Recent price trends .... international market?
 

Of course we have all seen the price of key, iconic players such as Mantles and RCs of others skyrocket in recent months/weeks, but unless I missed it, the posts regarding the reasoning for such increases is non-existent.

I had a talk with a friend of mine recently regarding these trends. Without going into detail about him, his background, hobby knowledge, and position would certainly qualify him as having an "expert opinion" .....

That said, one of the reasons he gave was that certain sellers on eBay ship internationally .... thus opening a whole new market to the hobby. Apparently there is a big demand for nice cards elsewhere.

Thoughts?

I think you have missed about a dozen posts on the subject, unless you are being sarcastic.

I must have missed them ....

I believe I have read a few but I don't recall reading about what you stated above?

That is an interesting twist and very well could be one of the reasons?

I remember hearing/reading years ago that there is a large Japanese/Oriental contingent who like to collect old BB cards?
No idea if there is much truth to it, but considering the money they seem to be able to throw around, I tend to lean on the side it may be true?

i doubt it....people that can spend 15,000 on a card im sure go to the National and make purchases from people there....if the top 10 dealers dont notice an 'international' market, then i doubt there is one....but perhaps they do.....maybe someone will chime in

Another member on here had an explanation that I thought also made a lot of sense: with interest rates on bonds, CDs and the like so low, everyone is pulling their money out of those and in to other assets, including coins, antique firearms and baseball cards.

That makes sense, on the other hand, there's zero risk associated with T-bills, and more-or-less predictable risk associated with stocks (at least if you're properly diversified), whereas there are really only guesses as to the risk associated with baseball cards. (Notice, for example, the frequent speculation around here that this is all a bubble. I'm not saying that it is, but there are lots of serious collectors on Net54, and no consensus that this isn't a bubble.) Also, baseball cards don't pay dividends, you've got to hope that prices continue to increase.

Interesting point but rates have been near record lows for many years. They wouldn't alone explain the most recent spikes.

One thing I've noticed is that many of these current buyers seem to not be particularly discerning in regards to the card. By that, I mean they seem to be "buying the slab", and not the card. Many of the cards I've seen selling for these astronomical prices lately, are significantly off center (none have been designated OC, but to me, they are borderline), or have other quality issues.


Steve

I have noticed
 

the exact opposite to Steve It seems high end centered cards are bringing even more of a premium. This rise is not strictly international buyers but the result of a few very wealthy collectors entering the hobby around the same time.

What I have seen is the less visually appealing cards definitely selling for less, in the same grade, than better looking ones. However to Steve's point, even the crappy looking cards are going for monumental sums. Personally I would pay twice as much, or more, for the same grade if the card is better looking than others of the same grade and have done so recently. As for why all the money in the hobby now? Well, I was literally making about 1 dollar a month on the money it took to get this card. I thought I got it at a good price and have no doubt it will do better than the cash in the bank. I am not sure there is a card closer to cash in our hobby than this one...It was a safe bet, I think... This has to do with Egri's comments above....

Nice card Leon. Hard to go wrong with that one.

was this one on ebay from a guy with many mantles? if so i almost bought it..

It was on ebay from Sean (Invest In Baseball.) You should have bought it. Even at the listed BIN (24k) it was a good deal, imo ......

What you probably noticed is that these off centered cards, say on a 55 Clemente or Koufax, or 63 Rose PSA 7 are selling for a lot more than what the centered cards sold for a month or two ago. What you may not have noticed is the nice cards without the print defects that are centered are still going for big premiums.

Some guys are out there chasing flips but demand for nice looking cards for their grade is not going away. This is even more true in low and mid grade cards such as the 52 Mantle Leon posted.

Congrats ridiculously nice card and a fantastic investment!

i didnt have the funds yet as i couldnt sell my 1954 Banks 7.5 as people wouldnt make an offer only 'whats the lowest you would take' :)

theres a banks psa 8 at 13k now i think so i think that 7.5 banks probably makes as much money as many mantles now but who know.s