Dean's Cards Discounts

[raulus]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

Anybody a regular buyer of his cards? Only customers I see would be people looking for some rare item that Dean has or people for which money is not a factor. That can't be sustainable by itself, yet he's still doing it after all these years so I must be missing something.

I concur with your analysis.

That's the beauty of capitalism - you won't last long if your value proposition is garbage.

The only possible answer has to be that Deans is selling enough to make enough money to stay in business. Maybe a lot of the sales are going to people who aren't familiar with the market, either because they're new or because they don't really spend enough time to really evaluate whether the pricing is within a few standard deviations of market?

I suppose it's also possible that some buyers just prefer to work with a dealer that they know and trust, rather than faff about with randos online.

And maybe it's a little bit of all of the above, including the situations you listed.

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by raulus

The only possible answer has to be that Deans is selling enough to make enough money to stay in business. Maybe a lot of the sales are going to people who aren't familiar with the market, either because they're new or because they don't really spend enough time to really evaluate whether the pricing is within a few standard deviations of market?

I suppose it's also possible that some buyers just prefer to work with a dealer that they know and trust, rather than faff about with randos online.

And maybe it's a little bit of all of the above, including the situations you listed.

This. Someone recently bought his PSA 4 1933 Goudey #149 Ruth for $40K. It's nice, but so are the other 4s I've seen that went for half the price.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by jayshum

The card originally mentioned by the OP is now listed for $13,270 on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27630338634...1&toolid=20001

On Dean's website, it's listed for $16,120 with a 20% discount that drops it to $12,896 so while you aren't getting 20% off the eBay price, you do usually save money buying directly from the website. Also, if you add lower priced cards to the same order, they will also be 20% off which is a larger discount than if you bought them separately (assuming they were listed below $1000 to start).

Even with the discounts, his prices are still usually higher than others have for the same card, but somehow it seems to work for him. I've bought a few cards over the years, and it is nice to have the clear front and back scans along with very detailed information about raw cards (their opinion for corner grades, centering, card measurements, etc) that I have not seen from any other online seller. I certainly could not have afforded to buy my entire collection from Deans, but there have been times when I've found something worthwhile that I couldn't find elsewhere.

Like some others I just buy rare and oddball stuff from Dean's. Mainly T210s as just finding a specific card can take some time. They usually have a decent variety to choose from. They had the same price on eBay and their site on the ones I purchased. With their website discount they where cheaper than I could find similar cards from other sellers.

I agree for the most part they are extremely overpriced. They also offer great front/back scans and some reasonably priced cards. The other big to me bonus is the only bad thing they get accused of is high prices.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by BeanTown

Wouldn’t surprise me if the business was a front for something else.

Originally Posted by Snowman

I've also wondered if it's a front for something else.

Seriously? You guys don't like their pricing so you want to insinuate they are a front operation for some kind of illicit enterprise? The irony

[campyfan39]

I got mycard today I brought form them. I am thrilled wit it. second most I have ever paid for a card in my life $880 after the website discount.
Obvious surface wear and corners but no stains/creases/paper loss/ink etc. Centering is also good and the color looks great in person.

[Leon]

I flipped a PSA 8, '57Brooks Robinson from Deans one time. I think I made close to a grand. The prices had gone up and they didn't catch that one...Otherwise, have bought 1-2 things from them, but have gone through their site and not ebay...
.

[gunboat82]

If a Dean's Cards discount was the bellwether, now I'm convinced that the vintage apocalypse is upon us.

Yepbg discounted everything in his eBay store by 25% a little while back, and this afternoon I received eBay notifications that he had dropped items I was watching by another 10%. He's still 60 to 150% above recent auction sales on the stuff I'm watching, but the fact that he's dropped his prices is noteworthy.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by gunboat82

If a Dean's Cards discount was the bellwether, now I'm convinced that the vintage apocalypse is upon us.

Yepbg discounted everything in his eBay store by 25% a little while back, and this afternoon I received eBay notifications that he had dropped items I was watching by another 10%. He's still 60 to 150% above recent auction sales on the stuff I'm watching, but the fact that he's dropped his prices is noteworthy.

Mike, you beat me to it, I was going to comment on Yepbg also. A very reputable dealer and seems to be a nice guy but his prices are astronomical. The 25% discount and additional 10% discount still make his stuff my last stop to look but he does have a lot of tough to find items so I have gulped and overpaid when I couldn't find something anywhere else.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by tbob

Mike, you beat me to it, I was going to comment on Yepbg also. A very reputable dealer and seems to be a nice guy but his prices are astronomical. The 25% discount and additional 10% discount still make his stuff my last stop to look but he does have a lot of tough to find items so I have gulped and overpaid when I couldn't find something anywhere else.

I get the feeling that Yepbg may be tired of curating a museum, some of that stuff I've been watching for 4 years.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I get the feeling that Yepbg may be tired of curating a museum, some of that stuff I've been watching for 4 years.

Me too, Phil. 4 years and longer!

[The Detroit Collector]

I actually just bought something from yepbg yesterday and found the price to be really reasonable. He also sent be an offer which I accepted, which I would never expect Deans Cards to do.

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by The Detroit Collector

I actually just bought something from yepbg yesterday and found the price to be really reasonable. He also sent be an offer which I accepted, which I would never expect Deans Cards to do.

Was it the Venezuelan Mantle? That's the only one I watched where the 33% discount brought it down to a reasonable price.

[The Detroit Collector]

Originally Posted by gunboat82

Was it the Venezuelan Mantle? That's the only one I watched where the 33% discount brought it down to a reasonable price.

It was the 1907 Wolverine News Hughie Jennings