Beckett values are often way off the mark

[30ranfordfan]

"New Product Release, Players on a hot or cold streak, traded to a different team, retirement or even death". Why the heck do any of those factors matter?? Look, Patrick Kane will always be Patrick Kane. There is no reason in the world why his cards should ever drop - not a trade, an injury, slow start, even going to jail or death. He's Patrick freakin' Kane. I don't understand why collectors de-value cards of players who get traded or injured. If the player is a star or superstar (of which there are few, in my book), the value should hold because the player is still the player and his accomplishments should speak for themselves.

I get it - lots of collectors collect certain players or certain teams. I'll never be that type of collector. If I started collecting Patrick Kane and he gets traded - and I follow some collectors' examples and trade his cards because he's no longer with Chicago - I have just wasted years of effort and lots of money collecting a player that got traded.

Why do those factors mater? Because like it or not, cards a commodity. An overvalued one (in a lot of cases) to be sure, but they're still a commodity.

PK Subban is a great example. Dude is one of the best 5 dmen in the league, played for the most popular (at least one of the most popular) team in the league. He gets traded, and his cardboard value takes a nose dive.

Why? Supply and demand. Playing for Nashville, there is the fraction of the interest in him. He gets traded, and the Montreal market is no longer keeping demand for his cards high. Conversely, Shea Weber's cards are in higher demand than they ever were.

Career accomplishments don't matter a whole lot to collectors. You can routinely acquire autographs of Hall of Famers for far less than whomever the current flash in the pan rookie is.

I like your point here.

The thing is, I don't have the time to scour the marketplace for five hours a day to find that hypothetical Spezza for $5. Chances are it would take some time to find it.

Yeah, we're using two hypothetical cards... and how much time you want to put into seeing what something will go for... I'll agree with you: I don't want to spend much time.

My main point is this: If people would not simply look at the HIGH value in Beckett as being equal, so therefore declaring the value of the cards equal, I think the whole "BVs are meaningless" thing would go away.

[piper1]

If I have an Auto you want plmk if you have Giroux or Couturier insert available for trade that I need. Thanks

this is this exact reason we have the select group of " I ONLY trade by BV " They always want to trade their Spezza insert for the Bucyk auto...........NEVER the other way aroundG

get rid of beckett and we get rid of these grifters

[Stryfex]

The topics discussed, and some of the comments associated are a really informative picture of why I (and let's be honest sooooooooo many others) find trading in the hobby to be just about impossible. For most of us, we've had to adopt a system of "sell cards for paypal funds, and use the paypal funds to buy cards" as a form of trading rather than the direct person<-->person trade.

[coderedxm]

Why does those factors matter? Because they just do... you picked Patrick Kane who is a hobby favorite for most collectors, regardless if you love or loathe Chicago or Kane for that matter, Kane is a stellar player to collect or to have a few decent cards of. Those factors do matter cause that's what keeps the hobby dynamic and changing. As 30Ranfordfan said, PK subban is a prime example; his cards went to crap after his trade to a lesser hockey market and just like drouins have sky rocketed for going to an extreme market (especially being a hometown hero.) All in all there is only one factor that revolves around the value of a card and that's just like any other item that you can purchase; Supply and Demand. If people are willing to pay more for a player or card .. then people will and thats what determines the value of it.

The topics discussed, and some of the comments associated are a really informative picture of why I (and let's be honest sooooooooo many others) find trading in the hobby to be just about impossible. For most of us, we've had to adopt a system of "sell cards for paypal funds, and use the paypal funds to buy cards" as a form of trading rather than the direct person<-->person trade.

You're so bang on saying that. I have a few people a trade with on here, facebook and hobbyinsider that I have a complete mutual agreement on the value of cards. Some of the bigger trades I make with those people, we don't even go off book value, since both parties are satisfied with the cards we are receiving, but I find selling cards through ebay/facebook so much easier than trading. Especially now with COMC, some of the prices on there are out of this world, but there is always the 'Offer' Option.

I'm pretty sure a large portion of the people in this thread, forum and community can all agree beckett is a dieing method of price/value checking.

[30ranfordfan]

Agree very much.

I would prefer to make trades rather than buying & selling almost all of the time. It's better. It gets cards I don't want out of my house, and brings in cards I do want. BV? Don't really care. If the deal seems okay to me, I'd just do the swap.

The reality is though: My collecting habits have become very narrow over the last few years, and my purchasing (i.e. building up traders) has become less and less. I'd be happy to unload some Jordan Eberle (as an example) stuff to anyone who wants it... but I've got very few cards I'm actually looking to acquire, so unless I can find someone who both wants my Eberle cards, and wants to move a card I'm actually interested in - a trade is almost impossible to make.

Selling off a bunch of Eberle stuff? That's easy to do (depending on how big of a loss I'm willing to take, lol). That builds up paypal, and that paypal can then be spent on a card (or cards) I want. Of course the middle men (paypal, ebay, whomever) gets a cut each time money changes hands... which is why a trade is a much better option.

For example: I'd be happy to trade multiple Eberle cards for a single Ryan Strome Cup RC. I'd be willing to give an extra 30% (ish) in value to make that swap. Take 3 or 4 cards, send me 1. That's not an easy deal to make. I can sell those same 3 or 4 cards though... and then buy my Strome.

The topics discussed, and some of the comments associated are a really informative picture of why I (and let's be honest sooooooooo many others) find trading in the hobby to be just about impossible. For most of us, we've had to adopt a system of "sell cards for paypal funds, and use the paypal funds to buy cards" as a form of trading rather than the direct person<-->person trade.

