Sets vs. Singles - Bowman

[notoriousrmb]

I'm at a crossroads here...I've been putting together every Bowman set since '05 (base, chrome, draft) which includes base cards, chrome cards, gold "decoy" parallels and most importantly autographs. Of course there are a couple "key" autographs in every set that get hot when the player heats up at any given level.

My problem is this...do I hold and sell the complete sets when I figure the time comes to let them go, or do I break them up and sell the individual cards as the players get hot? Obviously selling the key cards will get me the most profit at any given time, but then I'm stuck with a bunch of duds that take up space in my closet.

I'm typically a set/player collector first and a prospector second, but as the closet fills I think its time I re-assess my strategies. I'm not in desperate need of cash now, but I don't want to miss out on selling when I should either. Opinions?

 

[beberly]

I'm not an expert, but maybe it would be better to keep the base and base chrome in set form but break up the auto sets and sell the autos separately when one of the players gets very hot. I have noticed that you can get more when breaking up a popular set than when you sell it in set form. Breaking up the autos would bring the player collectors into the mix.

 

[notoriousrmb]

One bump for input, thanks!

 

[HoustonTeams4Me]

I pretty much agree with the response post above as I would probably keep the base/chrome in set form & sell off the auto's. The only problem is quite a bit of those player's have already peaked so you missed the best time to sell on them, but you can always sell off the common & minor auto's in a lot as I've seen these lot's on Ebay fetch a decent price (you'll make more that way than trying to sell the "dud's" individually). Either way, I think you are in a good predicament to be in! Good Luck, Dave.