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I once saw this concept on a message board and thought that it would be a great “feature” for the content of SportsCardsUncensored. Have you ever wondered exactly what the return value of a purchase of cards is? Have you ever really wanted to see a breakdown of Beckett’s Inflated Value vs. Ebay Real Value of a random case of cards? Have you ever wanted to see if a certain product was worth a large investment of your own money? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you should love this new feature.
The new feature is heavily dependant on the “collective” readership of SCU. Here is what happens. We sell 50 “shares” in a case (think of it as an investment) in order to purchase the case. Then we break the case on video (just like we do for our group breaks posted on here and on YouTube). After the break, I will list all of the cards from the break on Ebay and sell them (7 day auctions with no reserve…have to push the free market idea). After all of the sales have been finalized (delivered to customer via tracking, etc.) we will then do a breakdown in 2 ways.
First, we will do a breakdown of sale value vs. purchase value. In other words how much of your original investment could you expect to get back if you were to sell all of the cards (assuming that the case is an indication of an “average” case).
Second, we will do a breakdown of “Beckett” book value vs. Ebay sale value. What percentage of the Beckett value can you expect to actually get out of your cards? Hopefully this will give some concrete evidence of how disconnected “book” can be for collectors.
Finally, the best part about the feature. After taking all of the expenses (case cost, paypal fees, ebay fees, shipping fees) and subtracting them from the income (share income, sale income) the money left over will then be refunded to each “share” holder. Of course if the sale values are very good (think a huge hit, etc.) then there is a chance each share holder could make a profit. However, odds are that we could expect to make roughly 50% of our money back at a minimum (hopefully). I will be keeping a spreadsheet of all income/expenses that would be emailed out to each “share” holder in the interest of transparency.
For example say we have $32 per share. That is a total income of $1533 (1600-1.34 per share Paypal Fees). We buy a case of Exquisite from Blowout or some other dealer at $1475. We then sell the cards on Ebay and get $1000 profit (sales – fees and shipping cost). So 1533-1475 = 58 + 1000 = $1058/50 = $21.16 per share refunded to shareholders.
Obviously this is not a money making adventure for participants, but rather it is a chance for the readership of SCU to come together to hopefully see some sweet cards pulled and to help educate the wider collecting world of the value of certain products (while of course continuing to debunk the “Gospel of Beckett Values”).
Up first will be a case of 2008 Upper Deck Exquisite. Look for the official “shareholder” sign-up tomorrow at some time. It will be a lot of work for me, but I think well worth it to continue educating the collecting world. Plus at worst I figure we maybe lose $15 per share on a product like Exquisite so it is a great starter.
Let me know what you all think.
P.S. If anyone wanted to design a sweet banner for this feature it would be greatly appreciated (I am not artistically gifted and so it would just look horrible if I did it).
Saturday, March 7, 2009
New Feature: Product Value Review
March Box Breakers Club Break
SP Rookie Edition
Upper Deck Premier
Quad Random
Cards will be shipping on Monday. Here are the "Highlights" or "Lowlights" you decide!
Friday, March 6, 2009
2008 Exquisite Football Box Break
Monthly Box Breakers Club: March
Holy Hitter- Rams, Colts
Wheeler- Raiders, Steelers, Cardinals
Kickstand- Bengals, Buccaneers
Gellman- Seahawks
Hawaiian Lion- Cowboys, 49ers
I Am Joe Collector- Ravens, Jaguars
ScubaSteve- Dolphins, Falcons
Psad21- Bills, Saints
Groat- Panthers, Eagles, Titans
TheMoose- Broncos
Arfmax- Packers, Bears
Fatcat- Texans, Chiefs
Darkship- Jets, Vikings
Whitesoxcat- Patriots, Lions
Sonic- Chargers, Browns
Voluntarheel- Titans, Giants, Panthers
Mattlange- Redskins
Trade Deadline is Saturday at 9 a.m. Central Time. Good Luck to everyone.
Big Thank You To Cardboard Reflux
We all know Voluntarheel, because he is a hilarious person who was a frequent commenter on SCU from the beginning. He has recently started an awesome blog, one that I look forward to reading each day that he posts.
For those of you who dont know, Heel collects the gold sterling cards, and I believe he is pretty close to the set. Despite my feelings on both Topps and their high end, this is an awesome gift.
