This is why I shake my head at Beckett sometimes

[Fritz]

I noticed Beckett becoming a joke when their tagline also became a joke. "The hobby's most reliable and relied upon source"

So reliable they had to say it twice

 

[M35Richter]

The problem I have is when a publication is produced that clearly does not base any of its data or numbers or prices on anything factual or tangible. Ebay completed sales are the exact prices the market has determined. It is a FACT then, that those are the closest things to the true value of the card or item............ Just because something is printed in a book doesn't make it true!

 

[DCUnited96]

There are those that still use Beckett pricing as an absolute.

This past weekend, I had a faithful Beckett user walk away in disgust at something I had in my 2/$15 case. Repeat customer, who I'd dealt with plenty of times in the past. No questions, no complaints, just walked off in a huff. I can't imagine what card I had that was so offensive at $7.50.

 

[No No No.....The other Steve]

Ebay sales are not 100% of market pricing. I have recently on and off of ebay gotten well over BV on several cards so BV is also not 100% accurate either. The only accurate value of a card is what someone is willing to pay.

By the way, Beckett is hiring at the moment for people to do pricing for the Mag. Just in case anyone was interested.

 

[Kyle]

I haven't looked at a Beckett in years let alone bought one. I've seen dealers with what I assumed to be BV pricing on cards at shows (90-91 Score Brodeur RC) that made me laugh and have also seen the opposite with a rare card that sells for far more than BV.

I have no use for it but it doesn't bother me when other's do.

 

[sedinfan]

What always amuses me about Beckett is that most cards serial numbered to around 15 or less are "No price due to scarcity" - yet they will list prices for cards that do not even exist period.

It's clear that they do not look at actual sale data for each and every card - which is fine, there's no way they could possibly take into account every single sale on ebay let alone other venues... but if they can use a formula to determine their BV, what would be really helpful is if they could give guidelines for those NPDTS scarcity cards - to me a price guide really isn't that useful for looking up the value of base cards, I don't really care if a base OPC card goes for a nickle or a dime... what I'd love to know when I chase for example a Sedin Victory Black is what do other star player Victory Blacks go for - the one thing that would be useful to me, is exactly what Beckett doesn't provide. If they really wanted to be useful to collectors, they could gather and analyze sales data of rare / high-end cards and give some guidance as to what Victory Blacks, OPC Blank Backs, etc. go for.

 

[slave13]

If I am at a card show and I ask a dealer the price of a card that they have in their display, and they immediately open up a Beckett, they have lost a sale. Beckett is completely out of touch with the market. Ebay is best for anything current or within the last 3-5 years. Older than that, you just have to use common sense. Either way, the only real value anything has, is what another person is willing to pay for it.

 

[Mauri]

If I am at a card show and I ask a dealer the price of a card that they have in their display, and they immediately open up a Beckett, they have lost a sale. Beckett is completely out of touch with the market. Ebay is best for anything current or within the last 3-5 years. Older than that, you just have to use common sense. Either way, the only real value anything has, is what another person is willing to pay for it.

Let me get this straight:

You go to a card show and there's a dealer with a BV 500 card that you are interested in and you know the BV. They know you walk away if they look how much it is in Beckett. So they check the Ebay and since there's no sale records of those cards, the only option is that you get to tell how much you pay for it. You offer 20 USD. What are the options for the dealer?

Correct me where I went wrong with this.

 

[RGM81]

If I am at a card show and I ask a dealer the price of a card that they have in their display, and they immediately open up a Beckett, they have lost a sale. Beckett is completely out of touch with the market. Ebay is best for anything current or within the last 3-5 years. Older than that, you just have to use common sense. Either way, the only real value anything has, is what another person is willing to pay for it.

What a strange thing to do. You don't negotiate, you don't say, "That seems fair," you don't offer a counter if the price the magazine says is whack, you just walk away? To each their own, but that just seems like odd behaviour if you have a genuine interest in the card. I'm no Beckett defender (see previous posts in this thread for the tip of the iceberg) but if someone turns to a resource, no matter how "completely out of touch" you may feel they are, because they don't know the value on some random autograph card immediately I at least hear it out first.

 

[Mauri]

Ebay completed sales are the exact prices the market has determined. It is a FACT then, that those are the closest things to the true value of the card or item............

We have three sales of the same card. I got a nickel in HobbyInsider, you got a dime at expo and Pete got 5 000 USD in Ebay => Card value is 5 000 USD?

 

[Fritz]

We have three sales of the same card. I got a nickel in HobbyInsider, you got a dime at expo and Pete got 5 000 USD in Ebay => Card value is 5 000 USD?

