"Ebay is not a price guide" explored: What's your take?

[frankjames87]

I am pleased to see that so many of you have voiced your opinion on this matter. I just wanted to add a side note on my proposed argument. I am not debating on which is better or more accurate, Beckett or eBay are to totally different things. I'm not going to reiterate their differences, there have already been some very good points made in this thread. All I'm advocating is eBay sales should be considered when making a trade/sale just as much as Beckett prices should be considered.

[netsinah]

Perhaps I'm showing my age but many years ago, the Hockey Beckett was regarded as "THE Guide" on pricing and back then, prices used to fluctuate in Beckett based upon what was happening in the market place. Sometimes their prices took an extra issue to reflect price increases or decreases, but there were up/down arrows routinely on specific players or specific wax issues. Keep in mind that Beckett came out monthly back then, so the pricing was more current. Like other collectors, I would eagerly await the new Hockey Beckett.

Fast forward to the last five years or so: now Hockey Beckett comes out less often and its price is higher. Fine. My bigger complaint is that they RARELY change a price and it seems that Beckett isn't doing much or next to no research on its pricing. For example:

1) Stamkos rookie year prices have gone way up this year, yet the last couple of Hockey Becketts maintain the SAME PRICE on all his rookie year cards. This makes zero sense and you'd have to be willfully blind or not care about your prices, not to see what was going on and change the prices. Stamkos just happens to be one of the hottest players out there for collectors, so ignoring him is like ignoring the Titantic sinking next to your rowboat at lunchtime: "yawn, what WAS that noise and water spray Mabel and why all the screaming? Oh Charles, please FOCUS and pass the grey poupon, you know how much I dread regular mustard on my ham sandwich..." (attempted ironic humour folks).

2) Now an example closer to home for me: Eric Christensen's card pricing, since I collect him. He's a common yet his 05/06 Cup RC has remained static for about 4 years with a high value of $200. I realize Beckett has a low/high range...but I track all his Cup RC sales and a grand total of two cards sold about 4 years ago for right around $200 and that was because of their 3 color patch. That's when collectors were chasing Pittsburgh cards, because of Crosby and the thought Pittsburgh would get the Stanley Cup. After those highest prices were seen, his cards cooled down especially when he was traded from Pittsburgh and more so when he went to the Thrashers...then they went up a bit after his trade to Anaheim but then stagnated...then up a little since he's been with the Rangers. For the past 4 years, there have been absolutely zero sales above $125 (most not over $100) and worse yet, for many years even his 3 colors were selling for around $75. Yet guide after guide, Beckett has stayed at the $200 high level. So here's another example of Beckett completely ignoring reality. As well, most of the 05/06 Cup prices have remained unchanged and yet, it's considered one of THE premiere sets for hockey so you'd think that Beckett might devote just a little effort to that set...

I've mentioned some of this before in a past thread with this same topic...and nothing's changed since then. I don't understand what Beckett is doing and don't track other sports so can't comment upon whether Beckett is doing the same for them. It appears they rely upon new issue pricing to sell their publications (?) then, with the odd exception, sit on their duffs and ignore what happens afterwards. With today's prevalent internet access and ebay sales, I don't see how people can rely upon Beckett for much at all.

Anyone interested in selling their Stamkos rookie year cards for Beckett pricing, please contact me...I'm still looking for a few of his rookie year cards...

[mr ozzie]

There are so many factors that turn me off about eBay being a better guide than Beckett - instability being the biggest factor. I may be generalizing, but what I've learned from the people of SCF (mostly - since I'm not registered anywhere else), is that they will use whatever guide that suits their needs at the end of the day. If they buy a card with a BV of 50 for $5, they'll turn around and claim a 50BV card. Conversely, if they paid $30 for a 50BV card, they'll say they want something that's valued at $30. From experience, I find that dealing with Beckett people to be a lot quicker and easier than with eBay people. With Beckett, you deal with either the HI or the LO value. With eBay, heaven forbid if there are numerous sales - or even none. And even if there are sufficient sales, eBay people will still look at Beckett values and justify how they will give up a $30 (120BV) card for a $30 (60BV) card. I find it very hypocritical at times.

[gardzy99]

I completely disagree that Ebay sales should reflect upon the value of a card. I could be the sappy guy who comes in here and says "it's all about the hobby and what you want" blah blah blah, but the sales on Ebay are too fluctuating to use as a guide. If I go on ebay on Christmas Day (and I plan to) I will be able to pick up some cards I need for pennies, literally. As for the complaint about singles not dropping in value because the player has left the more popular team and his demand has dropped, you have to remember the value of the set. The set price has to play a role in the value of the cards individually. If this were not the case, set values would change with every trade, waiver claim and retirement. A set should gain value over time, not lose it. The same can be said for singles. I'm not in this hobby for the money. I do it because I love it. BUT, that being said, I will leave my collection to my kids in the future and if they are struggling financially, I want them to be able to pull a card set out of the collection, sell it and use the money wisely. I believe in Beckett or their system of pricing anyhow. I like to have a guide to go buy, rather than a computer generated selling site that fluctuates too dramatically with the swings in player performance and demand. I do agree that prices should be watched more closely in the Beckett guide with changes being made where necessary, but they give us a bar to go by that works for me.