MORE BREAKING NEWS: UD Lays Off More People
For those of you who missed the last post about the plant closing, there is some more supposed bad news from UD. Today I got another email from another UD employee that asked to remain anonymous:
For obvious reasons I ask to be anonymous.
More Upper Deck layoffs on Wednesday March 4, 2009.
Eight gone in production and also heavy hit in creative.
Total persons dispatched are unknown - was told it was another 16% of workforce.
Some long-term, dedicated, good people let go.
Still no management changes in these areas.
Extent of layoff in the rest of the company is unknown
All survivors, pay reduced 10%. 401K match ended.
Why UD may not be sole reason why McWilliam is in trouble, but rather Jetsource, his "Howard Hughes" endeavor:
Jet Source Slows Expansion Plans Amid Downturn
CARLSBAD, CA — Jet Source director of operations Jim Grindrod, Jr. says that charter traffic is off as much 35 percent in recent months, versus one year ago, which has led to cutbacks internally and an ongoing search for ways to cut costs. It has also led to slowing expansion plans, notably at the Henderson Airport outside Las Vegas. It had plans to add a base outside Las Vegas in 2009; however, Grindrod says that may be moved into 2010 as a result of the downturn. Company purchased over $30 million in planes last year. Pilot website says their wages have been frozen.
UPDATE: Razor Owns Up?
I see that Autograph Alert has posted a note about their conversation with Brian Gray. In a good show of support for the customers, Gray has offered to fix any problems that come up with Oval Office as soon as possible. Here is an excerpt:
He has assured www.autographalert.com that he will follow up on both the Nixon and Van Buren signatures, try to locate the persons who won the items on eBay and make it right by replacing the signatures with genuine examples. Mr. Gray has also stated that he bought the Martin Van Buren signature from a well known dealer at a Washington, DC autograph show. As Mr. Gray goes through his records he will alert us which dealer he purchased the signature and which authentication company he utilized.
In addition, to show good faith, Mr. Gray went one step further. He is willing to put up a $20,000 bond that will not be touched until the wrongs have been made right. We don't think that will be necessary but appreciate his good faith.
We have to say, if Mr. Gray follows up on his statements, we have to take our hats off to him. He will have set an example for the industry. We look forward to hearing from Mr. Gray in the near future, as we believe our readers will be interested in his findings.
Good for you Brian, glad to see you have a good head on your shoulders when it comes to bad press. See, own up, get your shit fixed, and things go much smoother.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Future Of Autographs In General
After last night, we got a pretty good picture about what some people are capable of, and it doesnt matter who they are or were. I think that of all the things we expected to go wrong with cuts, this was at the top of the list. Its not surprising, but awesome that it was discovered.
A few nights ago I had a conversation with Bailey that he discussed on his blog. Basically, my take that in the future, the only "trustworthy" source of secondary market autographs will be cards. We have seen MAJOR problems with PSA and JSA's tactics, and also a conflict of interest with the process in general (why give a good customer a bad break, right?), so they have been cleaved from the trust tree slowly but surely. Yes, I know, the only sure source is one you got yourself, but that is not always a possibility. So, how can you tell what is what these days?
The short answer is you cant, but the long answer is much more complicated. For instance, back in the beginning days of autos, there were a few players who disliked signing cards enough that they gave them to their spouse to do for them. It was quickly discovered, policy was changed, and supposedly it doesnt happen anymore. I looked on the back of the cards now, and I see wording that is legalese for "to the best of our knowledge this auto is real, and it was obtained in person or sent by the player, who gave their ceritification of authenticity." To me, that seems like an out, but again, could just be CYA.
For now, they are real to me until proven otherwise, and that is why I will continue to buy auto cards. But, what is to stop companies from avoiding the $200 per card price tag and using their own means? First, there is a lot of people who are experts outside of the manufacturer. Second, there is a kind of "you shook Sinatra's hand" code between us and them that says "we were both here before autos, lets not fuck it up," type of thing. Again, we have seen bad and worse in the last few years, and nothing is outside the realm of possibility these days.
In the future, we can expect that things will get much worse as the price tag grows. But, on the flip side, at least we are aware of a problem, rather than running blind into a wall. We know there are still Project Bullpen items still out there, and there is a pretty good idea in my head that they would pass inspection, which means, as always, trust no one.
