For as long as i remember I was a collector. Before I got back into cards I started collecting collector/limited editions of many Xbox 360 games and Nintendo games. This led me down the path of high end video game statues from company’s like First4Figures and Sideshow Collectibles.
Over the years i have sold statues so I could buy pieces that I was missing for my collection. My collection now consists of pieces that if i sold one then I would just want to get rid of them all. I still enjoy looking at them but have no real intentions of picking up more pieces apart from the Pokemon ones that they release.
Collecting them has brought me great joy but a part of me feels like that time has passed and I should pass them on to someone who will really cherish them. Been toying with the idea for a couple months and wanted to see what others do or have done.
Basically if the money that they’d bring in would get you more joy than the items do. Or the economic/market conditions place a much higher value on the items than you do
This is a great answer! The handful of times I’ve sold something I didn’t have another copy was exactly this scenario. The offers were so good I had to take the deal. Some cards from those deals years ago still hold record sales, which really drives home the point.
Ultimately when the money brings you more joy or something more important happens in your life are the main reasons.
Practically I would sell when the monetary benefits from selling far outweigh the benefits of owning the item myself.
Emotionally, I would say if I feel the same way that you feel right now. If the pieces don’t bring me joy and I feel that someone else might value them more, I would sell them. The money will be a plus as is.
I hope you make the choice that makes you happy my friend.
I’ve started selling cards I love to invest the difference between PSA 10s and rebuying lower grades/raw cards. While I’ll always keep a few irreplaceable autographs and gifted cards, I realize that the money tied up in my collection could be better used/ more safely invested towards a house.
I’m there right now, actually! I was recently sitting down and reviewing my finances and debts, and I realized my once modest collection of cards and games was sitting north of $20,000! It honestly blew me away. While that doesnt eliminate all of my debt, it would eliminate practically all of my bad debt, and would make a big difference in my day to day life.
I always said I would sell my collection when it made sense to do so, and that it was just my fun way of saving money. It’s definitely hard to let go, but I know that on the other side of this, I get the joy of starting to collect all over again!
Plus, Modern Pokemon is in a place right now that is unbelievable to me. I bought my Moonbreon for $600 and even then I felt like I overspent. After grading it a 10 and it sitting in my collection for years, I recently looked and saw it was selling for $3k+! I rationalized to myself that, while I loved the card, I would NEVER spend $3k on it or anywhere close, and thereby to me keeping it when I had debts to pay was insane.
At the end of the day, the right time to sell is when you would benefit from money or when the happiness of owning them is outweighed by their value.
good for you, king. shiny cardboard is awesome, but getting out of debt is way more important. E4 has really helped too – my collection of colorful, gifted, and signed cards from other members has brought a lot more happiness than a wall of pristine PSA 10s ever did.
This topic is great timing as I’ve been giving a lot of thought about letting some more expensive things go to fund other projects. It’s so hard to know when is right though.
I feel like the chase is better than the completed collection sometimes!
I enjoy the hobby much more in the inexpensive price bracket, but inevitably more expensive cards are always needed for most collection goals.
Its never easy when youre passionate about what you collect. When I first started selling my cards I ended up buying a couple of them back lol I was having pretty bad withdrawals and regrets about selling them. Try taking some time and really sorting out which cards youd miss if you no longer had them in your collection. Some are easier to let go than others. Just prioritize those.
I actually looked through my slabs last night asking myself this very question! For me, I just kinda knew. I look at a card and I can just feel that it no longer belongs in my collection. It doesnt bring me the same joy anymore and it can be sad to let go. I had two additional ways of deciding if I should sell:
I look at the card and reflect on whether I would rather own this card, or the $X amount of money its worth. For some of the stuff I am willing to sell, it is just not worth selling, you know? Like I could let go of some of my PSA 9 JP vintage holo doubles, but what am I really gonna do with ~$50? At that price, I would rather just keep the card. For some modern chases though, I pulled it from a pack I bought from the corner store and its been sitting in my bulk pile… I would rather have the $100+ than this card I’m not even appreciating anyway.
Another thing I did was ask myself if I would buy this card at the market rate. For example, I have a PSA 10 2019 Player’s Ceremony. I’d be happy with a binder copy, but in 10 its worth about $700 CAD. I do really love this card, graded it myself, it means something to me. Would I rather have $700 or this card? Probably would rather keep the card to be honest. If I were to sell it, and wanted to own it again in PSA 10, would I be willing to pay $700+ to purchase it again? No, I wouldnt. So, I would likely be letting go of that card forever, barring some unforeseen plummet in price. So, I know I value it more than $700 when I own it (maybe because I expect it to be worth more, or its worth more to me sentimentally), but if I didnt have it, I would not pay $700 for it. This means to me that, although i love this card, I would be okay parting with it for the right price. Whats the right price? Well, rinse and repeat lol. Would I rather have $1500 or this card? Probably $1500. So there ya go.
Sorry this was kinda long, but thats the process I kinda used!
Edit: another good thing too is to plan and know what you will do with the money before you sell! Selling feels a lot better when you can see where the money is going to. Nothing is worse than letting go of something meaningful and just slowly pissing away the money on nothingness. I’ve let go of some childhood cards with no plan, and now I dont have the card and I dont have anything to show for it. Dont even remember where that money went. Learn from my mistakes!!
I bought several modern cards that I really love at a ‘cheap’ price, right before the boom. In the meantime, some of my chase cards didn’t appreciate as much. So, I’ll use that leverage to buy the other cards.
I am there right now with my vintage consoles and games collection. They no longer bring me the same happiness they used to and I would prefer they go to someone who will cherish them like I once did.
The other main factor is I have not maintained them and I’m worried about dead batteries, rust, corrosion and so on. Some collections require some maintenance and you don’t want to have them sit indefinitely. Better to pass them on to the next collector.
I recently looked at my videogame collection, which at one point i felt kind of bad about because at the time I had bought so much. But I’m over that now. Due to the massive money printing in covid days, and the people all getting into anything collectible, it feels less bad that I bought so much. But I do want to thin things down. I have strong attachments. But I’d probably only really part with something I truly love if it were a matter of having a roof over my head or not.
If I feel back and forth on parting with something, that means I’d likely regret it later. Only when it feels like a no brainer situation would I do it. So far I’ve never sold anything I truly cherish. Lost, stolen, destroyed? Sure. Sold? Not so far.
Sell if you need the money (e.g., managing debt, making progress on another collection goal, taking care of life responsibilities) or if the value that you could receive exceeds the joy that they bring you.
I really appreciate what everyone has said. I will be selling off a handful of statues and really only keeping the ones that hold a very special place. Especially living in California and the amount of earthquakes we get really scares me. I have yet to lose anything but it scares the shit out of me when we have one.
I’ve heard a good rule of thumb for this: when you’re selling something you really love, try to use the funds to buy just one thing. It’s much more memorable and positive then using it “pay various bills” if instead you sold a Charizard and put most of it towards a new car, a kitchen remodel, etc psychologically.
Then, every time you see the car, you should think about the zard
