Friday, October 24, 2008

"Why don't you sell all those?"

That was the question posed to me recently regarding the thousands (literally) of cards I have been sending out as part of the Trick-or-Treat giveaway.

I have one "rule" about my giveaways, and I suppose I should have made it clear when I wrote out the offer. My rule: You don't "owe" me anything in return. Don't get me wrong, if you've got Tribe cards (or oddball items) you'd like to find a home for, I am always a willing and welcoming collector! But, I hope no one out there feels like they owe me in exchange for their gifts (tricks OR treats).

I've been collecting cards for a long time. Because I focus mainly on Indians cards, I invariably end up with stacks and stacks (okay, they've actually progressed to boxes and boxes) of other teams' cards. I sold (or tried to sell) cards online for a while, but to be honest, that is just too much work for little return for me. I know people who make their living off of it, and I applaud them. For me, it was way too much hassle.

Then, I came across blogs like "The Baseball Card Blog" and "Cardboard Junkie" among others. It was then I decided to start up "Tribecards." As card blogs started growing, I was able to trade off the teams I didn't collect for Indians cards, and it was (and still is!) awesome! But, I still had (er, have) a TON of cards taking up space and making my wife generally crazy.


At the same time this was going on, I had a brainstorm of sorts while listening to "Bob and Doug MacKenzie's 12 Days of Christmas" and thus the "12 Days Giveaway" was born. The rest, as they say, is history.... Sort of.

See, along with all the reading, posting and trading, I re-discovered the joy of "playing" with cards. "12 Days," the Scratch-off Tourney, and now Trick-or-Treat, are ways that I get to "play" with the cards I don't collect (or in the case of Indians cards, are duplicates).

Yeah, there's some out-of-pocket expense with the tournaments and giveaways, but those are small potatoes in my book compared to the fun I'm having, and the fun I have seen others having, "playing" with the cards. :-)

So, why don't I sell them? It's a lot more fun to share them!!

6 comments:

  1. Well put. I do post cards for sale online, but I could care less if I sell them. If I had to rely on them for income, I would think and look at them differently. I really didn't start to enjoy my cards until I stopped thinking about book value and the age old question: How much is it worth? I completed a 12 step program to cure myself of the 20 years of damage Beckett and their prices did to me. I've also had the urge lately to start giving away a bunch of stuff. I (not bragging) have over 100,000 cards. My wife is also mad at the space they take up. I'm gonna dig for some odd ball Indians cards, and send 'em your way. Email me you adress to Joe74mj@comcast.net

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  2. You've hit upon the secret of life: it's better to give. I thank you again. You've set a great example.

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  3. This is exactly why I got back into the hobby - people like you and blogs of the people who comment here and such. Trading, mailing, receiving cards is half the fun of owning the card because it's so great to let someone have in possession a card that they will appreciate much more than yourself.

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  4. Your generosity has finally given me the motivation to begin organizing my "commons." I would love to be able to make people smile as big as I was smiling when I opened my Trick-or-Treat package.

    I have had a lot of fun pulling out mid-air moments, smileys, asian players, and obsolete technology for the wonderful folks at Dinged Corners, too.

    I am two 5000 ct boxes in to the job... at this rate I will be done in about a year.

    Hmmmm... Come to think of it... DARN YOU!!!

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  5. That stamp.......... IS AWESOME

    Keep up the good work buddy, I'm glad I helped influence such a force of good in the world.

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  6. Heh-heh, yeah, I saw that stamp and couldn't resist! :-)

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