The Taxman Cometh For Your Baseball Cards

Jun 10, 2021 | c2bmanager |

Relax, it’s only if you sell them and make a bundle. Still, keep this in mind when the time comes in order to avoid future government problems. I’d imagine that this would apply to all other items sold, consult your tax adviser to make sure.

 

Baseball cards have been around for more than 130 years. They might now be in their Golden Age. As cards attract higher prices, some collectors are reaping large gains. Those gains aren’t exempt from the long reaches of the Internal Revenue Service.

“We’re in the third inning, not the seventh or eighth inning, of a period of escalation and interest,” says Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions in New Jersey. Goldin estimates the upward trajectory of the card market began in 2016. It took a “steep” climb last year, followed by another high jump after the coronavirus pandemic struck in March.

Goldin uses the value of a signed Fernando Tatis, Jr. rookie card as an illustration. Before the pandemic began, Goldin estimates such a card was worth about $30,000. Yet in August it priced at $217,200. A month later it fetched bids of as high as $241,200. (Read more)

 

241k! Wow, and for a player who’s barely started his career!