Deans Again
 

Hear ye, hear ye, much to my amazement Deans is having a sale with discounts up to 20%. Seems to apply to his entire inventory. First major move like this on his part I have ever seen. His 149 Goudey Ruth might move into the affordable area for some folks.

I have dealt with Dean in the past and it was an easy and pleasant experience. I’m not sure why people constantly complain about him; his cards—he can charge what he likes. No one is putting a gun to buyer’s heads forcing them to pay his prices.

Admit it Jay, if there was never another thread about the pricing by Dean, 707 and Yepdog, you would miss them :)

From other threads, it seems putting a price on something is THE most important thing on earth, so if Dean does that, no complaining.

We see what you did there :) Just being contrary

Dean be like

https://allthecubs.com/wp-content/up...4/09/deans.jpg

Hi Al! I don’t know who Yepdog is, but I like Levi and the guys at 707. If we eliminated every thread where people are bitching about something the board would probably have to close down.

Yepbg. The key seems to be this: add cards that you want from his inventory to your eBay watchlist, and wait for a discount. Then, you can purchase at only moderately above market value.

Something to remember

Dean's and Levi *I don't know Yepdog as well as those two* usually put prices on items and grade accurately and ship prompt. I mean, you know what you are getting on every level so stop moaning.

Seriously wouldn't you rather pay 10 percent more and get the item you want with an almost perfect chance of getting the item prompty and well shipped than taking a chance

Rich

707
 

Levi sends me cards for review before payment. I correspond some with Deans about variants they don’t know about. Yepdog always has odd ball/scarce and variant Topps stuff

I've almost been waiting for a thread on Dean's since many of their prices have really come down over the past few months. I've actually bought a few cards from them over that time that I considered to be very good deals.

I'm not sure what compelled them to give away this B.E. Thompson Contentnea card for $245 but, presumably, they didn't know what they had.

I have no idea if it's a temporary thing and, yes, the prices are still high on a lot of things. But some of their prices have been flat out reasonable lately.

I'm pretty sure Dean's prices are the same. He just temporarily bumped the prices and then lowered them by 20% to seem like there is a discount. I know because I was tracking a few.

No, I expect that from any seller. I like Levi a lot and always chat with him at the National. But, I don't think I will pay more for a card because of the dealer.

I am not at the level of Levi sending me cards before I pay.:) I have only made one decent sized purchase from him. He personally went out of his way to give me some of the best customer service I have ever had in the hobby.

I have only made a few purchases from Deans. I have bought some T210s from him. At that time I was way more than happy with the prices I paid.

I have nothing but great things to say about both.

And wrong again. Don't forget the wrong part.

:)

Jay, I wasn't complaining about Dean, only that he sent me an email announcing his new discounted prices.

+1
You can always get 20% off by going direct to the website and spending 1000-1500 bucks, I think that's the limit.
Unfortunately he has to charge sales tax now or one could save an additional 10% if you're from a high tax state.

I am not sure if I ever related this here in the past. If I have and you remember, mea culpa.

When I was getting back into collecting in 2010, I thought about building a 1978 Topps set, which was the primary set I had as a kid. The first place I landed while searching for where to buy cards was Dean's. Looking at his prices and adding up how much a set would actually cost to build, I almost quit the hobby before I started. Thankfully, I went to an in-person show and found several great sellers who sold cards at reasonable prices.

Dean is free to charge whatever he wants for his cards, and y'all are welcome to spend your money however you see fit. But, don't ever assume your experience is typical for the hobby.

I think the people recommending giving Dean's a second shot are those talking about a higher caliber of card, where Dean's is at least a little more competitive.

I just wish that I had bit the bullet (and even used a credit card if needed) and plunked down the $12K they had listed some 1952 Topps Mantles in VG condition on COMC. That's probably my biggest dissapointment in the 10 years I've been back in the hobby.

That may be so and it doesn't disprove my point that Deans is mostly inaccessible to some significant portion of collectors. Again, if he choses to sit on his inventory and only cater those who can afford his prices, that's fine. But don't discount that there may have been many would-be collectors who's experience was similar to mine and were scared right out of collecting because of Dean's prices.

I mean, compare:

Attachment 636035

and contrast:

Attachment 636036

I didn't hunt around for this example. This is the only card I looked at. Greg Morris is, IMO, the best online seller in the hobby and not surprisingly commands premium prices. I am sorry, but I don't care how good Dean's customer service is, it ain't worth 10 times what is already at the top end of the market.

You got that right!!! It's quite sad, but he enjoys a small cult following on Net54...

30. Dean-noser (also Dreckonomist)
A person who, in the face of all common sense, always feels compelled to praise the well-known and heavily discussed eBay rip-off artists who laughably try to sell their cards for ten times as much as everyone else.

Would Deanitis be the continual compulsive need to complain about how Dean has priced his cards for years 😊

I never dealt with Dean, but Levi always paid very well to get the cards he wanted. I have no problem with him making a profit. Or anyone else.

