Dear Beckett

[Maggot]

Ty Rattie is not a Semistar. The fact that he is included in a list with Andreychuk, G Anderson, L Robinson, Bucyk, G Hall...
Beckett, you are so ridiculous.

[canucksfan007]

Dear Beckett

Do you know how to price cards anymore? How long has it been since you've actually had any relevance in the hobby? Whats going to happen when the older card generation no longer collects? Who's your target audience going to be then?

Helpful tip:

- Employ enough staff to actually keep a proper data base on card trends so your values can be relevant again

OR

- Admit defeat to other sources like ebay which is constantly keeping records on a minute to minute basis


Yours truly,
- 90% of the card collecting community

[ajbrinn]

pricing cards based solely on a single auction site (eBay) is crazy because it gives nowhere near the true value of a card, you would have to research across multiple sale and auction sites to get anywhere close to an actual value which of course Beckett does and people do not. I've seen shops where you can get a card for well below market value and I've seen some that can get close to, if not over book value.

[canucksfan007]

So we're actually believing Beckett puts the time into calling LCS to see what they have been selling their singles for? There's a hidden Beckett employee lurking around at your monthly card shows, jotting down completed sales to report back to base?

While I agree with you that you cannot just take one source, I can confidently say it's the best source to use.

Who uses one eBay completed listing anyway? That's why they give you months of completed listings

[Maggot]

you would have to research across multiple sale and auction sites to get anywhere close to an actual value which of course Beckett does and people do not.

Do you honestly believe that Beckett values are based on any kind of actual sale value? If they were you'd see many thousands of cards with the ^ symbol in each publication. Instead, once these magical values are assigned they rarely, if ever, change. There's a million inserts from the last 25 years valued at $10-$20 which would never fetch more than $1, and likely are only worth $.25 max. Meanwhile there's tons of Autographs with BV of $10 to $20 which regularly sell for more.
In what world is a common base card worth $.50 to $1? That's what Beckett has them at.

Ty Rattie a semi-star? How much more out of touch with reality can you be?

Ok, I'm done grumbling for now. Carry on.

[Goose97]

It all comes down to Beckett should just change what it is percieved as by name. Instead of calling itself a "Price Guide". It would be best to get more in line with being identified as to what is really is... a "Trade Guide"

However more importantly only a trade guide for base, inserts, Parallels, and the mass produced Jersey, and Autograph cards. Anything high end is quite irrelevant in the guide, but checklists are still necesarry.

[dudical]

Agreed with Goose97, very well put. A trade guide is exactly what is it.

[doniceage]

Agreed with Goose97, very well put. A trade guide is exactly what is it.

Well can it truly even be called a trade guide if it prices are off. Based on the definition of a guide:

a thing that helps someone to form an opinion or make a decision or calculation:

@Goose97 @dudical



As using Maggot original posting and explanations that some of Beckett card priced at 10 to 20 dollars would only fetch a dollar. Then auto booking the same price of 10 and 20 dollars would sell for more than book. In reality that is not a trade guide imo but just a useless piece of paper. As how it Beckett living up to the thing that helps someone form an opinion or make a educated decision. I =

Beckett is not even the best checklist source out there. There is are other sources that does a better job than Beckett out there. Beckett has driven most of them out of the game with their ludicrous lawsuit to keep them from having competition. So again Beckett it out of touch but many still by the subscription. Now for new releases they are usually not the first one up with the most current checklist as other sites do better than they do on a regular basis. As if I look on google they usually come up 2nd not 1st. I still cannot wait till a programmer and a financial backer put a true program together putting into place all the pieces to the puzzle (eBay prices, checklist, and a way to import them). When anyone does that Beckett would go under so quickly it would not even be funny. As everyone who buys a subscription from Beckett would switch over to the new guide that shares the monthly fluctuation in prices with real sales.

D
O
N

[Sharky94]

pricing cards based solely on a single auction site (eBay) is crazy because it gives nowhere near the true value of a card, you would have to research across multiple sale and auction sites to get anywhere close to an actual value which of course Beckett does and people do not.

Except that EBay does 95% of ALL card sales these days, and most collectors couldn't even name another reputable auction site.

Beckett doesn't track actual sales. The initial prices Beckett quotes in the first listing of a new set is merely their breakdown of what cards SHOULD sell for, based on the retail price of the product. Why do you think the first listing lists inserts for way more than they will ever sell for. Beckett is nothing but a vehicle for the card companies to try to sell their product for more than they should. After all, you couldn't charge $1,000 for a box of cards if Beckett says the common inserts are only "worth" the $1 you'll get on EBay for them.