Beckett Pricing?

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FASTMAX

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I'm going to lead out by saying this post IS NOT INTENDED TO BASH BECKETT BOOK VALUES. lol. I just want to be fully informed.

Where do they get the numbers exactly? I am in a pissing match with a buddy who swears they use a multitude of hobby shops for current pricing, while I believe they have a monkey spinning a wheel in the back room. I would bet that they track Ebay somewhat but that cant be all. Maybe they have lurkers at shows quietly asking "Uh, hey. How much did you sell your Draisaitl Young Guns for?" lol. I am really curious. Especially if Brick and Mortars actually report single sales to beckett.

Thanks, Doug.
 
I have stated this multiple times and probably will state this multiple times: Do not trust Ebay sales as a "price guide". Do not trust Beckett either. And don't trust asking prices either.

Well why not Ebay sales you ask? The moment there appears a new Cody McLeod card from a given set and I hit "buy it now", paying $50 for that, the price of that card is $50, right? So the copy you own but didn't sell to me is $50, right? Similar set Connor McDavid is selling for $30, but your McLeod is $50, right? Then one day someone offers you 99 cents for your McLeod and you sell it. The price is now... 99 cents, because that's the last sold? $50, because that's what the first one was sold for? $25.50, because that's the average? Gretzky card from that set sells constantly for $25, but still a McLeod sold for $50, so...?

I'd say you need to use multiple factors on the card pricing including common sense. And due to that, I think Beckett is using the guessing factor quite a lot, including pricing cards that doesn't exist (how in earth do you sell cards that doesn't exist?).
 
I'm convinced that Beckett does very little actual market research. They have a formula, a pretty advanced on, but it's just a formula. It's the only way to explain how - for years - there will be cards on the market that have regular sale prices so far off the beckett numbers.

The biggest problem with beckett is still the reader's of it though.After 30ish years in publication - most people still can not read the magazine correctly. Beckett does not assign an actual value to a card, ever. It assigns a range.... so when $40 shows up in the LO column, and $100 shows up in the HI column.... that does not mean a card has a BV of $100 (despite the fact that 95% of people would claim that).

In fact, we wouldn't argue about beckett's pricing so much if people would just acknowledge the range.... that 40 / 100 card: Chances are you dont see many copies go below $40.

If we could acknowledge the range, and admit that not all cards with the same ranges regularly sell for the same..... I think the arguments would go away some.
 
30ranfordfan said:
I'm convinced that Beckett does very little actual market research. They have a formula, a pretty advanced on, but it's just a formula. It's the only way to explain how - for years - there will be cards on the market that have regular sale prices so far off the beckett numbers.

The biggest problem with beckett is still the reader's of it though.After 30ish years in publication - most people still can not read the magazine correctly. Beckett does not assign an actual value to a card, ever. It assigns a range.... so when $40 shows up in the LO column, and $100 shows up in the HI column.... that does not mean a card has a BV of $100 (despite the fact that 95% of people would claim that).

In fact, we wouldn't argue about beckett's pricing so much if people would just acknowledge the range.... that 40 / 100 card: Chances are you dont see many copies go below $40.

If we could acknowledge the range, and admit that not all cards with the same ranges regularly sell for the same..... I think the arguments would go away some.
Click to expand...

I will add that people also do not take into account condition, swatch quality (ie: multicolored patch), nor the biggest thing : EXCHANGE RATE when quoting Beckett.

Trust me folks, there is not a US version and Canadian version.

If I were to quote a card with HI BV of $100 as having a value of $130 at a local show, I would be laughed out of the bingo hall.
 
Good input for the most part. Again, I'm not slamming their bvs. I'm more just curious as to where exactly they get them from. I'll be dropping an email shortly and update here what is said.
 
30ranfordfan said:
I'm convinced that Beckett does very little actual market research. They have a formula, a pretty advanced on, but it's just a formula. It's the only way to explain how - for years - there will be cards on the market that have regular sale prices so far off the beckett numbers.

The biggest problem with beckett is still the reader's of it though.After 30ish years in publication - most people still can not read the magazine correctly. Beckett does not assign an actual value to a card, ever. It assigns a range.... so when $40 shows up in the LO column, and $100 shows up in the HI column.... that does not mean a card has a BV of $100 (despite the fact that 95% of people would claim that).

