1952 Topps psa pricing vs. actual value

[journeyto407]

For the last month or so, I've been tracking 1952 topps on eBay and trying to get at least an idea of what PSA says something's worth and actually how much it's worth.

I used PSA 5 as my base (which is what I'm collecting) and this is what PSA says they are "worth" - this is just for commons, no big names, HOF, RC, etc.

Commons 1 - 80 - $40
Commons 81 - 250 - $28
Commons 251-310 - $30
Commons 311-407 - $140

What I've found that they are actually selling for is more along the lines of (again PSA 5):

Commons 1 - 80 - $25-30
Commons 81 - 250 - $15-20
Commons 251-310 - $20-25
Commons 311-407 - $160

So, from my unscientific look through, it seems you can basically take off 1/4 to 1/3 of the price for cards 1-250, about 1/4 for cards 251-310, and anything over 311 is in high demand.

Just interested to see if any other collectors have seen these trends as well with 52 Topps? I'm trying to get a general feel for pricing so I a) don't get burned and b) can look for good deals online/at shows.

[Republicaninmass]

Don't listen to PSA values, use sales history

[h2oya311]

Those SMR/PSA values are shockingly pretty close, given your research into actual prices. Usually they are so far off it'll make you chuckle. I have to agree w/ the second poster, stick w/ historical prices as a reference point, and go the extra buck for a "nicer" 5!! Not all "5s" are alike, so there can be big price variations just from that.

[Brianruns10]

By my experience the centering of a card impacts value a great deal. Take the high numbers, as an example. If a card has average centering, it'll fetch a very, very modest premium over the book value, and my experience has been it is difficult to resell and recoup the money. Sometimes I've done alright, sometimes I've lost money.

But if the card is centered...hoo by. I tell you, I've seen some cards with perfect centering, go for 75 to 100% above book value.

So if the card has average eye appeal and centering, the values don't deviate all that much, but if the eye appeal is great and the card is well centered, the price can go way up, especially if you get a couple guys in a bidding war.

[journeyto407]

Also did some research into raw lots on eBay and to make a long story short, after checking out 30 lots that have sold in the last 6 weeks or so, this is what I found (and this is all for lower to mid # cards, no card over #311):

Though I went by the grades given by the seller, I also tried to eyeball to see if it held water to me...and most did.

Poor/Good - averaged $3.50/card
Good/VG - averaged $5/card
VG/EX - averaged $7/card
EX - averaged $9.50/card

Each of the 4 categories made up 1/4 of the lots, so about 7-8 lots each were averaged for each grade.

I'm interested to see if this sounds about right to what you might have paid recently...

[Matthew80]

Just a quick note of thanks to those contributing. I go back 'n forth on trying to tackle this modern day monster. Reading this has been really helpful.