Only if Deanophilia is the compulsion to defend him.

I don't have an issues with his prices, just amazement. That his prices are frequently many multiples of fair pricing is his choice, and it is his buyers choice to do no research and just buy the first copy they see (or however it is they decide to pay 10x value). At some point getting ripped off kind of falls on the idiot who refuses to do any research or look anywhere else. His website has great scans of every card and the grade notes his tool displays are awesome. Occasionally he has commons at a fair price, and I have bought them (.89 for 50's Topps non-sport to fill out my needs was my last buy, and a 63 Nitschke in G-VG for $8), but by and large the pricing is lunacy and I cannot figure out how people are dumb enough to pay that much when the same card can be bought that same day from someone else for many multiples less.

What is is annoying is that it is very difficult to block his ridiculous listings and not waste my time scrolling past his wares. He cross lists to eBay, had a deal with COMC to flood their listings for awhile, hell his crap is even on Amazon. It is difficult to shop online and not see his inventory constantly, which is clearly a working business model.

Never dealt with him, as stated, pricing is usually off. What I don’t care for is the photo’s usually look enhanced. Colors are off I think. Maybe it’s just me?

There are precisely zero people who would have been collectors but who got scared out of the hobby because of Dean's prices.

YES! I am annoyed that I have to spend the time to filter out his crap every time I want to do an ebay search.

And I am forever in Swarmee's debt for showing me how to block Dean's on COMC.

I think that’s called running a good business. I shouldn’t have to pay more for that. It’s a pretty sad commentary when people come on here and defend Deans. Yes they can charge whatever they want, but to defend the absurdity of that pricing is odd.

Not any worse than those that post that every card they have is overpriced. The T210s I purchased from them was cheaper than any other place I could find them. Do they price cards higher than most, sure but at least they post a price and decent pictures. Buying their overpriced cards is as silly as putting a cheap set together one or a few cards at a time. I honestly don't get all the hate.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27666052533...mis&media=COPY



79 NM set for $2,360…..Anyone care to come on here and defend that nonsense?

I just bought a half dozen T210s and T209-2's from Deans too. I was going to buy five but buying one more card gave me the next level of their volume discounting and made the overall deal better. I just won a t209-2 on ebay a couple of hours ago and paid more for that card then I did for the ones I bought from Deans.

Lingering around Dean's site long enough and you get yourself a war story about how you managed to get a deal from Dean's when they're behind the actual market in pricing.

It oddly feels better than it should considering you're spending money.

There are different segments of the trading card market. Just because he prices mass produced commons at ridiculous prices, doesn't mean he doesn't sometimes price much more limited pre-war cards at prices that are more in line with pricing expectations and sometimes qualify as buys.

Things are not all or nothing. I've probably bought less than 10 cards from Deans even when they were on COMC, but I probably turned a profit on 7 of them. As mentioned earlier, because of their scans, you can identify some limited recurring print defects in their inventory and get them for $2 when they would sell properly marketed for $100.

If you want bulk commons, sportlots is better suited for set builders, along with card show boxes and COMC.

Y'all stop being so daft.

"Precisely zero" is an unusual turn of phrase for a data scientist steeped in rigorous statistical analysis. But that isn't the role you are playing here, is it?

I'm saying that in the entirety of this hobby, there has never once been a single collector who decided to exit the hobby as a result of seeing Dean's prices; an absurd claim you made above. You should be ashamed for coming up with something that stupid. Just say you were joking and all will be right in the world again. On the other hand, if you were in fact serious, then I'll tip my hat to you sir.

Unfortunately, these 3 sellers are usually 3 of 5 who have unusual cards on my ol’ target list. While their customer service might be top notch (which is expected w/ many established vintage dealers / resellers anyway), I usually skip over their listings on eBay & elsewhere. I do happily engage w/ them in-person though.

They each must be doing something right as they continue to operate (or are extremely lucky w/ sales & margins). Can be a # of reasons.

Great listings, service, & collections but they aren’t for me. I rather give 100% of my orders to folks like monster cards, net54 collectors, & FB / IG folks who can be trusted.

LOL. I'd ask to see your work getting from your prior to your posterior, but there is a precisely zero percent chance it is anything other than "trust me bro."

The folks over at Blowout really are missing out.

The truth is you're an idiot if you honestly think that there is even a single collector who exited the hobby because of one single dealer's prices, let alone a tribe full of such hobby exiters. The ability to even formulate such a thought, let alone type it out and then hit 'Submit Reply' is truly remarkable. Again, I tip my hat to you, sir. Well done. Well done.

Agree. I have purchased from him several times in the past and have had no issues. He has quite a loyal following and I trust him. He even took time out of his vacation to email me at 8 PM, a long response to one of my questions submitted through his website about a certain variation.

I agree. Dean is free to charge whatever he pleases (or actually whatever he can get). But by the same token we here are also free to sneer at his prices. Freedom of choice (including freedom of speech) is always my bottom line.

:)