General Forum

So do you think higher gas prices in 2022 will lower card values?

I know it has lowered my budget to buy them, hopefully not you all 

Interesting thought. As they say, something is only worth what someone else is willing to give for it, so if there is a decline in the market, seemingly the asking prices would have to drop if sellers want to move their items. Then again, the 2020 Covid year is said to have boosted an increase in the hobby and I've watched selling prices quickly increase. I'm seeing some of the vintage cards that I purchased 2017-19 are listed on eBay for double to triple what I paid for them. That makes me feel good that I bought them when I did as opposed to needing them now. As a collector and not a seller or doing this as an investment, I hope that the prices will drop, some of them are ridiculous to me. 

I think that as necessities rise, non-necessities "should" drop.  Also, as there are more things for people to do with their time and money again, cards should become more readily available.  I think that's why every Walmart in my area is loaded with cards again.  I guess it depends on what you are buying too.

If gas goes up, it costs more to get them to the store.  The demand is so high, it's rare that I even see baseball cards in the stores around here.   
 

Now if the flippers don't have as much money and demand goes down because people don't have funds and you start seeing product in the stores, then at least you will not have to pay more than retail to get cards.   So in that regard, maybe prices come down.

Increased gas prices, almost double-digit inflation, skyrocketing rents and housing shortages, wars, and soon-to-be rising interest rates do not bode well on discretionary spending. Coupled with the cyclical nature/bubble of the card market, we may already be getting there. In my area, shelves are full again at Walmart and Target. Also, a lot of speculators who sent their cards in to PSA before the cutoff are finally getting them back, and many aren't getting the 'Gem Mint 10's' they were hoping. Lately I've seen a lot of 2019-21 PSA 8 and 9 product for sale on eBay for barely the cost of submission, especially for 'prospects' who haven't panned out.

That being said, some cards, especially vintage, may have a 'new normal' and will not see prices come down any time soon, if ever. That is unless people are forced to sell off their collections because of a recession (which all indications show is coming) affecting their pocket books.

It's a hobby, card collecting, something to enjoy and spend your disposable income on. If you have less to spend it can still be viable option but you'll have to alter your chioces. The rich (or the 1%) will almost never be effected by anything that goes on in the world, and will continue on business as usual. If you are in this thing to make money quickly ... Get Out Now! Things are not going to get better, or "get back to normal" in the near future. If however you are willing to wait until say the year 2050 (next projected sports card boom) then yes eventually the prices will go back up.

If gas prices go up, the cost of everything goes up.   Increases in supply chain cost will always get passed along to the consumer.

I think with money getting tighter with things increasing in cost we could see the price of cards come down simply due to the fact that the people in the last few years who got into the hobby may leave. People who have invested in the hobby their whole life arne't going anywhere. Those who got into it beucase it was the next hot thing will probably leave because they have to cut cost in different areas of their lives.

I like to work 100 hours a week with 4-6 hours of sleep a day. But my last shift at work I put in 258.5 hours with an average of 1.5 hours a day.  I prefer gas around 3.00-3.50 but higher less sleep I get 

It will be (at best) like 2008. There will be a lag and it won't include everything. High value items will still stay at their values but the mid to lower tier items will get cheaper. Speculators and hoarders will get out. In 2008 despite whatever they said on TV or the radio, you could tell that the economy wasn't doing well when people started to have garage sales on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. When this starts to happen is when people will be looking to liquidate and you can get some good stuff if you do bulk deals. Then you talk to flea market vendors or people at garage sales inquiring about people wanting to move inventory. So when this happens, "prices" will go down but they may not be going down on Ebay or websites.