I have a dilemma and would like some opinions please

[theoldtrout01876]

This may be long but I am soooo torn about what to do. The mother in me is fighting with the greedy cow in me.

i have 2 sons, both moved out years ago. They both literally abandoned everything they didnt want and buggered off to their new apartments leaving me to sort the mess. Im talking clothes, books, furniture, electronics etc. They are 26 and 28 now incase its relevant. My oldest boy did ask if I would hold onto his pokemon cards as he had nowhere to store them etc. Its the only thing I was asked to hold on to.As I was clearing the stuff they left, I came across the pokemon cards DS1 asked me to hold on to for him, also a folder that belonged to DS2, also full of pokemon cards. He was never into pokemon like the older one was and I reckon he hadnt even remembered he had it. They have sat in my basement for about 5 years now.
I have literally just discovered that some of the cards in Ds2 folder are worth money, like a lot of money. My Dd2 is looking through them and has only got 1/4 of the way through Ds2 folder and so far we are at $12000 .
My dilemma is, do I tell him? I could do with 12 grand right now, but then so could he. If he knows about this he wouldnt even consider splitting the money, it would be all his. He abandoned them, I saved them, to be honest as I didnt know which book was Ds1 and was ready to throw them out.
The mum in me wants to make his day and tell him, the greedy cow in me says bugger him, they are mine now.
What would you do

These are cards from the early to late 90s btw, neither son is still into pokemon

Im not a troll and I am questioning whether it would actually be stealing. I had already decided to tell my son but was exploring the feelings that I had gotten on discovering this and wanted some opinions.
My sons moved out a couple years apart but due to some complicated internal moving around before hand I wasnt able to finally clear their space till DS 2 moved out.
I gave him a hard time for buggering off and leaving so much crap behind, he told me to throw the whole lot away. I had to rent a dumpster there was so much crap left behind.
I had no intentions of keeping the money but was really surprised at my thoughts and feelings over this. I couldnt get my head round the fact that I could keep it and not tell him but felt awful, even though he had told me to throw it away.
I still dont see it as stealing from my son though, but Im glad I decided to tell him about it

Oh and I paid for them in the first place, he was a child

Wow! Not your cards, return ASAP. Great legacy...

Fuck it, sell them.

I would bet that they wouldnt even give it a seconds thought that you have them.

The amount of crap I had to go through when my eldest moved out and left the .....well.....calling it a skip with a roof makes it sound better than it was, would more than justify it for me!

I gave him a hard time for buggering off and leaving so much crap behind, he told me to throw the whole lot away.

And....?!

They’re not yours to sell are they?

Tbh I can see how you raised a selfish child that wouldn't even think of sharing the money with you when you have the attitude you do.

I don't think you really have any intention to pocket the money. Tell him its time to come & pick up his stuff or you will dispose of it as you see fit. I wouldn't get excited about what they might be worth. A friend of mine had a bunch of 'ultra rare' from early 90's he was told were worth a few bob, in reality the most he got was about £20.

They aren't worth what you think they are. Not even nearly.

I am jealous of your Pokemon cards. I love Pokemon. They also belong to your son. End of.

Hi Op
I am not sure, I don't think those pokeman cards are worth as much as you think..!

I would tell your sons you think it might be a good idea to sell the those pokeman cards,see what they think??
If you find out how much these kinds of cards are worth,an sell them, you defo need to split the proceds fairly 50/50 ...

He abandoned them, I saved them,

Nonsense! He asked you to look after them and now you are considering stealing them and selling them.

You can't possibly sell them and keep the money.

@TimeToCloseTheDoor

Oh, not yours to get valued or sold...

Would you still be saying that if a tenant had left items when moving out of a property?

@GarlicSoup yes tenants are the exact same thing as your children aren’t they. Zero differences.

Don't do it like this.
Remind him of the cards, tell him that either he takes them or you will be selling them as they are worth money and you could use the money. Maybe say that you're happy to split 80/20. If he wants to sell them ask for a 10-20%. They were brought with your money I presume.
If he is a lazy ass, then he won't want to bother, so you'll end up selling them*. Meaning that he doesn't really deserves the 20%, but that is there to please the mum in you :)
If he can be bothered to do it himself, then the small extra money is exactly what it is for you: extra.

I told exactly this to my 15yr old regarding magic cards. We have about 6k sitting in the cupboard. I play too, so kinda know what is worth what by looking at it. I selected the top 300 cards, told him the above and then let him decide. He selected about 50 that he wants to keep for future play, apart from that I sold them. He even said he doesn't want any money from it as I paid for them and he used them so it wouldn't be fair. No he is not an angel by any means, just knows which battles to fight and now he has massive emotional "debt" with me which I will regret later on (probs when he will bring it up when asking for car keys or something :))

*make sure that you look at specialist sites and marketplaces not just ebay. ebay can be misleading as it sometimes reflects only the seller's wish, not the actual value of a card.

@paganbilly

He abandoned them, I saved them,

Nonsense! He asked you to look after them and now you are considering stealing them and selling them.

No, she has saved the ones requested to be saved by one son, the other told her to "throw the lot out" and it is THOSE that she was questioning whether to sell.

They are his cards!

Ds1 asked me to save his cards . Ds 2 was never really into them as a kid and on moving out told me to throw throw them away. I havent even looked at Ds1 cards cos he has always asked me to keep them
for him

Are they in mint condition?

Charge him 50% of proceeds for storage

It doesn't matter that you paid for them. They are his. If you bought a book for your child, it's theirs. If it happens to be a first edition of a rare collectors item, it is your child's property, that value is theirs.
Are you in the UK?

Good god ! Tell your son. This shouldn’t be a dilemma at all. They aren’t yours. You didn’t ‘save’ them you just didn’t chick them out ffs.

They're not yours, they're his.Tell him you think they might be valuable and ask him if you can sell them as you're in a difficult place financially atm. Up to him how he shares any proceeds. But don't steal. Especially not from your child.

Sell them and split the money. That’s fair.

Talk to them about the cards. Tell them you want them out of your house. Even the smallest apartment has somewhere to store a few cards. They can't expect you to provide free storage facilities for life.

Give him the choice of taking the cards to keep or sell or offer to sell them for him for a cut of 20%, like a PP says. I think that's fair.

You can't sell them and keep the money without telling him as it would cause a fallout if he found out.