Mysterious Valentines Card - a good investment?

[Pardona]

I'm considering investing in some of these to sell them off by Valentines next year. Considering they're going for about 44K right now, would this be a good thing to do? I really don't know how high they tend to go around Valentines.

[Katherine]

They go up to around 100k at Valentines I believe, but it's very hard to time. Me and my brother were going to team up and buy one, so I SWed one and they were about 30k. So I decided I'd buy one in the morning, after I could serch around a bit. In the morning, they were 80k!

[Pardona]

Thanks. I know I'll probably make something off them, say at least a 100% profit, but considering I already moved into stocks recently, I wonder if my patience is going to last long enough to see the return on all those long-term investments.

[Siouxper]

The prices on MVCs fluctuate wildly during the week of Valentines Day. It's a risky investment, but it may pay off if you have the patience to sell them all.

[shapu]

I would wait until they drop to about 30k before purchasing them. Keep them in the back of your mind, and check the SW every four or five days or so.

[Pickles]

Hm. Next year being the 5th year since the sidebar (site theme, whatever) came out, they may not inflate as much as you're expecting. Also, keep in mind, they restock for a full week leading up to V-day, at only 250nps-ish each, and in large quantities. Most people are just trying to make a quick profit, so competitive pricing is *hard*. This drives the price down *fast*.

Here's a bit of history, based off of screenies taken of sales history (pricing was competitive, based on demand at the moment with the intention to sell quickly):

In 2005, they were brand new, and barely buyable. They generally sold for 99,999. Many people traded/auctioned them off for more, but I remember my husband made a cool million by RSing that day - and that's not including the one he used to get the sidebar.
In 2006, they sold for anywhere between 95k and 77k
In 2007, they sold for anywhere between 80k and 42k
This year (2008), they tended to sell for 60k to 35k. (I believe this is right, I don't have any screenies of it for this year, so that's from memory).

The trend seems to be that they are steadily becoming worth *less* during the week leading up to V-day. You *might* be able to sell for more *before* they start showing up in the gift shop, but there's no guarantees. Definitely a dangerous investment. Yes, you'll probably be able to sell them all, but for what price...there's no telling.

Hope that helps!

[Pardona]

Thanks for the numbers Pickles. Guess I'll stay in stocks then. Ah well, 't was worth a try.