I think the idea there is that a few hundred people might see a card on here where thousands or more potentially could see and drop a bid on ebay. Then you can also get into auction prices vs. straight up sale prices :corn:

 

[Mauri]

I think the idea there is that a few hundred people might see a card on here where thousands or more potentially could see and drop a bid on ebay. Then you can also get into auction prices vs. straight up sale prices :corn:

While I agree with this, what if we stir the soup a bit more:
It's a base card that had BIN of 5 000 USD accidentally and someone pulled off a "reversed practical joke" and bought it.

 

[hockeykid87]

I think it's funny when people trade/sell cards based on BV. There's not a lot of cards where their BV=eBay sell price.

 

[No No No.....The other Steve]

Beckett is a price GUIDE it is not the law. Ebay is a market place the same as an LCS. If ebay price is the law than why is it that local shows and card stores still exist? I know that certain pieces will sell way over ebay pricing locally and others won't even get me within 10% of what I can get there.

As for the opening a Beckett and walking away that's awesome. If I have a card I am unsure of I always grab a Beckett. Feel free to walk away but most times after I grab it my response is well it's so much in Beckett so how does this price sound? While their prices are off on a lot of items it gives you a starting point.

 

[chefjason]

you also have to remember that the BV is not one price, beckett has 2 columns, one hi and one low, which represents the lowest a card is expected to sell for and the highest a card would expect to sell for, has anyone ever read the begining part of the price guide???? x card sells from 5 on the low side to 25 on the high side, with many contributing factors, basically I dont buy cards in Calgary that are flames, because I will be paying a premium for hometown boys, because really, beckett isnt a card value guide its a SALES RECORD....... and yes I do wish the sales of cards older than 6 months would get updated because they will go down, perfect example, right now a star player's prime signature would command betwee 30-50 bones, in a month, after the initial sales, the card will start to level out and sell from between 20 and 35. just like the roman horak cards I'm looking for, they initially sold for x amount and now that they have been out on the secondary market for a time the command and dollar value of said cards has gone down, beckett has not updated these sales decreases and I am constantly fighting figurativly with traders who value the cards at the initial sales records not the current sales, a bit fustrating but you can always say no to a trade/sale

 

[colan33]

Great to read all your thought`s in this matter!
Beckett pricing is NOT something I believe in!
Take my banner as an example?
The CL in Beckett is NOT even close to 100%!
The pricing is UP the walls!
Try to get some of those GU`s like Malkin/Price and Howe for 20 usd?
LMFAO!
When are the Becket EVER going to LIFT that set?
NEVER!
They just want to sell paper to us all!
8)

 

[slave13]

Look, I am not talking about ultra rare cards here. Beckett themselves, say they can't price stuff accurately with a print run of less than 25. I am talking about walking up to a booth and asking the price on something simple like a Carey Price Young Gun. If I see that Beckett come out, I am done. That dealer is either way out of touch with the hobby, or he is a swindler. Either way, I would rather give my money to someone that is more knowledgable and has a passion for the hobby. I compare it to, if I went into a car dealership and the salesperson came out and I asked him what engine was in the car and he says,"Just a second, let me look that up.", I am out. I am also not saying that I would expect to pay $20 for a $1000 card. What I am saying is that $1000 card is only worth what someone will pay. IF there is nobody in the entire world willing to pay $1000 for that card, then guess what, its not worth $1000. Its all about supply and demand, and that shifts drastically. During the 05-06 season, you couldn't buy a Sidney Crosby YG for less than $225. After that season ended, during the whole summer after, I could buy them for around $100(give or take $20). By the time he won the cup, back up over $200. Just watch what happens to the hobby this year if we have a lockout. Most things will go down drastically. Even new product. All I am saying is, Beckett is basically just a magazine at this point. Its far fetched to call it a price guide anymore. Even if there are no recent sales of a card on ebay, you can always compare to a player of close to equal stature and see what cards are going for and get an idea of its value. So, if there are no Price YGs in recent sales, you can look up Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane to get an idea. (just using that as an example).

 

[Mauri]

I compare it to, if I went into a car dealership and the salesperson came out and I asked him what engine was in the car and he says,"Just a second, let me look that up.", I am out.

So in your opinion it is pretty much one and same thing to
1) Know the engine of all the 20-50 cars that costs at least 5 000 USD each
and
2) Know the Ebay sale prices of each of 50+ BV cards
?

 

[thorn]

No they don't ever update pricing, which sucks when trying to trade a card that sell for x amount but BV is 5x more, arghh that's my head shake, lol

Yes, they do update the pricing. There are some mistakes of course because there are a lot of cards.

 

[iidaemmi]

I just wonder how they would have time to update hundreds of thousands of cards (or millions?) according to the prevailing market.. every six moths..?