Quick example of me and leverage. I bought a ga

Quick example of me and leverage.

I bought a game used, rookie Derek Jeter jersey in 1999 for $2,000. I was offered over $150,000 for it a few years ago but didn't sell because I wanted to wait until he got into the Hall of Fame for the price to go even higher. He just got into the Hall of Fame last year. I had leverage because I had what people wanted AND I didn't need the money.

BUT...in the couple of years since I was offered $150K and now, something new in the hobby has evolved, a bullshit thing called "photomatching", where a company charges you up the butt to find a picture of the athlete wearing that exact jersey. Well, they couldn't find one with Derek in my exact jersey, so suddenly, the jersey was worth far less because no one could PROVE he wore it, even though all of the pro tagging was correct, he signed it for me when we were friendly years ago...but it didn't matter.

I sold the jersey in December of last year for $100,000. I still did great on a $2k investment, but I lost my leverage without a photomatch. And, at the time, the money was going to be very helpful to me and I really did want to sell it. Again, lost my leverage. If, in the coming years, someone finds a photo of Derek in that jersey, they will have leverage.