[brewcrew8]

I think Ebay is a guide, but it should be used wisely. Auctions are very random and high value cards can sneak by for a really low price. I think buy it nows are the best way of estimating the value of a card, not auctions

[redwing40]

I been going by Beckett since the 90's, I always get the new book, well I cant seem to find the new one yet, so I went to Ebay for pricing on a card I wanted, I went by how many days, and the price of the bid, I took the highest bid as a price, after reading this, I really need that beckett :( Nice topic to cover

[blade]

I rememeber the Pre-Beckett days. People priced their cards on popularity of the player and if the price was fair you bought the card. There was no internet or ebay. There were a couiple of card magazines/papers that you could see what some of the prices were from other people across the country. Plan and simple, I have a card for $x and if you liked the price it was yours.

Beckett comes out and they were the end all on pricing. Now, remember when Beckett came out there wasn't a gazillion new sets every year. It was easier for Beckett to be on top of pricing. It's impossible for them to be on top of every card to be priced somewhat correctly. To this day many people don't understand the concept of the Hi and Lo pricing and what it means.

Then the biggest boom of the card market: the internet. The internet has made collecting of anything so much better. No longer did I have to go to my stores and shows and get only what they had in stock. There was plenty of new card sites and trading/buying was still old school.

Back on track, like I said it's impossible for Beckett to get every price right.

Ebay is nice to see what cards have sold at AUCTION. BINs are like old school, here's my card and price and if you like the price it's yours. Auctions often do not reflect true prices because you don't know what someone will spend if there is no competition for the card. People often ask me about prices on Ebay and I always tell them it depends on timing. Not when an auction ends, but the timing of the right people looking at your auction in a particular time frame. I've had several auctions that didn't sell for a week or two and I lower my start price and cards have sold for higher than my originial start price. It all depends on getting the right people at the right time to see my auction.

Both, Beckett and Ebay work well for GUIDES in their own way if used properly. There are no prices set in stone, nor will they ever be. If you like the price, you buy the card.

AJ

[SkidSTL]

I know this takes some extra time, but when I go to "value" a card - whether FS or FT - I will look at the Beckett OLPG (when it will load on my PC!) for reference, but will also look at the recently completed ebay sales for valuation. If there are enough sales, I will sum and take the average, usually round down to the nearest 1/2 dollar, and that is the recent market value - IMHO.

That said, Beckett provides Beckett value & ebay provides what others have recently paid (note I didn't say willing to pay). I'll use both to help me determine not what I'm willing to pay or that I should pay, but at least which ballpark I should be in.

Then I can over-pay lol!

[sjw241]

Problem with ebay is there are a lot of factors to take into consideration if looking to place a vlaue on a card. The ending time of the auction can drastically change the final price of the item. The sellers reputation/feedback can play a big part in the final sale price. If I have 1702 100% positive feedback (which I do) and another seller has say 20 feedback and we both sell the same card chances are mine will sell for more because of my proven track record. So is the card worth less because the seller with low feedback sold it? the shipping rate needs to be looked at, items shipped for free can sell higher, but you still need to add the shipping rate to the item because someone paid that total amount for the card.
Bidding wars can make a card sell for an inflated price. if 2 people need that one card to finish a set they could go all out to try and get it, making it sell higher than it typically should.
People shill bid like crazy on Ebay, pushing the prices higher and higher, BUT we never know if the seller and buyer agreed not to complete the tranaction.
If it is the first few days of a new release people will pay higher for a card then say a few months down the road.
Cards can be damaged and that could be clearly stated in the description, so thus making it sell for less.
Spelling errors in the listing can hurt the listing. False statements in the listing can help the listing.
There are soooooo many other factors, but this is getting long. What I do is average the prices out and get a price that way. And then use that as a guide only, not a set in stone price.
I hope this made sense.

[jibron86]

hi there

in my honest opinion ebay did not destroy anything it just gave a better picture. i mean doesn't beckett use some of the ebay prices to guide the value of the cards? of course the prices have a range like one day a card can sell for $50 next day $90 but it shows a clear range of the going rate at that particular time. no boday is right or wrong for using ebay or becket as a price guide the values are negotiable because noting sells for the same price every time. i think it just get people upset when they see a drew doughty cup rc book for $200-350 but sell for $450-550 & mason cup rc book for $150-300 but sell for $70-120. when it benefits us we accept & when it does not we get upset. but in the end nobody is right or wrong as long as both sides agree that is all that matters

thanks johnnaseri