What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to stacking slabs.

This is your hobby content alternative. I'm your host, Brett. How we doing? Everyone doing okay? Everyone enjoying your collecting journey? So a lot of twists and turns along the way. Hope you're having fun.

Appreciate you being here. Being part of the stacking slab squad, there is a lot of choice. There's a lot of options and opportunity when it comes to content in the hobby, and appreciate you spending some time here with me.

Today, we are going to continue down the path of exploring each of the individual topics that made up chapters in my book, Collecting for Keeps Finding Meaning in a Hobby Built on Hype.

If you wanna check that whole publication out, it's all digital. It's free. Link is in the show notes. Today, we're going to be exploring the topic of letting go, the psychology of evolving your collection.

I have shared in a lot of different content that I've done over the years that I am a very, a person who appreciates evolution, a person who appreciates change.

I don't like things to stay the same way, which reflects in my collection. Feel like when there's movement, you realize at its core what you value personally above all else.

And so I wanna talk about letting go, and I think letting go is definitely a topic that is important to dig into now in this market where things are selling for all time highs.

And you might be holding a piece that, you might do very well if you take it to market. And I think it's just finding those asking ourselves those questions and exploring that.

That's what we're gonna do today. And I find there a lot there there's a lot of growth when it comes to making the decision to let go of something. Also another disclaimer.

The and I love talking about this topic because I think it's interesting, but don't let individuals in the hobby try to trick you and try to make you feel bad for letting go of cards. They don't understand your situation.

They don't understand your finances. They don't understand the direction that you're going. More people should just worry about their own collections. Don't let labels or pseudo labels like true collector, deter you from selling cards.

This is a market. There is buy, sell, trade. Movement happens. If I had all the money in the world, I would keep everything that I bought, but that's not the reality.

So I just wanted to say that upfront. It's okay to let go of cards. But I also wanna say upfront, thank you to my good friends at Inferno Red Technology for sponsoring the flagship episode of Stacking Slabs.

They're the engineering team behind some of the biggest names in sports and collectibles like DC Sports 87, ComC, Collectors, Upper Deck, and eBay.

From AI powered solutions for startups to full stack platforms for industry leaders, their team can tackle your toughest technology challenge. They build awesome software for the hobby for leagues and fans and for everyone in between.

See what they can build for you at infernored. com. There will be another episode of Built for the Hobby with Scott Locke, the CEO at Inferno Red Technology, and it will be out by the time this episode goes live.

So make sure you go check it out. Alright. Let's get into it. Growth in collecting is never just about acquiring more.

I think it's also about knowing when to let go. I think for many of us collectors, it's certainly easier said than done. We spend years chasing one special card, relishing that thrill of adding that to our collection.

And the market, like today, it's booming, and suddenly selling that card could net you a nifty profit. I think as you hold it in your hands, and we've got these card in our collections, you feel this sense of doubt.

Should you cash in while the bull market roars or hold on to that card that you love? For me, it's in these moments, it's a natural question. It's natural to question ourselves in our motives.

Are we doing the right thing by letting go, or will we regret it later? These are the kinds of reflections that many collectors are grappling with right now, especially amid the type of market we're operating in.

We'll explore in this episode why parting with beloved cards can be emotionally challenging, what happens to our psyche in a bull market, and how letting go when done thoughtfully can actually prepare propel our collections to brand new heights.

I think the hardest part is that letting go of cards isn't just a logistical decision about money or space.

It is an emotional hurdle. We're emotional people as collectors, and we have to overcome this emotion to get to the point where we realize that it might make sense to get rid of a card.

Psychologically, I think we're we're wired to overvalue everything we own. Think about that.

Think about the cards in your collection and when you bought them, how long you've held them, and if someone were to approach you now with an offer that was similar to the last comp, especially if the card was unique and rare and hasn't sold in a long time, there's no chance that you would sell it for the last time you bought it for.

I think this is known as the endowment effect. It's an emotional bias where ownership inflates an item's worth in our eyes.

We love the cards. It belongs to us, or we have a sense of connection. Your card feels more valuable to you simply because it is yours. It is rich with memories and efforts that you invested to obtain it in.

This dilemma or this dynamic is the reason why it's really freaking hard to sell. I think parting with cherished cards can almost feel like parting with a piece of ourselves.

I've experienced it this year. I'm not at liberty to completely share or talk about it, but I sold cards recently because I couldn't not capitalize.

And those funds help give me the op presented the opportunity to explore new paths in my collecting. And I think beyond that, our collections often become extensions of who we are as people.

We pour all of this time, energy, resources, and money into building them. And I think when it comes at time to sell, it's easy to take it personally if others don't value those cards as much as us.

It can feel like a rejection. There's the sentimental factor. Cards carry stories. The player you idolize growing up, the card show where you found the hidden gem or the friend you traded it to, those memories never have a price tag.

Selling the card can feel like a selling a story or even a personal collection, especially when a card is a part of a larger collection project or theme.

