Cards some collectors think are rare, but are not.

[Lucas00]

A saying I've created is, if it's on ebay it's probably not rare. Lol.

Of course that's way too much of a generalization but it's true 90% of the time. There is rare stuff but it's always extremely overpriced and most of it has been sitting price unchanged with offers disabled for half a decade.

[BuzzD]

Not appreciating the difference between rarity and scarcity has cost me a lot of dough...

[rjackson44]

Darby choclates complete box ,,now we are talking

[raulus]

Serious question:

Any chance we’ve become rarity snobs?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by raulus

Serious question:

Any chance we’ve become rarity snobs?

I have always collected rarity and it doesn't necessarily mean value, whatsover. It's always the demand side that equates to value. And that would be "scarcity."

As to the original subject, I can't count the number of times I have seen people say the '52 Mantle is rare.....it's not.

And whomever said ebay doesn't have rare stuff any longer isn't looking on there 7x24 like some of us ....

[Aug06]

Its not baseball...But the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan RC is not a rare card.

[Cory]

And I think the real issue is rarity vs. scarcity as mentioned above. Just because something is rare doesn't make it valuable. And just because something isn't "rare" in you definition doesn't mean it can't be valuable if there is more demand than supply. It all boils down to supply and demand.

t206's are the perfect ecosystem to demonstrate this -

The Armbruster PB mentioned above is presumably just as rare as the Demmitt STL. But most t206 collectors chasing the monster don't care if Armbruster has a Piedmont or Sweet Cap or Polar Bear back as long as they have one, which broadens the supply. However, everyone that wants to complete the 520 needs a Demmitt (and O'Hara) STL which was only printed with a PB back. There are only 200 in the PSA pop, so if this is half the available population, say 400 exist. If there are 1000 people chasing the monster there is more demand than supply so the price goes up- so the Armbruster is just as "rare" as the Demmitt STL, but not nearly as scarce.

[rjackson44]

Originally Posted by Leon

I have always collected rarity and it doesn't necessarily mean value, whatsover. It's always the demand side that equates to value. And that would be "scarcity."

As to the original subject, I can't count the number of times I have seen people say the '52 Mantle is rare.....it's not.

And whomever said ebay doesn't have rare stuff any longer isn't looking on there 7x24 like some of us ....

i enjoy going thru leons auction catalog for ideas ..ill never part with it