T210's On Ebay
 

In trying to get a ballpark figure on what 210's are going for today, I went on ebay and searched T210 Old Mill.

Not one bid, as all the auctions are buy it now or buy it now/best offer only. The BIN prices are what I wish I could get for the 210's and I seem to remember the same cards up on ebay a couple of months ago. So my question is what's up with the no bidding option on these particular tobacco cards?
Can someone recommend a past auction or some place else where 210's were sold recently.
tia,

Speaking of ballpark figures, a man recently asked me how much I paid for my drought resistant landscape. I didn't think it was any of his business, so I said the contractor was a friend and I wasn't comfortable quoting his rates to a stranger. The man said, oh come on, at least give me a ballpark figure. I said ok, bottom of the ninth, score tied, basses loaded with two outs and a full count, but I don't know how that's going to help you. After glaring at me, with malice, for a few seconds, he left me alone. True story.

so are you looking for the same type of ballpark figure you gave that guy? If so...t210's are worth more than 1980's topps commons...and less than t208 commons.:)

you and I both wish we could get what the prices on Ebay are. I have made offers that were very reasonable on some of those cards and didn't even get a response back from the lazy ass seller. There's no way anyone's ever going to pay 4-5 times what a cards value is. T210's went crazy after they were talked about in this forum last month. I think the new flavor of the month is 1934 Diamond Stars and PlayBall sets. Cards I was buying for $10-$20 6 months ago are now suddenly being listed for 4-5 times that, by several sellers. I have a feeling the E120 and E121 sets are going to start taking off this summer too, which is why my brother and I are buying all we can right now. More and more guys I am talking to are telling me they are starting to get in to the American Caramel sets.

I think Karma just slapped me upside my head. :D

on the T210s.

seems like the VG range for a common series is around $40 on the auction side.

some of the tougher series like #8 will bre much higher.

I have been picking up T210-3's for the last 2 years and believe me I would buy all I could find that were VG for $40. Anyone selling???

I have purchased 17 mostly raw T210-3s over that time frame and subbing them getting grades from SGC Auth to 50, the range I have paid has been $38 to $138 with the average paid at $71.06 not including grading fees.

I would like to see T210's return to around $35-$40 for VG cards. I can still remember buying T210 for $5-$10 each from guys at shows and out of SCD classifieds. :o

It is very difficult to come up with a ballpark figure on the T210s as even ungraded Series 1 cards in nice shape have been skyrocketing. The poster who mentioned that Series 8 cards are more than the lower series cards is correct but I've noticed Series 4, 6 and 7 cards have increased exponentially and are bringing high prices compared to where they were 9 months ago.
One thing to remember is that VG cards, or PSA 3s and SGC 40s, are cards in very nice shape for this set.
All that being said, there are degrees of rarity within the different series and you might see a PSA 3 Series 6 card go for $90.00 and another go for $300.00. The more information you can obtain on scarcities in the set, the better you will do. Good luck, I know I still have almost half the set to go and it is getting tougher all the time with the increased number of collectors going after the red borders. :(

Bob is right about the degrees of rarity. Back in the late 80's early 90's T210's were the "redheaded step-child" of pre war tobacco cards ( that an Obaks). Differing degrees of rarity in each of the 8 series started to become evident as more collectors tried to put the set together as best they could. Series 6,7,and 8 cards are tougher to find in my opinion. I just looked at my old notecards from the the year 1993 and found an entry my brother or I had made when we had bought a lot of T210's off of Teletrade and another lot at an estate sale in Indianapolis. the teletrade lot was 12 cards in VG-VG + ,that we won for $60. all were series 1, and 2. The Indianapolis lot was 22 cards all in VG for $178 and contained all series 13 series 1 cards , 1 series 3 card, 1 series 4 card, 2 series 6 cards, and 5 series 7 cards all purchased. an interesting note: at the same estate sale we bought a Cobb bat off shoulder for $185 that was later graded PSA 3 and a Mathewson portrait for $40 that was graded a 2.

I think its a general trend, not must among T210's, but all vintage cards, that has been discussed about in several threads on the forum: sellers are increasingly migrating from auction formats to the BIN format. In the old days you used to see auctions with "reserve" prices, you hardly see those any more, its all BIN.

I wouldn't infer much from eBay BIN prices. All you can tell is that the card is worth less then what the BIN on eBay is (assuming the BIN has been up more then a week). How much less is the question.

So, in a sense, it's cyclical speculation, not unlike traded commodities.

I know when I had my collection first looked at by an "expert", back in the '60's, he told me those (210's) aren't worth anything. I remember thinking, too bad they aren't stiffer, I would clothespin them to my bicycle spokes.

I see BIN's in other card catagories too, but the percentage of 210's BIN's seems awfully high, like all right now. BIN prices are always so high that it seems like the seller is fishing for a buyer who's deparate to complete a set.
Kind of takes the fun out of the hobby.

I think the series 1's are the most common, right? Have there been any 1's auctioned at any of the more well know action sites recently?

I think that would at least give me a bottom line average of what commons are going for now.

I found a 11/08 Series 1 auction at Goodwin where 13 sold for $587, but with only one bidder. $45 per card. Does that sound about par for today?

$45 per card is pretty cheap...especially if they're vg'ish.

That was in 2008 and prices were running a lot cheaper then. The SGC lot of 13 had 1/3 trimmed and varied from poor to vg but should fetch 2x today.

There was a lot of 41 ungraded in Goodwin a year later, last November, that sold for around $2500, or $60 each. Decent fronts but scrapbook damage and markings made them all poor-fair. I believe they were Series 3s.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the input guys. Those prices are a lot higher than I thought, even for vg'ish. Higher than a lot of t206 commons that I've tracked on the bay. I always thought it would be the other way around. At least you can bid on most of the 206's now listed.

very underrrated and underappreciated sets

E120 and E121
 

yes I think they are both under collected and under appreciated by most. My brother is close to finishing the E121 set, and it's been hard to find certain cards for sure. Condition is a big problem with the E121's also. I rarely see high grade cards anymore.