It becomes sticky in our minds. It's a piece of the puzzle. I don't sell cards that are connected back to projects that I'm currently working on.

That's my safeguard. Because if I do it, then what's the point? And so for me, a safety mechanism for selling cards is, what is this connected to? That's a question I ask myself.

And if it's connected to something I'm currently building or working on that I'm really enjoying, I don't sell it. But if it's on an island, I'm more inclined to sell it. That's just me. I think there's a fear of regret.

We fear that if we sell a card, it might double the next within the next sale. This fear can be paralyzing, and a lot of collectors think that cards that they love can skyrocket and will skyrocket in value.

But the reality is I think if the card is entering your brain to sell, it might better just sell it and be done with it.

I think it helps us remember why we bought the card in the first place when we get to this point. Did that card no longer fit your focus? Did the money go towards something you want to want more?

I think the best decision you you can have is asking yourself the questions and getting that information so that it helps guide your decision. Regret is always natural, but it doesn't have to move your day. I get stuck, man.

I get stuck in this mode and mindset. I was in one of these this week, where I'm thinking about the end of my year. I'm thinking about my financial situation. I'm thinking about different opportunities with my collecting.

And I opened up my box, and I started putting cards out on the bed. And I said, do I want these cards, or do I want the opportunity that getting cash from these cards can provide me?

And I that's then I started thinking about, well, I don't wanna get rid of that card. And I I just was wrestling with it in my brain for too long, and I just, like, detached. I said, stop thinking about it. Let's sleep on it.

And then twenty four hours later, I have a fresh perspective. I think strategy experienced collectors use is to remind themselves of the enjoyment and utility that they already got while a card has been in their collection.

Thrill of owning it, showing it off, making it a part of your story. You can't take that away. So that's something in my mind that I use in order to help guide and make decisions.

I think emotional detachment is one side of the coin. Marking conditions are certainly the other. In a bull market when prices for cards are surging across the board, the act of letting go becomes even more psychologically complex.

On one hand, you've got a ripping market, which means strong demand. If you list a card now, chances are you'll fetch a high price.

On the other hand, the very fact that prices are climbing can trigger investors can trigger investors and can bring this kind of irrational exuberance or the belief that values will keep rising indefinitely.

I'm not an expert on the sports card market, but I will tell you right here, values never just go up forever. And you combine that with bull market. You combine that with investor mindset.

You combine that with content. It's all adding fuel to the fire. Think paradoxically, bull markets can also breed anxiety. When everything is going up, some collectors live in constant fear for selling too early.

It's almost like the high stakes game of chicken. You don't wanna exit before the peak, but you also don't wanna be left holding the bag when the music stops, the record scratching.

This is where a bit of realism or humility is valuable. No no rally lasts forever, and no one can act accurately predict the top even though a lot of people think they can. What goes up will always come down.

It's just the way the hobby rolls. Who doesn't remember the pandemic boom? I've been talking a lot about that in content recently. Many swore prices would never dip again, but there was a a harsh lesson when the market cooled off.

The lesson to me is if you position if your position of significant profit on a card is no no longer fits your long term collecting goals, it can be wise to bank those gains.

Trust your instinct and intuition. Have courage to sell. I promise you the way you're thinking about your situation is probably way more helpful than having other people try to think about your situation for you.

I think the decision to sell in a boom should also factor into your personal enjoyment, of course. Just because the market is hot doesn't mean you must sell everything that's up.

This is where your own self awareness comes in. Are you holding the cards because you love them or because you think they're gonna continue to go up in in value?

If it's the latter, you're treating it more of an investment than a treasure collectible and selling during times where there's flags and indicators saying, hey.

We're paying strong might be the move. If it's the former, then no market frenzy should pressure you into letting it go.

Think about those cards in your collection that sit in each of those buckets. It is really fun to go through that exercise and put them into piles and then ask.

The pile that I have no emotional attachment to, is now the time? Chances are it it could be. It might sound counterintuitive, but sometimes the best thing for your collection is to let go of certain cards.

When you do it thoughtfully, selling cards can be strategic, not just painful. It's like, pruning a garden. By trimming some branches, you allow the rest to flourish.

Far from signaling the end of something, letting go can be the mark of something new, a new journey for you in your collection. One obvious benefit of selling is you've got more financial freedom.

Right? Cards are assets. They're expensive, and getting cash affords you to make decisions, whether that's buying a new card, whether that's paying for something in your house, you know, just anything.

I think reframing is always important rather than viewing it as a sale to lose a card.

The way I think about it is the the gaining an opportunity. Freeing up capital from a piece of card where that will give me money to then go take an opportunity at something next.

Another benefit is the focus it can bring to your collection. When you evaluate your cards, you decide which no longer fit.

You're forced to refine what your collection is really about. Perhaps you've been accumulating a bit of everything over the years, and it's starting to feel unfocused or overwhelming.

Letting go of the extras, the cards you bought on impulse, the ones that don't make you feel much anymore will clarify the core of your PC. Here's another. This stuff drives me crazy.

