Dealers need to learn more about foreign cards

[Jason19th]

Had a great time at the National today and picked up a holy grail level item thanks to a board member- will post later. But as someone who collects Cuban and Puerto Rican cards I was struck by some of the crazy prices. For those who are not familiar there where cards put out in the late 1940’s in Puerto Rico called toleteros. They are great high quality cards and they are relatively scarce when you compare them to say late 1940’s Bowman’s. What they are not is a 500 per common card. A simple eBay search will show you that commons sell for 30-60 depending on condition. There was a card I needed but it was priced at literally 25x of what it’s worth. When there is that big of a disconnect there is really no room for a real negotiation. Dealers need to know that you cannot just label a $40 cuban issue with a sticker that says “negro leaguer” and then price it at 400. If that is done nothing moves. Bottom line when you are selling out of tour usual comfort zone please just do a little research.

[BigBeerGut]

Hmmm

So the card you 'needed' was a lot of money and you come here to cry about it?
Why not grow a spine and say something to that dealer?

Maybe the one you need is more rare ! Since you know the set so well and you have yet to find that one does not that mean its hard to find?

Show us your holy grail please :>

[Jason19th]

Originally Posted by BigBeerGut

Hmmm

So the card you 'needed' was a lot of money and you come here to cry about it?
Why not grow a spine and say something to that dealer?

Maybe the one you need is more rare ! Since you know the set so well and you have yet to find that one does not that mean its hard to find?

Show us your holy grail please :>

I did tell the dealer I thought that he was very high. He got mad and put the cards back. Also I don’t think it’s to much to ask to do a google search before you try to sell something for 500. I think that is the kind of thing that gives the hobby a bad name.

[packs]

I don't think it's limited to foreign cards. This sounds like a universal experience. The last card show I went to had a table that happened to have a few nice D311 Pacific Coast Biscuit cards. I was interested in one graded a PSA 2. The guy said he wanted $600 for it.

When I said that was MAYBE a $200 card, HE told ME I didn't know what I was talking about.

[BigBeerGut]

Originally Posted by Jason19th

I did tell the dealer I thought that he was very high. He got mad and put the cards back. Also I don’t think it’s to much to ask to do a google search before you try to sell something for 500. I think that is the kind of thing that gives the hobby a bad name.

Sounds like a guy who did not get what he wanted.

Soooo let us bash the dealer! Did it ever occur to you you would not even have SEEN the card if that dealer did not bring the card in the first place for you to even get a sniff?
You should have just bought the card and 'over paid' --since it would not have been over paying ...because you can not find the card!!

First time you even saw that one you needed right?

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by BigBeerGut

Sounds like a guy who did not get what he wanted.

Soooo let us bash the dealer! Did it ever occur to you you would not even have SEEN the card if that dealer did not bring the card in the first place for you to even get a sniff?
You should have just bought the card and 'over paid' --since it would not have been over paying ...because you can not find the card!!

First time you even saw that one you needed right?

Beer Gut, I totally agree with you and from your recent posts I think it would be a blast to hit a bar and tip a few with you.

Buyers thinking they should tell sellers to lower their prices... kind of self-serving, isn't it? And I sure don't buy the "good for the bobby" line. Like Gut says, be happy the dealer had one that you could see. You're actually better off for that, as opposed to the dealer not having it at all, at any price.

[packs]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Beer Gut, I totally agree with you and from your recent posts I think it would be a blast to hit a bar and tip a few with you.

Buyers thinking they should tell sellers to lower their prices... kind of self-serving, isn't it? And I sure don't buy the "good for the bobby" line. Like Gut says, be happy the dealer had one that you could see. You're actually better off for that, as opposed to the dealer not having it at all, at any price.

Isn't this behavior the reason card shows are dying? There's no money trading hands, which puts the rental of the table underwater due to absurd pricing on the table. So if the show is no longer profitable for a "dealer" there won't be any dealers at the show, and there won't be a show to go to.

Wouldn't anyone prefer to make money over not making it? From all descriptions this was a common card, not a HOFer. Is there even another buyer out there for it?

[seanofjapan]

In fairness, its hard to expect every dealer to be an expert on every single card they have no matter how rare or outside the realm of general knowledge in the hobby it is. If it was a dealer specializing in that sort of stuff it would be different, but if it was a guy who deals with more common stuff and just happened to get a Puerto Rican card that he didn't know much about, its hard to fault him for taking a "lets just slap this high price on it and see if anyone takes it" approach. Obviously you wouldn't buy from that guy, but doing the research necessary to price stuff they don't know much about accurately probably isn't something a lot of them view as worth their while if they aren't going to regularly deal in it.

I live in Japan and collect Japanese cards and when I peruse Ebay listings of vintage Japanese stuff its pretty obvious that a lot of the US sellers selling them aren't experts and just stumbled across some, based on the prices they are asking which have that "I don't know if this is worth anything but maybe it is so I will price it ridiculously high" mindset.

[markf31]

Originally Posted by Jason19th

... Dealers need to know that you cannot just label a $40 cuban issue with a sticker that says “negro leaguer” and then price it at 400.

Pretty sure they can. Its their merchandise and they can put whatever price on it they choose. Just as its your choice to do business with them or not and move along.

I dont understand the point of people complaining about how the asking prices a dealer decides to puts on their merchandise. Every now and again someone will post about various Ebay sellers and their ridiculous BIN prices that have been listed on cards for years.

A dealer who is rude or condescending when you approach them about their prices, that I dont agree with. But who I am to say a dealer cant put a price tag of $400 on a $40 card?

[Jewish-collector]

This thread will get really interesting if the dealer Jason is referring to is a member of Net54.

[Jason19th]

I should clarify. Of course a seller can put any price they want on an item. It’s the buyer’s responsibility to know the value of the item. My point is that I think doing so is ultimately bad for the hobby. I look at the world of baseball books. Values have gone down a lot over the past 15 years and I would argue that one of the reasons is the pricing of books way over market. I can show you books that have been for sale on eBay or ABE books got the last 15+ years. They have not sold and the prices have not been reduced. When good material doesn’t circulate collecting stagnates

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

This thread will get really interesting if the dealer Jason is referring to is a member of Net54.

Depends on if they are in the "in" crowd. I have seen this happen a few times recently. A member has a painting listed on eBay and several members talked crap about it being highly overpriced. Then a member sold another member a altered card and nothing but crickets.