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Thanks to Jason who sent me this post from a tech blog, saying that CardPricer is trying to make a name for itself by using auction data for card pricing rather than the pricing hat that beckett uses to draw their arbitrary prices out of.
Personally, I dont really care about how much my PC is worth, as I dont intend to sell any of it. However, if I encounter a retard on a message board with something I need, this site may be of use to show him how ridiculous his notions of value are.
When it comes down to it, card value is a subjective number that will never have a place in a monthly or daily guide. Something is always worth only as much as someone will pay for it, nothing more. Either way, this site may be closer to getting that value on the internet.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Does Beckett Have Some Competition That Actually Uses Real Info?
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Excellent idea, but the fact that they're baseball only sucks a big one. Write me when they add Football.
ReplyDeleteIt is a dilema - that price guides need to be sold and make money in order to cover costs.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, one of the cancers of card collecting is the emphesis on money value as the only factor.
Being a collector of many "other" cards, it has dismayed me that Beckett has totally ignored a guide - even with the layout done for them.
I used to enjoy learning about what cards or sets were rare or what variation existed.
Now Beckett is all about speculation and money value. It has gone as far as inflitrating the graded card industry - where 10's of insignificance are valued more than 1's of valor.
And its a wonder why the next generation cares less about old farts and their precious cardboard.
"When it comes down to it, card value is a subjective number that will never have a place in a monthly or daily guide. Something is always worth only as much as someone will pay for it, nothing more."
ReplyDeleteWhile this is true, knowing what a card generally sells for (as opposed to what is books for) can have an impact on what someone is willing to pay for it.
For example, Let's say you are after card A. You find that over the last month card A has been sold 10 times for an average of $30, with a high sale of $40. You then see that card for sale or being auctioned. Based on what card A has sold for in the last month, this may affect what you are willing to pay for it. If the card goes above a certain amount in an auction or is on sale above that amount - such as $35 - then you may decide to not buy it or no longer bid on it, knowing that you will probably be able to buy it for $35 or less elsewhere. Obviously this doesn't work particularly well for card that are limited in quantity.
Thus a guide that shows what cards have been selling for recently may have an impact on what someone is willing to pay for a card and thus it's "value".
Charging someone $8.99 per month to run queries on ebay for you is absurd. Anyone with a keyboard and a brain can do it themselves. Who would pay for this? Well, it would either be someone who is clueless or who is trying to make big money from selling their cards. There a TON of tools out there that are free and provide the same info. SportsLizard has one, we have one and I am sure there are others that I don't know about. This is what collectors should be using. If you want to pay $8/month for something that is free and defy economics...go right ahead. Just because the prices are "real" doesn't mean they are useful. Convincing someone your card is worth $50 because ebay says so is just as difficult as convincing someone that your card is worth $80 because Beckett says so. The person buying it has to value it that much, and who values these cards...collectors who love cards.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to my second point: that these “tools” are not built for collectors, they are built for investors.
“See your card values like they are in the stock market!”
Guess what? People don’t collect stocks…they buy and sell them, period. If you are really trying to make money buying and selling, whether a shop owner or online retailer or a CL idiot…you LOVE Beckett. Why? Because if you are in this hobby for making money, you want to convince people that your cards are worth more than they actually are.
I don’t know about you, but as a collector, I like to see what my cards are worth out of curiosity. Because it is fun. If you look at cards as an “investment”, stop being an idiot and put that $100 in your 401K. Otherwise, buy your wax, cherish your cards and check Ebay for good deals.
Oh and Groat, we have real time Football Prices if you are interested. Only some of the cards though. Yes, I am shameless. Sue me. Actually don’t. I am broke.
Great comment, Ashley!
ReplyDelete