For context v1.0: I am not actually interested in selling, but wondering people’s thoughts / is this is the right framework.
I have a complete set of Gold Star PSA 9s with two of these signed by Masakazu Fukuda (Rayquaza [case is signed] and Charizard [case is signed]). Additionally I have four other Gold Stars (not included in the complete set) which are signed: Treecko PSA 8, Regice (signed by him in 2006), Regirock PSA 8, and Registeel PSA 9.
If you were interested in selling these over the course of a one year period, and where trying to maximize price, what would you do?
- i) Sell the collection as a complete PSA 9 set
- Assuming the best bet would be through a notable consigner (Goldin, SMPratte/PWCC/Fanatics)
- ii) Sell the collection as a series of subsets, such as the Team Rocket Returns GS cards, the Regis, etc.
- iii) Sell the cards individually
My thinking is that the best way would likely be i), iii), then ii), since the complete collection could capture a premium to all of the singles sold separately since the set is large enough to where it would be a pain to complete (so there should be a premium for the difficulty in sourcing a complete set of 9s). The counterpoint to this is that the Gold Stars are pretty available (most of them at least), which may temper the premium. On the very end of the spectrum, one could say that the buyer is providing liquidity for all of the cards at once (and the buyer pool is more limited), so it could sell for a discount to the sum of the parts. iii) is the default outcome. I would assume that ii) would likely be less than the baseline value of all of the singles since the buyer pool is likely reduced (due to price but mainly since the people that would want all 3 regis at once is likely a fair bit smaller than those that just want one) and the subsets are so small (2-3 cards) that it is unlikely to see a premium from being hard to source.
I think this just comes down to does the set desire a premium or discount to the sum of its parts. I am 85%/15% that it desires a premium (in 85% of situations I see the complete set sold as one getting a premium), although the magnitude of that premium I have no idea on.
What are your thoughts on i) what you would do, and ii) if you know of any historical examples of graded set premium/discounts?
For context v2.0: I have this dream of selling my collection in ~2035 and simplifying it down to just 10-15 graded cards and some binders, with the proceeds (and as well as some unrelated-to-Pokemon-personal money) to seed a foundation. I have been thinking about creating a foundation that endows scholarships on behalf of teachers, with the structure of the scholarship being selected by that educator. For example, the foundation would create the Mr. Smith Scholarship for Science with Mr. Smith deciding how the money is distributed (i.e. should the money be spend to make AP tests free for all students, should it go to making the common application free for all students, should students apply via essay with the teacher selecting one, etc.). My thinking is that classroom educators understand where the greatest need for their students is / where money could make the most impact. Plus this would be a way to honor the impact that great teachers make. I would like each scholarship to distribute $10,000 per year, so each endowed position would require about $200,000 (assuming a 5% distribution), which honestly does not seem that crazy.