Player just died. eBay his stuff! WORNG!

[gingi79]

Just looking for some fellow collectors opinions. Wings/Hawks enforcer Bob Probert just died and his stuff on eBay has been listed as if he was a long time HOF player. $2000 items that no one wanted are at 4x that price. Jersey Vault, a company who offers items well above anyone's idea of "value", just re-listed their Probert jersey at $6,000 when it didn't sell at their asking price of $1995 for YEARS.

I say they are cashing in on emotion and milking the market. I think people who sell recently dead artists paintings for several times their purchase price are molesting a situation. (By the way, my artwork is sublime. If I become terminally ill, all my work will be priceless(I hope) Buy now!)

I own the only white #40 Vancouver Canucks jersey Luc Bourdon ever wore. I refuse to sell it to anyone unless their claim to it is more significant than mine as a Canucks fan. WHY? Because I have integrity and cashing in on an athletes death makes me feel cheaper than Paris Hilton.

Opinions?

[Mark17]

I'm sure we could find examples where we would agree a particular seller was being tasteless, but generally I disagree with your premise.

My view is this: There are many different ways to enjoy this hobby, and just as individuals in a free society can choose their own path to happiness, so too we can all decide what we want to buy, sell, trade, and collect, and how/when we want to do so. If we're honest and ethical, nobody has the right to be overly critical.

A friend who was a full-time baseball card dealer was discussing this very subject with me years ago. This is essentially what he said: "What people might not realize is that I have inventory to sell, and when a player dies, there is a sudden burst in interest that will last a little while, and after that the player will basically be forgotten. So if I want to sell those cards, ever, that is my last best chance."

I don't think saying you would never sell a jersey unless someone else had a closer connection to it is really all that noble. We're talking about some cloth. If you find something else in life you would rather have, selling the jersey wouldn't be the least bit tawdry.

Sometimes "collectors" seem to think they are more pure than "dealers," and I've never understood that. Being a dealer is a good way for people to enjoy the hobby too, having cool stuff pass through their hands while also making some money to pay the bills. What's wrong with that? Thank goodness for dealers! And if a dealer has something that is suddenly in demand, the price probably goes up. Just as dealers have to lower prices on items when players fall out of favor with the public.

Bottom line: Live and let live. If you want something someone has to offer, see if you can make a deal for it. Otherwise, no reason to sit in judgement.

That's my opinion.

[kudu]

It happens all the time. And with the economy/unemployment the way it is, maybe that seller/dealer needs to make some extra money to pay the bills, put food on the table, etc. If that were the case, wouldn't selling that jersey for a profit be a good thing?

[NEFAN]

I'm sure we could find examples where we would agree a particular seller was being tasteless, but generally I disagree with your premise.

My view is this: There are many different ways to enjoy this hobby, and just as individuals in a free society can choose their own path to happiness, so too we can all decide what we want to buy, sell, trade, and collect, and how/when we want to do so. If we're honest and ethical, nobody has the right to be overly critical.

A friend who was a full-time baseball card dealer was discussing this very subject with me years ago. This is essentially what he said: "What people might not realize is that I have inventory to sell, and when a player dies, there is a sudden burst in interest that will last a little while, and after that the player will basically be forgotten. So if I want to sell those cards, ever, that is my last best chance."

I don't think saying you would never sell a jersey unless someone else had a closer connection to it is really all that noble. We're talking about some cloth. If you find something else in life you would rather have, selling the jersey wouldn't be the least bit tawdry.

Sometimes "collectors" seem to think they are more pure than "dealers," and I've never understood that. Being a dealer is a good way for people to enjoy the hobby too, having cool stuff pass through their hands while also making some money to pay the bills. What's wrong with that? Thank goodness for dealers! And if a dealer has something that is suddenly in demand, the price probably goes up. Just as dealers have to lower prices on items when players fall out of favor with the public.

Bottom line: Live and let live. If you want something someone has to offer, see if you can make a deal for it. Otherwise, no reason to sit in judgement.

That's my opinion.

Couldn't have said it better.

[LWMM]

I'm not sure that it's any more macabre to make a point of selling items of recently dead players than it is to purchase them.

[otismalibu]

So someone who is in the business of selling memorabilia is trying to take advantage of high demand? People like to make money. Or they like to avoid what they see as possibly losing money. If the guy killed Probert, then listed his stuff, that would pretty shady. </sarcasm>

If you don't have a problem with a fan immediately selling a jersey of a popular player from his favorite team, simply because demand might be at an all time high, why fault a person in the business of selling who pretty much knows demand won't be any higher.

[34swtns]

Simply capitalism. Sell at the most lucrative moment.
Nothing "worng" with that.

[suave1477]

Thie topic has been brought up a few times before. Especially when Cory Lidle died and Kirby Puckett.

Ai actually agree with both Gingi & Mark.

But regardng Marks point a view the line does cross over to an item being sold during a hot seling time (Due to death, etc...) to pay bills. But realistically most people are just trying to cash in on the death.

I remember when Cory Lidle passed. A week before because he was a Yankee I was looking up on ebay autographed Lidle Yankee items and you could find anything you wanted for.99 cents to at most $10.
After he passed those same items were being sold for a $100 or more and they were getting them.

Its a double edged sword

[STLHAMMER32]

Is there a certain time period you would think is acceptable to wait before selling? I think simple supply and demand might also become a factor.....if most collectors take the approach you suggest and a few "shady" individuals do not it will only drive the prices up on the items for the those who decide to sell because there will be less available to purchase.

I think it is just like any other business, supplying a demand for a product, when a player dies the demand for products goes up and people are there to meet the demands....Hope you don't have family or friends in the funeral home business....talk about cashing in on a persons death

[Mark17]

But regardng Marks point a view the line does cross over to an item being sold during a hot seling time (Due to death, etc...) to pay bills. But realistically most people are just trying to cash in on the death.

I remember when Cory Lidle passed. A week before because he was a Yankee I was looking up on ebay autographed Lidle Yankee items and you could find anything you wanted for.99 cents to at most $10.
After he passed those same items were being sold for a $100 or more and they were getting them.

Its a double edged sword

I don't see a difference betwen someone selling an item "to pay bills", and someone selling an item "to cash in." I don't analyze a person's financial situation to make a judgement on whether or not they should sell something they own. I'm also, by the way, one of those relatively poor people who has never believed in the "tax the rich" class envy message. What someone does with their money, as long as it's legal, is none of my busines and I couldn't care less.

When you say you were looking for Lidle autographed items, and they suddenly spiked in price, it sounds to me you're just annoyed that something you were interested in went up in price before you purchased it. Yeah, that's a bummer, but the people selling the things didn't do anything the least bit sleazy (in my opinion.) You say they were asking for very high prices, and getting them.... in other words, they correctly gauged the market. I say, good for them!

I'm still waiting for someone who complains about other people selling at high prices, to start taking the third or fourth-best offer when THEY decide to sell stuff. Look, we all want to buy stuff as inexpensively as possible, and we all want to sell stuff for a good price. It's human nature. Why find any reason at all to judge people negatively for doing the same thing everyone else does, or wants to do?