New to the forum and needed to vent because this amateur (me) just sold a Neo Genesis 1st edition T17 the other day for way too low. I bought it two years ago for just $30 and sold it for $200 listed as played (because of holo scratches and print lines and a little edge whitening on the back) so at first I thought I did pretty good. But then I realized that my card was actually in much better shape than most of the ones being listed as light play or even near mint. If only I would’ve held out a day or so, or put it up for auction, I could have done much, much better. judging by the crazy sale prices. Anyway, it’s not so much that I’m unhappy with the deal as I am for underestimating it’s condition this whole time. If I knew it was that nice, I probably just would’ve kept it indefinitely. Now if I want one like that it’ll cost at least $500 unless prices drop. Ugh…
Anyway, what are some of the worst mistakes you’ve made in undervaluing/underestimating a card?
Even though I’ve sold cards that now go for higher, I would do it all over again. The money I used from the cards I sold were put towards things in my collection that would be out of reach for me now. It all evens out over time depending on what you buy. Markets are unpredictable so you can’t dawn on the “mistakes” you made.
When just starting out two years ago, one of my first sales was flipping a signed Japanese Evolutions Charizard for like 50€ profit. My reasoning was that flIpPinG iS eASy and signatures would get less scarce because Arita was signing more and more, but then personalisation and Covid came
When I first started selling cards on eBay, I had no idea about PSA. Absolutely none. Didn’t even know that condition was all that important. I listed some very mint Elemental Hero Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and they all sold out within a few days. Couldn’t tell you what grade they would’ve actually gotten. But I think we all have to make those kind of mistakes at some point to learn a lesson and point us in the right direction.
i sold a case of first ed gym challenge and case of in august of last year and now each box has doubled + those prices. Whether its a week, a few months, or a few years, you will always look back at woulda shoulda coulda. But like its said above, you use that money at that time to continue growing.
i’m in the same boat as @neverforget50in07, in that i do not regret selling cards for a certain price for the reasons stated above and also for the fact as that was market value when I sold them. My initial reaction to the title of the thread was that you accidentally listed something for $100 instead of $1,000 cause you forgot a 0 at the end. I have not done that either but that would really be a pricing mistake. In this hobby, my pricing mistakes are on the buying side when i balked at some prices back in the day and are now paying for those mistakes as the prices of those items are now tremendously more than what I should have bought them for if i did not balk
Don’t forget about that Minty Base Box you sold me for $3,600! Haha
In all seriousness though, like others have already mentioned, you can drive yourself crazy looking back at old sales / prices. It’s better to focus on how you used the money from those sales to grow.
I sold off my childhood collection about two years ago so I could buy nicer condition cards. My biggest regret. I would pay over $1k right now for that played Base 2 Charizard I had as a kid, but the guy I sold it to has ghosted…
I’ve bought a 1st ed gym heroes set in august lol
I’ve done some pricing mistakes when there was no price history, I always check but not every time I find out…
Before knowing about PSA and the benefits of it, I sold a complete non-holo rare set (pack fresh/unplayed) from the 1st ed base set on Mercari for $100. As you could imagine, it sold pretty quickly.
After 1-2 submissions to PSA, several cards were in the PSA10-9 range.
Unsurprisingly, all of my biggest mistakes were related to purchases I wish I had made. Pikachu Illustrators, an extra PSA 10 Trophy Kangaskhan, extra 1st ed Base Charizards, complete PSA 10 Neo / e-reader sets, etc… I passed on them because even though I thought they would be good investments I didn’t want to be *too* heavily invested in Pokemon in case my predictions for future growth turned out to be wrong. Now of course I wish I had been just a bit more ballsy.
Among items I actually sold, my biggest mistake was probably selling a truly mint complete Japanese Base Set for $650 in 2016 when all the cards in the set would have easily graded as PSA 10s and PSA 9s.
I bet you there is barely anyone here that doesn’t have some sort of collector’s regret! Maybe even Scott or Gary!
Mine is opening my base set box back in 2014, I had fun but I could have easily brought the cards from that set in mint condition back then. Now those boxes at selling between 5-6000 pounds.
I bought a box in 2013 for around $350. Resold it a few months later for around $500. At least you have the experience of opening a base set booster box, so it’s not all bad!
I sold a PSA 9 1st ed Neo Gen Lugia for $500 in December/January (i believe) thinking people were hyping the card too much and it would settle down soon. Boy was I wrong!
I have a couple woulda/shoula/coulda stories, but I do truly regret selling 2/3 of my childhood collection.
When I was just starting to get back into collecting in late 2016, I decided that I was only interested in keeping my old Base - Base 2 cards, and sold everything else (Rocket - ex Rocket Returns). I dont think I had anything in better than lp condition, or anything fanominaly rare, but it still hurts.
Sold a PSA 8 1st Ed Neo Lugia for $80 last year. Luckily I’ve had plenty of cards that have increased exponentially in value that it doesn’t feel too bad. You just have to remember that you do what feels right at the time and move on.
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