Author Topic: Donate or Authenticate and Sell Sports Memorabilia  (Read 1983 times)

HappyHoya

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Donate or Authenticate and Sell Sports Memorabilia
« on: February 26, 2014, 08:27:34 AM »
My husband has tons of sports memorabilia his family gifted him throughout the years. He's had success selling some baseball cards and we have a pretty good idea of what the collection is worth. No individual piece is worth worth much as is, but he could get much more for them if they are authenticated (he has a few pieces in the $100-400 range). Of course, this process cost money and takes time, which is why we haven't moved on this yet. I've recently discovered some charities that look for sports memorabilia which they auction off to raise funds. These charities do not care whether it's authenticated or not, since it sounds like they receive authentication services pro bono.

We do give to charity without expecting anything back, but I'm asking this forum about the best financial decision. We will likely itemize charitable deductions for our taxes for this year, so there is a financial benefit to donating. However, we are in debt, so making the most money from these collections would be helpful, and we could potentially make more money selling them. I am not crazy about the idea of shelling out money for the authentication process before we would be able to sell, especially since it's not like this stuff is so in-demand that it's guaranteed anyone will buy it at all. To me, the authentication process seems like sinking more money into a bottomless pit of a hobby.

Has anyone ever dealt with sports memorabilia? I'd be interested in hearing about either worthy charities that will accept it or good avenues to sell, in addition to insight as to what makes the most financial sense.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2014, 08:37:00 AM by HappyHoya »

 

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