopped collecting football cards in 2000, and I don't even know what teams are in what divisions anymore. I stopped collecting hockey cards a while ago, and I don't even know who half the guys are in the league anymore. I don't think I would watch sports at all if I didn't collect cards. Posting. Watching. Researching. Following stats and boxscores. Caring in general. Packing and mailing. Scanning. Sending money through Paypal. Managing my ebay account. Man, I would have all that time to use on things I enjoy more. I've been doing this since I was a tot at the flea market. It has been a way of life for me forever. Since my kids have been born, it's more of a burden on me than anything else. I find the enjoyment gone, and the time I used to have to allocate to it (i.e., was fun for me) is hard to find, making the requirement of time a hassle and stressful element in my life.

I guess I've just lost the love of it.

I'd rather not have to worry about it any more, or tend to it for that matter.

I literally cannot move in the room my cards are kept in because there are so many.

I find stacks of slabs I didn't even know I had.

It's insane.

exactly the same way i feel right now myself. i'm liquidating stuff also in small amounts and hope to be out in a year or so. good luck with yours.

I know the feeling as well, though I can't say I'm feeling it right now, but I've felt it in the past. Pretty much all of 2008 and 2009. I managed to pull through it without selling everything, but that had more to do with a tanked economy than anything else.

 

[Bill Menard]

I can relate to your feelings about cards and the time suck. I was there too a year or so ago. I even think I posted on the boards a simliar topic. It just felt like a job more than anything else. The economy sucked as well, which made it even more frustrating.

I, unfortunately, was in such a hole, I didn't have a choice but to sell stuff. I soon realized that everything of value I had was pretty much gone, but I still had the financial hole. I picked up an extra job - about 10 hours a week - consulting on stuff I already do at my full time job. So now I work about 50 hours a week, but I MAKE (meaning profit) about 4 times more than I did with cards and spend less than half the time doing it. That's more time to spend with family and do other fun stuff.

I still have a ton of cards (most of which are worthless commons - I'd love to figure out a way to get rid of them all!), but I'm not wrapped up in the hobby like I was about 9-10 months ago. I am working on building a 1956 Topps set, which has been fun (as opposed to FEELING like a job) and I'll break a box here and there, but no where near the nutty amount I was doing. It feels more like a hobby now and a fun one at that, than a job. I don't have to be so wrapped up in all the peripherals either (checking box scores, sports highlights to see if so and so threw a no hitter and I know to get his cards on ebay quick, scouring card show boxes for deals, etc.).

I wish you the best of luck with selling and moving on to other things.

Bill

 

[BowmanChromeAddict]

Not that you needed a reminder, but I still want your Kyle Drabek cards...just saying...

 

[lvdan]

I sold it all a couple years ago. And other than a disgusting stack of Ubaldo-ness, I don't regret it at all. Freed me up to spend more time on the important things like people I care about.

 

[js0000001]

No

You should not sell them all

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