• PCF is an Amazon Associate and an eBay Partner. If you make a purchase through one of our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

What happens to your chips when you croak? (1 Viewer)

Taghkanic

Taghkanic

Straight Flush
Supporter
Joined
Jul 11, 2017
Messages
9,090
Reaction score
13,614
Location
Columbia County, NY
What will happen to your chip collection when you kick the bucket?

I’ve been rewriting my will, and am working through how to help my heirs sell my collection... My thoughts/concerns in comments.

I’m curious what plans if any other PCFers have made in this regard.
 
So my significant other knows nothing about chips, except that I have a lot of them. She’s not a member here, and would be unlikely to go through the process of creating an account and racking up the minimum number of messages to qualify to post sales. Ditto the executor of my will.

She could sell them on eBay or Etsy, platforms she is familiar with. But those involve fees and a lot of b.s. and potential scams compared to your typical PCF transactions.

One thought I have is to designate a PCFer as an “agent” to help her make the sale. This person would get some kind of fee or honorarium for the assistance. However, finding the right person isn't so simple and it’s a bit of a burden to impose on someone.
 
Whatever solution I decide upon, I was planning to leave a document and thumbdrive or online photo archive of some kind which (a) proves that my heirs have the right to sell my chips, so that it doesn't look fishy to buyers; (b) documents everything with PCF-grade photos and descriptions; and (c) gives an estimate of the minimum these should go for.

Another idea I had was to create a gallery here which keeps a running inventory of my collection, so that it is all there in the event they need to be sold.
 
Right now the only one in my family who is into poker is my daughter, so she'd get them. Though the archive of pictures and estimated minimum price are a good shout and I may do that for any I expect she might want to sell.
 
some of us have "chip wills". In my case it is an explicit potion of my will warning my executor to treat the chips as extremely valuable - worth tens of thousands, perhaps a hundred thousand dollars in value.

I expect to run into extreme "friction" disposing of my chips. Asking someone to handle what will be a substantial job shouldn't be for free. (plus you get what you pay for, an unpaid agent may not be very hardworking.) I expect commissions will run something in the 25% to 40% range.

It was temping to actually name a specific member as your agent. That might be a good idea if you knew death was coming soon. In my case, my median life expectancy is 15-20 years. Members come and go. They also die just like we might. Knowing who is going to be able, interested and knowledgeable in 2040 seems pretty hard to project.

Doing it yourself as your years wind down makes sense. My wife is already wondering if I shouldn't start that process now. I am wondering the same.

Be mindful there are serious tax matters to consider. Your chips can be sold tax free after death. Selling before death means you are looking at the punitive collectable tax rates. AND you can't offset losses with gains. You pay tax on every chip you made money on and get no saving for chips you lost money on. People with small collections purchased in the boom years aren't as exposed. Me? I guess I have ~$50K+ in unrealized gains sitting in my chip collection.

One thing not to do - - - don't let your chips get sold for pennies in an estate sale by a grieving family member who doesn't have a clue. It would be a shame if your last impression on PCF is someone laughing at the massive score they found in someone's ignorant bulk sale of their grandfather's estate.

DrStrange
 
Despite being in my twenties, the anxious mind cannot rest and I’ve thought about this as well. I have two close friends I would trust with anything in life and certainly with selling off my chips thoughtfully and successfully. My wife knows she’s to go to them for all my collections and valuables god forbid anything happens to me. In some decades I assume I would formalize this more as you are all discussing.

A commission seems obvious. Doing the hard work of photos, minimum price, even writing up full descriptions on everything and how they should be organized (what things listed together, which separately).
 
At the age of 46 I have considered this as well as my modest collections of various items such as power tools, firearms, etc. If tragedy were to strike relatively soon, there's a couple PCFers in my vicinity that I like to think would help my wife liquidate the collection, since she'll probably need the funds. I'd do the same for them.

But assuming an average life expectancy, I imagine my poker gear will wind up in the hands of my youngest son, who at 12 has taken in interest in the game. Ensuring he understands the value of the chips will be important - as is the standard procedure if he decided to liquidate the collection.
 
ekricket said:
I don’t much care after I’m gone. Whatever makes the survivors happy.
Click to expand...

I don't care either, but I would like my “survivors” to get a decent price for whatever they inherit. (Money would contribute to their future happiness.)

My concern is that getting fair value would not be a simple process unless there is another chipper lined up to help. Even then, some arrangements/conversation in advance seems like a good idea.
 
Keep what you really play with. Sell the rest yourself. Just look at it soberly. And in general, talk to your wife or relative, explain how important it is to you, leave a note with an approximate cost and someone will take care of it...
It's all really simple...
Just take care of it yourself and it will really make things easier for you. If you don't want them to end up at yard sales for pennies, but to bring pleasure to someone who will appreciate it.
In the end, take it to Spinetti...
 
Polish_20250529_161808592.jpg
 
maxim_666666 said:
Keep what you really play with. Sell the rest yourself.
Click to expand...

Almost there. But I still have the same problem.

My keepers are a big (1,300+ chip) custom THC cash set which gets used 20+ times per year, and a big tournament set (similar size). If I don't host another tourney soon, I might liquidate the latter.

I also still have a late 60s casino HHR cash set, and a lot of THC solids, plus some random H-molds, and a sample set collection, and several color and spot sample sets. Most of these will probably get sold by the end of the year.

But even if I pare it all the way down to just one cash set, there is still a lot of value there, and the same problem persists. My s.o. is not likely to go through the process of becoming a PCFer and selling it. Also not trained in how to properly package them for shipping etc. So a chip handler of some sort seems in order.
 
@Irish is my collection's executor should I go before he does.

Ad a backup, I have a document on my laptop for my wife to find with instructions of what is to be kept for the kids and passed down through the generations, and what is to be sold, with general ballpark prices.
 
As somebody who nearly died a month ago (and was given a 9% chance of croaking in the next 90 days), my need to liquidate my chip related assets has somewhat escalated recently.

I'd rather sell them myself than burden others. Available time and energy are the variables.
 
BGinGA said:
As somebody who nearly died a month ago (and was given a 9% chance of croaking in the next 90 days), my need to liquidate my chip related assets has somewhat escalated recently.

I'd rather sell them myself than burden others. Available time and energy are the variables.
Click to expand...
Hope everything is well and things on the up and up.

For your collection? May need "The Vault Raiders" @horseshoez and @davislane
 
BGinGA said:
As somebody who nearly died a month ago (and was given a 9% chance of croaking in the next 90 days), my need to liquidate my chip related assets has somewhat escalated recently.

I'd rather sell them myself than burden others. Available time and energy are the variables.
Click to expand...

Very sorry to hear this, Dave. Health comes first and I hope all goes well on your end. Health = wealth. Period.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Register

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Similar threads

JMC9389
Your PCF Bucket List
2 3
Replies
78
Views
4K
upNdown
upNdown
upNdown
Sizing your bets to get it all in on the river
Replies
19
Views
6K
muneyjordan
muneyjordan
Jers28
Missouri Poker Room?
Replies
11
Views
901
BadKarma
BadKarma
Carnth
What happens when shipping goes wrong.
2
Replies
32
Views
3K
rustycheerio
R
Big_Bear
Advice on a Cash Set
Replies
15
Views
510
gopherblue
gopherblue
Back
Top Bottom
Cart

Cart

Total -