PSA SMR prices...what's the deal?
 

I've been a using Beckett guides for a while, but thought I'd give PSA's SMR a try...beats buying another book each year, or magazine each month...

But I was amazed at the disparity between its valuations for cards, versus what many are selling for on ebay. I mean, the differential is huge, especially for the '52 Topps, which is what I'm collecting.

For example, Faye Throneberry is listed at $365 in NrMt 7, yet on ebay there is an example for sale for $585! And it is not even particularly well centered, with a significant shift upwards. Definitely not worth (IMO) the premium of a dead centered example.

Another example: Bill Dickey. PSA 6 he lists for 700, yet on ebay a fellow is asking 985 for one, and it's badly off center, flirting with MC status.

So what's the deal here? Are ebay sellers not clued in the economy, or vainly trying to sell them for what they might've paid 18 or 24 months ago?

Or is it because we're talking about 52 highs, and their rarity causes greater swings in prices?

Why is it, you think, that there is such a disparity between the SMR, and the actual selling prices?

The cards you saw listed on ebay, did they sell for that price or is that just a listing ?
I see alot of nutty prices on ebay, but many times the cards are posted and reposted month after month and never sell.
Now with higher grade '52 Topps you may very well get above book.
With the SMR it's suppose to be an 'average' of the card sales.
There are many instances where I see cards sell for significantly higher than what the SMR is stating.
I've been reading the SMR since it's inception, and the guide is just that- a guide. I like the magazine for the card collection articles as they tend to have features on issues that are not common.

In general I find SMR prices to be 10-30% too high, although there are many exceptions including cards that sell for more than the list price...

Yes just the listing. Re-reading my post, I see where i was ambiguous. I should be better with my semantics! Yes, to clarify these are the asking prices, usually buy it now, but occasionally the starter bids. Sure does mystify me why they think they can get these prices for certain cards. Another card I'm eyeing, 396 Dick Williams in PSA 6 is listed for 1,100! The SMR is low $300s, and even a PSA 7, one full grade higher, is still under 1K. And it's not perfectly centered by any means. I actually messaged the seller to see if the price was wrong, because how anyone expects to get 3x book value for a mid-grade card is beyond me.

If the listed price was good, it wouldn't still be there for you to potentially buy it...

Book prices are way too inconsistent for the most part, many too high others way to low, I know on exhibits, there are a number of sets I would gladly pay 5 x smr for NM copies and others I can barely sell for 40% of smr.

I do have my own ebay store that I sell dupes and other cards and I do know that when you price below market your cards sell quick, price a bit higher and you can wait up to a year but it will sell and you will get your price. Price it too high and it will just sit there, I know some cards that have been listed with the same high price since 2006 and the market is over half off. Odds are they will not sell it but im sure they figure it only cost $2.40 or less a year to list and is peanuts on a $1000+ card. I have some scarce exhibits listed and they take a while to sell as I imagine others are waiting to see if one comes up for auction to grab a lot cheaper but when that wait can be up to 20 years sometimes they just decide to buy the card.

As Scott already mentioned above, book prices (SMR) are way too inconsistent. Your best bet is to use VCP which tracks actual recorded sales.

I'm no longer a PSA member, so I no longer receive the SMR magazine. I sure do miss it though. It made a great coaster to protect my cocktail table. That's about all it's good for. A waste of a good tree if you ask me.

Smr
 

It's not a price guide, it's a multi-page advertising slick.