People ask me every day, and twice on Sunday, “What’s it worth? My dad left me XYZ, could this really be worth some money?”
It’s not the worth that counts, but how your item makes you feel.
For me personally, my most valuable collectibles are from the players and experiences I enjoyed most. That’s what collecting is all about—having something to recall your fondest memories.
Take the ’94 Stanley Cup, for example. When I grew up, I lived and died with the New York Rangers, day in and day out. I waited my whole damn life for a championship in New York. By the time I was in my mid-thirties, I finally got one. Yes, me. As a die-hard fan, when you eat, breath and sleep everything about your team, that championship is yours, too. I even got to take my son to the game, though he was just two years old at the time. So, by far, one of my favorite and most cherished pieces is the picture of Mark Messier grinning widely as he's handed the Stanley Cup.
Anything with Walt “Clyde” Frazier or Earl “the Pearl” Monroe are some other favorites. As a kid, I spent so many nights trying to mimic my game after theirs. I really love this photo of the two playing against each other before the two were teammates on the Knicks because it takes me back to my childhood.
Jeff Gitomer, a renowned speaker and author and great personal friend of mine, says, “People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy.” When I started Steiner Sports I wanted to connect people with their favorite sports memories. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, about selling people things they don’t want. The emotional connection they have to those memories is a “buying motive,” as Jeff would call it.
Sometimes people may want to sell an item because they really need some extra money. If you’re not in that situation, before you choose to put an item up for sale that’s been passed down to you, think about what the item really means first. Ask what is it worth to you? The same goes when buying something from Steiner. What will have meaning to you and what will you cherish most?
What are some of your most prized sports collectibles? Why? What’s your story?
