Does "Book Value" mean anything to you?

[JustinD]

I was just pondering this as I saw a bst listing using "book value".

It caused me to try to remember the last time I even gave a smallest thought to "bv" and I was guessing it was the late 90's honestly. With the advent of online histories, i have essentially completely ignored anything said about beckett or any other book source for decades.

As far as using it in reference toward things rarely sold, I am a firm believer that things are worth only what they bring that day, to that person. So I prefer auction formats, if it sold for 10k once but only 20 bucks the next time, then it's worth 20 bucks today. I don't care otherwise.

Any thoughts on this? Does someone out there still look at Beckett arrows and care?

[John1941]

BV means nothing to me for pricing cards, but it is useful for determining the relative values of cards in a set.

[forceplay sport]

I feel its still a useful tool.

[MVSNYC]

Haven't looked up "book value" on any cards in what seems like decades. To your point, it's all about current/recent sales (eBay, AH's, occasionally VCP, etc).

[Leon]

Book values are completely meaningless. They are laughable.


and a 1927 Ruth card with no book value.


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[Aquarian Sports Cards]

WHo cares about the value of books, this is a card site!

[CobbSpikedMe]

I'll still pick up a Beckett from time to time (usually the Vintage Collector one) for the articles and I'll scan the book values on cards I have to see how accurate they are against recent actual sales. But this is out of mere curiosity more than anything else. I don't take BV into account when buying/selling anything though.

Usually when I sell something (which is almost always a low grade card) I look for recent comps and then just decide what I'm willing to take to part with the card. If it sells, great, if not then I'll just hold onto it a bit longer.



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[Exhibitman]

Online data has made 'book value' an obsolete term.

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by John1941

BV means nothing to me for pricing cards, but it is useful for determining the relative values of cards in a set.

Bingo.

[RL]

book value means nothin to me.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by John1941

BV means nothing to me for pricing cards, but it is useful for determining the relative values of cards in a set.

+1

Use old SCD catalogs and you can get the idea of which cards in a set are going to be worth more than others, for example if shorted printed, a tough variation, or a rookie card.

Can also help in valuing cards between different sets. Say you're looking at a couple E102 and E103 Cobb cards. You quickly realize the Williams Caramel Cobb will likely cost you more when they are otherwise in the same condition.

[todeen]

Book value means a lot to novice collectors. The more a person buys, and the longer they are around the hobby, people can kind of guesstimate on value, and then advance to online selling comps.

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[HOF Auto Rookies]

Maybe when I was 10

[carlsonjok]

I mainly use it as a guide for bidding on cards for set builds because looking for comps on a 598 individual cards in a set isn't a good use of time. So, I have Beckett high book on my want lists and I will normally bid up to 33% of BV for VGEX, 40% for EX, and 50% for NRMT. I don't normally pick up a large number of cards on Greg Morris set breaks, but my rule of thumb is enough that I still manage to make enough progress to stick with the rules.

[packs]

What book do you even use these days?

[butchie_t]

I have a lot of books and they all have book value. many are 1st editions.

As for cards, it is all on-line. I do buy beckett’s from time to time for research and as a guide. But it is all on-line and closer to being current than any magazine ever could.

[Yoda]

It should mean something to collectors who have realized gains or losses when tax time slithers around.