VCP, PSA, BGS etc... How accurate are they?
 

Been noticing a lot of people complaining about the accuracy of these pricing services. I tend to collect rare first year/rookie cards so I've noticed the irreverence of these sites. Does anyone still rely on these sites and if so what types of cards are you buying?

nothing worse than an irreverent price guide... :)

I tend to look at what items are actually selling for on ebay, looking more for a median than a mean. Also use price realized for live auction results.

If you're asking how accurate is VCP versus Beckett and/or SMR, it is much more representative of the current market. However, it can be manipulated and many have a tendency to use VCP to their benefit (ie. using the highest example when selling and the lowest when buying).

I've found VCP to be quite accurate when applying certain restrictions (think Olympic Scoring) and qualifications to the presented data.

Also, VCP allows you to see images of the cards to get a better idea of the eye-appeal premiums.

Beckett and SMR are neither reflective of the current market, nor do they provide a realistic range of expectation.

However, YMMV...

I agree somewhat. I was watching PSA videos on YouTube the other day regarding their authentication and grading process. The way the process is done one would wonder how they can miss or mess up. I think 98% of their work is legit. It's the scammers out there that crack the cases open and insert the fake or reprinted cards. How they do it is beyond me. Seems like a lot of idiots out there have too much time on their hands. With technology as advanced as it is these days it's not a surprise.

Scott:

That would mean SRM got better in a hurry -- yes I'm a former Beckett guy but they put a to of effort into their graded prices and I don't think anyone else in the pricing field attempts they way they do to interpolate the data.

The new grading book will have something like 20K pricing changes

But, here's the thing and it was true in 1991 when Beckett was fully staffed and it's true today -- pricing is a moving target, especially on hotter cards and no one can give you up to the second pricing.

Now, if we had a grey sheet or whatever it was called in coins, then perhaps we would have something that everyone wants.

If the grading companies can get the cards out safely without damaging the case, I'm guessing there is some sort of "tool/machine" that can preform the task at hand. I'm sure some crooks out there know the process.

I use the median price for completed auctions on ebay. Though, I don't include any data from the "big auction houses" on ebay.

I recently tried the VCP for a month and it's not too bad.

Beckett can give you a "idea" but, it's outdated. I remember when everything was based on beckett prices (before the internet). Card shops would use the Hi column for selling price and the Low column for buying price. It was really simple back then! Mint, Near mint, Ex, Vg, Poor .