If someone just bought a card and then a month later, they sell the card, Let them be. There is this thing called being in hand that sometimes we realize after we spent time with a card for a few weeks, we no longer want it.

It wasn't a good decision. Not every card we buy is a home run. If people are selling cards a month after they bought them, let them be.

You don't know their situation. One method you can do is categorize your cards by role or meaning. You can classify them. You might realize a card you've hung on to is not actually part of your core theme.

And I think understanding this is the path to take in order to realize what stays and what's go. Letting go can also be a strategy to realign your goals. Collector's goals change over time.

I mentioned everything in my collection is an evolution, so goals naturally change. But maybe when you started, you wanted a rookie card of every player, but now you are into vintage or condition or rarity.

If a card you acquired under an old goal that no longer matters to you, then that to me is a prime candidate for selling.

You gotta understand this stuff by thinking about it, thinking about it for yourself and digging in. I think there's learning and discipline that comes from letting go.

It's like building a muscle where the more you do, the easier it becomes to to have access to your or to access your collection critically. I think early on, every sale might feel painful, but over time, it be gets gets easier.

I don't know about you, but that's how I feel. I feel like the more I get comfortable in my own process, in my own skin, and the vision and the collection that I want to build, it makes it really easy.

When you have structure on your decision making, when you have a process, when you have motivations, desires, when you have goals, when you have all those things together, it makes it really easy to let go of people or cards.

And I was thinking about people, but I was gonna draw that to, building a company or being a hiring manager or managing a team.

It's like, sometimes the soul in the role does not have the skill set and qualifications for the new era a company might move in, and you gotta let people go.

It's I don't wanna compare people to cards, but I don't know. That's how I think about it. And you gotta you gotta take out the emotion.

You just you gotta make it happen because you know the ends will justify the means. And I think to put some of the strategy into action, here are some ways that I think about it or questions that I ask.

Does this card fit my current collecting focus? If not, the value the value might have diminished to you. I think that's a sign it could be time to let go of something that doesn't fit.

Am I keeping this card for emotional reasons or just because the price potential? Very important question. What's the opportunity cost? Another really important question.

Am I prepared for this card's value to possibly dip? Have I made peace with letting go? Think taking the moment to acknowledge the role that the card played, the joy that it gave you, those memories that around it.

By honoring that, you ensure you're letting it go without bitterness or unresolved attachment. You're more likely to be satisfied with the decision later. At its core, learning to let go is about growth.

We led with that. I think collectors often focus on growth in terms of acquiring more cards, but growth can also mean refining and evolving what we have. It's It's realizing that our hobby isn't just a one way road of accumulation.

It's a continuous journey of change. Taste evolve, market evolves, we evolve. There's something liberating by accepting that a collection is a living thing meant to be tuned and pruned over time.

Selling a card you love can suck and can hurt. I've been there. There might have been a piece of you once attached to that card that's no longer there.

There's power in not being owned by your cards. When you look at your collection and knowing that everything in it truly deserves to be there, that's the home run scenario for me.

Also, just a reminder, like, you're not alone in the struggle. If you're deep in the weeds and in it, you're listening to this show, like, we're all here.

In fact, sharing these experiences is part of the hobby. Like, have conversations, talk to other collectors, get validated with letting go. Think consider this episode permission to give yourself a break.

It's okay to let go. It doesn't make you less of a collector even though there are some curmudgeons out there that wanna make you feel that way. Don't let other people influence how you feel.

Letting it go could be the best freaking decision. Letting go of a card can be the best freaking decision you'll ever make. It can make you a happier collector because it presents new opportunities.

Your hobby should serve you, not the other way around. If a card has become a ball and chain because of value, lack of interest, anxiety, all those things, freeing yourself from that weight is freaking powerful.

Think of one card in your collection right now that could you let go of without losing the essence of what you love in your collection.

Imagine what letting go of that card could do for your bigger goals. Maybe it funds a new lane, or maybe it just removes some clutter and refocus your attentions on the cards you cherish most.

Remember, collections grow stronger not just by what we add, but sometimes by what we remove. Letting go is part of the natural life cycle of collecting. I love this stuff. I love thinking about this stuff.

I think about it way too much. All of the content psychology cards, collecting, all of those in a pot boiling together is just, the stew that I want to consume and want to serve to other people because I love this stuff.

It's feels like this is what I'm meant to explore in my mind, and I spend way too much time exploring it.

But I think it's my main message is just letting all of you know. It's like sell some damn cards if it's if it's been on your mind, if it's weighing on you.

Don't let other people impact or influence or hinder you from doing that if it's how you feel and it's what you should do. You'll be amazed at what that can do for you in your collecting. My name is Brett.

I got a network. It's called Stacking Slabs. We release new shows on here every damn day about collecting. Appreciate you tuning in. Follow me at stacking slabs on the Instagram machine or anywhere else. We'll talk to you soon.