Baseball cards and other sports memorabilia.

[nyjetsboy123]

Hey there,

I live in GA and have a friend that has millions of dollars of rare baseball cards. He is 90 years old and is in pretty good health. He has some memory issues and probable shouldn't be driving anymore. He lives in an assisted living community but is in an unassisted portion of the facility. I have spoken to him many times about not just selling his card collection and other memorabilia. He does not have any family at all and his wife passed away many years ago. I have just learned that he contacted someone to come and give him an estimate on his card collection. That person came into his residence and offered him $50,000 for all of his things. I have discussed with him that he can get a lot money for his things. about 6 months ago someone tried the same thing with him but he managed not to make the deal. although it seems that person might have stolen a few things when my friend was not looking. This time. The person gave my friend $50,000 check and removed a bunch of things. but could not take everything. He is supposed to come back tomorrow or Monday. Can my friend legally get out of this transaction?

Thank you

 

[adjusterjack]

Can my friend legally get out of this transaction?

He can hand the check back and not let the guy into the house.

 

[Zigner]

He can hand the check back and not let the guy into the house.

And be sued. Sounds to me like they have a contract that's likely enforceable.

 

[cbg]

nyjetsboy -has he had his collection professionally appraised?

 

[quincy]

Any collectible - like a sports card - is only worth what a seller is willing to sell it for and a buyer is willing to buy it for.

Although it is definitely possible that your elderly friend has some potentially valuable cards in his collection, the value of sports cards involve more than just the age of the card and the athlete. There must be a demand for the card, a scarcity of the card and the card must be in decent condition.

For an interesting look at the card market and potential values of some cards, here is an article from 2021 that features Ken Goldin, an extremely successful buyer and seller of sports memorabilia.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2021-trading-card-king-ken-goldin-auctions/

What the purchaser of your friend’s collection may be is unethical, if he knows that the collection is worth far far more than the money he offered, but the purchaser is (probably) not doing anything illegal. It was on your elderly friend to have his collection appraised if he wanted to better ensure the price offered him was fair.

 

[LdiJ]

Hey there,

I live in GA and have a friend that has millions of dollars of rare baseball cards. He is 90 years old and is in pretty good health. He has some memory issues and probable shouldn't be driving anymore. He lives in an assisted living community but is in an unassisted portion of the facility. I have spoken to him many times about not just selling his card collection and other memorabilia. He does not have any family at all and his wife passed away many years ago. I have just learned that he contacted someone to come and give him an estimate on his card collection. That person came into his residence and offered him $50,000 for all of his things. I have discussed with him that he can get a lot money for his things. about 6 months ago someone tried the same thing with him but he managed not to make the deal. although it seems that person might have stolen a few things when my friend was not looking. This time. The person gave my friend $50,000 check and removed a bunch of things. but could not take everything. He is supposed to come back tomorrow or Monday. Can my friend legally get out of this transaction?

Thank you

You could try calling the elder protection agency in your/his area to see what they think. However, if this were a family member of mine I would be meeting the guy at the door and telling him that I was refusing entry until an attorney and the elder protection agency was consulted.

If you are wrong about the value of the collection and/or the guy has any sense of self preservation he may very well offer to cancel the deal and bring the stuff back.

 

[quincy]

You could try calling the elder protection agency in your/his area to see what they think. However, if this were a family member of mine I would be meeting the guy at the door and telling him that I was refusing entry until an attorney and the elder protection agency was consulted.

If you are wrong about the value of the collection and/or the guy has any sense of self preservation he may very well offer to cancel the deal and bring the stuff back.

On what basis would the sale be elder abuse? The elderly man is said to be competent and he was already advised by nyjetsboy123 more than once that he might have “millions of dollars” worth of cards.

Unless nyjetsboy123 is an appraiser and knows someone willing to pay millions of dollars for the man’s collection, his opinion of value is just an opinion. And, even if there is a valuable card worth more than $50,000, the man was free to sell his collection for whatever he decided was a good price (this whether it was a “fair” price or not).

Sports cards are like any other collectible - there needs to be a collector.

 

[cbg]

My husband has been collecting baseball cards since he was 8. He's 72 now.

We have no idea of the value of his collection. He has, for the last several years, been sorting it out to eliminate duplicates and put them into appropriate categories by teams.

His plan, when that is complete, is to have a formal appraisal done so as to establish for certain what the collection may be worth.

Any collectible - like a sports card - is only worth what a seller is willing to sell it for and a buyer is willing to buy it for.

Quite true. But it can't do any harm to have an appraisal done for an estimate of what those numbers might be in the open market. This will avoid both the seller turning down what is actually a good bid if he has overestimated its worth (or our OP has); and also will keep him from getting ripped off if the collection is actually as valuable as the OP believes.

 

[LdiJ]

On what basis would the sale be elder abuse? The elderly man is said to be competent and he was already advised by nyjetsboy123 more than once that he might have “millions of dollars” worth of cards.

You might want to re-read the first post.

Unless nyjetsboy123 is an appraiser and knows someone willing to pay millions of dollars for the man’s collection, his opinion of value is just an opinion. And, even if there is a valuable card worth more than $50,000, the man was free to sell his collection for whatever he decided was a good price (this whether it was a “fair” price or not).

Sports cards are like any other collectible - there needs to be a collector.

I think and attorney should be contacted. Maybe the attorney will agree with you, maybe the attorney won't.

 

[quincy]

… But it can't do any harm to have an appraisal done for an estimate of what those numbers might be in the open market. This will avoid both the seller turning down what is actually a good bid if he has overestimated its worth (or our OP has); and also will keep him from getting ripped off if the collection is actually as valuable as the OP believes.

It would have been smart for the elderly man to have an appraisal prior to selling the cards - and nyjetsboy123 could have encouraged that or shown him card values online so the man could have better estimated the worth of his collection.

BUT, this apparently wasn’t done. The elderly man accepted the offer, and the $50,000. He might regret selling the cards - just as the seller might regret buying the cards - but it is a bit of a done deal now.

 

[cbg]

It would have been smart for the elderly man to have an appraisal prior to selling the cards - and nyjetsboy123 could have encouraged that or shown him card values online so the man could have better estimated the worth of his collection.

I certainly can't argue with that.

 

[quincy]

I certainly can't argue with that.

This situation is really no different than purchasing an item at a garage sale, flea market or from Goodwill, except for the $50,000 price tag.

A seller sets the price he is willing to take. A knowledgeable buyer might see a value beyond the asking price but there is no value beyond the asking price if there is no resale.

 

[cbg]

Oh, I get it. I'm not commenting on whether there is a contract for sale or not.

But whatever ends up happening in this case, whatever items the seller has left really should be professionally appraised.

 

[quincy]

Oh, I get it. I'm not commenting on whether there is a contract for sale or not.

But whatever ends up happening in this case, whatever items the seller has left really should be professionally appraised.

I don’t know what an appraisal will do at this point, except depress the elderly man if he has, in fact, sold a card that eventually might be sold to a collector for a million dollars. Right now his entire collection is only worth $50,000.

 

[cbg]

If the current sale takes EVERYTHING in his collection, I agree.

But if the current sale is for only some items, the REMAINDER should be appraised.