Jul

12

There are only 5 things you can speculate in categorically that have volume that is present in the World. Yes, there are those that will respond with other ideas but I tried to narrow such to the main categories. They are as follows:

1) fixed income i.e cd's and bonds
2) equities i.e stocks
3) commodities
4) currencies
5) antiques and collectibles

Yes, there exists derivatives on all those, they need not be mentioned because they are based on the root basis.

The category that is the least liquid and has the least volume is number 5.

The last Honus Wagner card was brought to auction in Maryland from a heir of a Catholic Nun. He profited and dispensed according to his preference.

Now we have an even bigger find.

This find not only carries the name Wagner, but Cobb, Young and Matthewson. The fact that it was stowed in the attic for a couple of generations is amazing considering the heat/humidity that helps in preservation versus the humidity of a basement that produces decay of paper.

The market to bid on such cards is far and few percentage wise across the globe. It will be interesting to track and see the results.

Ironically I know a heir named Mrs. Cobb that lives in C-ville, VA. I help her with her retirement income. She is a fan of her families name sake. When shared she was disheartened in that she wouldn't be able to add to her "two card" collection of her family name. She mainly wants to update the condition of her two cards from poor to good. She understands that she'll never be able to do such and that she is grateful to have such cards. Mrs. Cobb knows that the accomplishments of her husbands family is forever priceless and that she is just excited whenever it is brought up. She is one lady that I know understands speculation, risk v reward, and value. She also has a firm grip on thinly traded markets. I've pointed out to her numerous times that the verbage in her trust doesn't mention any of her cards that she owns that were handed down. She told me that her husband upon death gave her the instructions to make sure that the ashes of those cards were spread with hers as he was tired after all of those years with dealing with the compounding and expectations of their value. The trustee is working on adding it to the trust, but ironically she is reluctant to pay him for the new docs!

What treasures are in your attic? library? basement? safe deposit box?

Jim Sogi asks: 

JT, Is Ebay an okay place to sell my old 50's era NY Yankee cards? Do you sell them one by one? or lots? How do you value or price them? Is there info somewhere that's good?


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  1. Josh Campos (former Junto attendee) on July 13, 2012 12:25 pm

    Hello Jim… I have been selling baseball cards on ebay for the last decade. I am also an ebay Power Seller for what that is worth.

    The best way to determine market value for your cards is to look at comparable listings on ebay. Additionally, you can look at cards that have been sold in the past few months to establish a general pricing trend for the cards that you own. There is a feature under “advanced search” on ebay that allows you to browse prices of recently completed auctions. Based on the completed listings, you can get a fair approximation of what your cards would sell for. While there are some collectors who buy baseball card collections, I feel that ebay is unparalleled in terms of creating the greatest liquidity for selling vintage collectibles. Also, I believe that ebay is the most accurate indicator of a cards true market value. The various baseball card pricing guides tend to overstate the card values. IF you have any ebay specific questions, please reply to this post. I can give you additional details.

    In most cases it is a better idea to sell the cards individually. Particularly in the case of cards from the 1950s, etc.. You will often find that there will be collectors looking for the cards of non-star players so that they can complete their set.

    For a given card, there will be significant price variation due to the condition of the card. For example, a card in mint condition could sell for $200 and the same card in poor condition could be $30. In the absence of card grading expertise, I would suggest using a scanner (if you own one) to scan the card and upload those photos to ebay. When I sell vintage cards, I typically do not make a representation as to the condition of the card. I typically invite the ebay buyers to look at the detailed scans/photos and make their own assessments.

    Best wishes

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