In fact, we wouldn't argue about beckett's pricing so much if people would just acknowledge the range.... that 40 / 100 card: Chances are you dont see many copies go below $40.

If we could acknowledge the range, and admit that not all cards with the same ranges regularly sell for the same..... I think the arguments would go away some.
Click to expand...

Are there already jersey cards for $0.99 in Beckett, even considering the low BV? Because I can tell you, it is not one or two jersey cards that have sold for that on Ebay.
 
30ranfordfan said:
I'm convinced that Beckett does very little actual market research. They have a formula, a pretty advanced on, but it's just a formula. It's the only way to explain how - for years - there will be cards on the market that have regular sale prices so far off the beckett numbers.

The biggest problem with beckett is still the reader's of it though.After 30ish years in publication - most people still can not read the magazine correctly. Beckett does not assign an actual value to a card, ever. It assigns a range.... so when $40 shows up in the LO column, and $100 shows up in the HI column.... that does not mean a card has a BV of $100 (despite the fact that 95% of people would claim that).

In fact, we wouldn't argue about beckett's pricing so much if people would just acknowledge the range.... that 40 / 100 card: Chances are you dont see many copies go below $40.

If we could acknowledge the range, and admit that not all cards with the same ranges regularly sell for the same..... I think the arguments would go away some.
Click to expand...

For those who remember Charlton price guides actually had a pricing chart in the back

Tried to get pic but it won't transfer

**Example from '04 guide
If an auto out of 25 has a high of $400
Gretzky is worth 100% $400
Lemieux is worth 75% $300
Giguere is worth 20% $80
 
I was the regional price guide contributor for Toronto for a few years. I would get a list from them and I'd list prices of what I would see that card going for at the Expo and local show and shops around Toronto. Ain't nobody asked me for sh** in about 8 years. They're not getting pricing from me, at very least.
 
Wow this thread takes me back to the days when Beckett actually meant something and ebay was just being introduced. Thankfully, gone are the days when LCS owners and dealers would flip flop from ebay and book values to meet their needs, but the LCS's here in Toronto don't really focus on singles anymore. The one's that have any, they are terribly over priced, out dated and use beckett as guide.
 
If I remember correctly, in the 90s each issue of Beckett even had a transaction submission form, where you would hand-write a list (like I said, this was the early 90s) of cards you bought/sold and the transaction price, and send it in to the Beckett pricing department. I would have to go check my old Becketts to confirm, but they're currently in storage.

One of the problems I have is that they often list cards that don't exist. I understand that it's easy to get a price for them. If Malkin consistently sells for 50% of Crosby's simliar cards, then you'll make a Malkin $100 in a set where Crosby sells for $200, even if Malkin's is a redemption. But when that card is never released and there's still that price sitting there years later, it's confusing and doesn't look good. For me, that's where the market research really fails.
 
Last time I did a show with a friend he said something about Beckett and it has stuck with me since ...Its a GUIDE not the bible .....
 
Their is also often a direct correlation between pricing and their staffs' knowledge regarding hockey prospects. It took them a couple of months to figure out who Travis Konecny really was.
 
I'd be curious to learn how it is done too. There are so many cards being released each year I can't see any way they can track market activity for so many items.

I'm glad to see Beckett being used (and abused) less to be honest. Back in the day lots of people just didn't bother to read the 1 page in the magazine that explains the guide (i.e. columns are HI LO, US dollars, price varies with condition by x%, etc...) or maybe they pretended not to. I'm happier just to negotiate without the other side having a adamant adherence to a bizarre misinterpretation of a price guide.
 
All I can say is beckett is getting better! but I am pretty sure it's more and more base on ebay. Very good example is that the Crosby YG is now at 850.00 in Beckett online. McDavid is at 350.00 and Matthews at 250.00.

I think ebay is a good reference for the cards recently sold. Why would you sell a Crosby for less than 800.00 as we speak? go put it on ebay and get the big bucks.
 
The issue with Beckett is that it is part of a different sort of collector and not someone that relies on the internet and wifi to enjoy the hobby. The Beckett Price Guide makes it easier when you are conducting a trade since you do not need to look for a place with wifi and all you need to do is open up the magazine and presto.
 

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