[gummer11]

Tony,
I agree with your stance on using Beckett. I've made a couple of SV trades and lost heavily as most people over value the card that they are trading. It's like the old car that one is selling, "I put blah, blah, blah dollars into it", doesn't equate to what it will sell for. Ebay is an auction, so sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, it's a gamble. One person's McDavid YG goes for $500, the next for $250, crap shoot, right? They are cardboard and it seems that collecting has gone from player/team/set collecting to chasing the rainbow. I guess that's why group breaks are so popular, invest a little and hope to hit that "home run". Probably why the amount of trades is down, people reluctant to make the trade because they hold the value of their cards so high. Yeah, you decided to buy a case of The Cup, but I shouldn't be the one to make sure you get your money back. After all, the quad jersey card /25 is just another jersey card, but you were hoping to hit the "home run" on the ARP! Right? Even the comments that you read of members posts, it all is starting to refer to the potential profit and then those people are only looking to get back the money they spent plus extra. Unfortunately, trading is going the way of the dinosaur and buy low/sell high seems to be more the norm, so sad. The playing field needs to be level somehow for trades to be fair, but can't people use their common sense and make trades that they feel comfortable with for cards that they would like to add to their collection for cards that they have no use of!!

[Leafsman]

Tony,
I agree with your stance on using Beckett. I've made a couple of SV trades and lost heavily as most people over value the card that they are trading. It's like the old car that one is selling, "I put blah, blah, blah dollars into it", doesn't equate to what it will sell for. Ebay is an auction, so sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, it's a gamble. One person's McDavid YG goes for $500, the next for $250, crap shoot, right? They are cardboard and it seems that collecting has gone from player/team/set collecting to chasing the rainbow. I guess that's why group breaks are so popular, invest a little and hope to hit that "home run". Probably why the amount of trades is down, people reluctant to make the trade because they hold the value of their cards so high. Yeah, you decided to buy a case of The Cup, but I shouldn't be the one to make sure you get your money back. After all, the quad jersey card /25 is just another jersey card, but you were hoping to hit the "home run" on the ARP! Right? Even the comments that you read of members posts, it all is starting to refer to the potential profit and then those people are only looking to get back the money they spent plus extra. Unfortunately, trading is going the way of the dinosaur and buy low/sell high seems to be more the norm, so sad. The playing field needs to be level somehow for trades to be fair, but can't people use their common sense and make trades that they feel comfortable with for cards that they would like to add to their collection for cards that they have no use of!!

BINGO!

People buy boxes/cases to break, hoping to find the "hits" and sell for big $$, and are disappointed when they don't get a return on their "investment". That's the biggest mistake in the hobby today - viewing cards as investments. If you have more fun making a profit than finishing the set, that's not what I call a collector. They are "profiteers". The almighty dollar rules. Then there are collectors who strive to "win the trade" as often as possible. I'll never understand that ideal.

It would be wonderful if, as you suggest, people make trades for cards that they would like to add in exchange for cards that they have no use of. Unfortunately, profit/loss has ruined the hobby. It went from "can I finish my set?" to "let's throw this on COMC or ebay and see how much I get". Some ebay listings end up in bidding wars, sell really high, and every other seller who has a copy of that card, sees that sale price and tries to get that amount for their copy.

COMC, and most especially ebay's, "value" goes up and down more than a prostitute's underwear. Definitely not my style. Choose a price and keep it there. Re-evaluate and set your price every year. Beckett's pricing may be considered "outdated" but at least it's constant.

I sell by sale value (I don't sell often) and trade by trade value - NOT market value. "I trade by sale value" will never compute with me. I don't care if I am viewed as a dinosaur. I collect for fun.

[sparty07]

Then there are collectors who strive to "win the trade" as often as possible. I'll never understand that ideal.

It would be wonderful if, as you suggest, people make trades for cards that they would like to add in exchange for cards that they have no use of.

I recently had a trade with a FB guy for a miller /15 that he had 2 of (along with a auto jersey /100). In order to complete the transaction before he changed his mind I threw in a Carrick RPA from SPA that I had spent $5 on from ebay. Was the BV in "his" favor, yes, but did I get 2 cards that I wanted, yes. In the end I didn't mind throwing in that card as I purchased it for $5 just for a case like this. I very much like the idea of looking at cards that are ~ equal in popularity, rarity, ~SV, etc to try to make a deal. I don't use BV unless the other person asks as I don't like the idea of spending my limited card budget on a subscription that I will only use to complete trades with others who rely on BV.

[Tanguayfan]

Adapt or perish.

[coderedxm]

The Whole point of Beckett is to give up to date Values, and maybe not by the minute or day or even week... but maybe monthly.
Beckett has crapped the bed in so many ways, there is a reason why everyone is falling back on their own research and using Ebay as a price guide cause Beckett has not done F all about keeping up with the times.
Yes some of the values change from day to day, but if you do the research (and yes i know it's time consuming) & take into consideration; the shipping price, feedback of seller, patch colors/design, Possible numbering (jersey number, 1st or last numbering) the time the item ends as well. Trust me, I am a very frequent eBay user and I scour the listings day in and day out when I Have free time at work, at home or before I fall asleep. I am looking for steals, as I am on a limited budget being the father of a young & growing family - hockey cards are the last thing my extra dollar will go to.

Although I do agree with you Tony, there are some guys out there who ruin it for everyone by wanting to be the big man on top and to always win the deal... and guess what, I weed those losers out and ignore them going further. I know there are certain members of this page who have personally told me they will fluctuate between ebay value and beckett value if it benefits them.

But I ask you one question, Just say Beckett was able to find a way (maybe an algorithm agreement with ebay) and their values were adjusted accordingly with recent sale values... would you still be so loyal to beckett?