How much would you pay?

[conor912]

For the sake of this poll, I'm going with a '33 Goudey Ruth, PSA 5. Which of the 4 Ruths doesn't matter for this exercise, nor does the strength of the grade. Assume we all agree that it has a current "market value" is $5k.

I've been thinking about the prices some cards have gotten to lately and the psychology that goes along with them. I'm curious to know what you would all pay for said Ruth if it carried zero resale value. I'm interested in what percentage of the prices we pay are justified in our brains by the fact that we can always resell it if we need to. However, if a card had zero resale value, much like a pair of used socks, how much would you pay strictly for the joy of owning it.

[Leon]

I said 1k - 3k as the Goudey Ruth (144) is one of my favorite cards in the hobby, if not my favorite. I would pay that much to own a nice one.....

[Republicaninmass]

I've always loved the color of #181. It reminds me of some candy from the 30s I've never had, but Probably tasted better then than it does now.

[familytoad]

I think I wouldn’t pay anything.
I’m far from a flipper , investor or anything like that but if it had no resale value, I could just print out a (better) picture of Ruth and collect pictures from the internet.
Not many people pay money for things that have no value...I might not be able to get much for my old socks but they provided the $6 of value when I got them

I’m probably straying from the real point, but my answer remains the same.
A picture on cardboard has to have some value or I wouldn’t pay up for it. May as well buy a fake Goudey on eBay , there are plenty...

In my mind, while it could be different in reality, I could turn my collection back into money. A profit or a loss is yet to be determined, but if I knew it was zero, I probably wouldn’t have paid so much for them...

[Slinger]

I haven't collected in almost 3 decades.

I got back into it to buy with the intent that in another 3-4 decades when I give/leave the cards to my son, they will be worth far more than what I paid for them. That's the hope anyway.

So a $0 value, doesn't interest me for my particular purchase game plan.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Leon

I said 1k - 3k as the Goudey Ruth (144) is one of my favorite cards in the hobby, if not my favorite. I would pay that much to own a nice one.....

I agree with Leon in that #144 is also my favorite, but even hypothetically, I cannot image it not having any re-sale value.

[C-mack]

I'd pay 100 to 400 for just about anything I thought was neat and had to have it lol so the Ruth would easily fall into this category

[darwinbulldog]

If nobody other than me cared about baseball cards, I guess I'd value it about the same as some other card that I like the look of, let's say the Stan Hack Diamond Stars card or a T206 Hal Chase portrait, which I'd be happy to pay $10-$20 for even if no one else wanted them just because of how old they are and how cool they look. Same for Ruth.

But this is kind of an old wound. At the risk of going a bit off-track here, I had exactly the card you describe and sold it for $2000 back in '05. Actually had it on eBay with a BIN for $2500, which someone clicked on when he wanted to just make an offer, then told me that he didn't want it for $2500, that he just wanted to offer $2000 but would throw in an extra $50 because he was a nice guy, then (over the next few weeks) bounced a check, then tried to send a second check to a P.O. Box via UPS (who won't deliver to a P.O. Box), then came on the forum when I posted about it to warn other sellers and criticized me for overreacting and not just trusting him, all while I was trying to not be evicted from my apartment because I suddenly found myself $2500 short. I was a student at the time, and that one card accounted for probably like 3/4 of the value of my entire collection.

I just read through the thread as a refresher. It was pretty much just as I remembered.

[Throttlesteer]

You can easilyg answer your question. Check what a 1933 Goudey Ruth reprint is fetching on EBay. Short of something providing obvious utility, wouldn't any objects value be determined on it's resale potential? .

[Anish]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer

You can easilyg answer your question. Check what a 1933 Goudey Ruth reprint is fetching on EBay. Short of something providing obvious utility, wouldn't any objects value be determined on it's resale potential? .

Not a fair comparison because part (or most) of the value in the original is that it was produced nearly a century ago, during Ruth’s career. Even a perfect reprint doesn’t capture that.

I appreciate the historical value of pre-war cards and would pay thousands for the ones I desire even without any resale value. They are just amazing to enjoy up close.

[Stampsfan]

Sorry, this makes no sense to me.

How much would I pay for something that has no useful purpose, and has zero intrinsic value?

Uhhh... nothing?

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

Sorry, this makes no sense to me.

How much would I pay for something that has no useful purpose, and has zero intrinsic value?

Uhhh... nothing?

"No useful purpose" is completely subjective. I would argue that the joy of ownership is a useful purpose.

[conor912]

I'm pretty surprised that 1 in 5 would pay absolutely nothing for a nice, career issued card of the biggest icon the game has ever known. IMO that doesn't bode well for fandom of the hobby for pure enjoyment's sake.

[packs]

If baseball cards suddenly became worthless I would be the happiest guy in the world. I'd eat the loss for my entire collection and then go about buying up all the cards I ever wanted, worthless or not. I certainly wouldn't pay much for them but I'd enjoy them all the same.

[bbcard1]

I would probably pay about $100. That's my limit to go see a concert or a play or something that the reward is being part of the expeience.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by packs

If baseball cards suddenly became worthless I would be the happiest guy in the world. I'd eat the loss for my entire collection and then go about buying up all the cards I ever wanted, worthless or not. I certainly wouldn't pay much for them but I'd enjoy them all the same.

Amen.

If Ruth cards were worthless I'd have to assume some sort of apocalyptic event took place and baseball cards would probably be the least of anyone's concerns

[frankbmd]

I think the premise of this thread is flawed.

Granted that the market for my used socks is thin currently, but who knows what the future holds.

To denigrate the value of the used socks ignores the market value of game used socks worn by the “Babe” himself. And what if Ruth’s socks from the game in which he hit #714 came up for auction with photo matching and certified fungal ancestry? Remember to register before you place a bid.

[packs]

Does anyone remember what they paid for a Ruth Goudey in 1998? I'm just curious to see how prices have swung in 20 years.

[rhettyeakley]

I am coming at this question imagining we are in an alternate universe and trading cards never attained any real following in that universe. In a situation like that I could see the item having some value just based on age and novelty. I would assume a value of $25-100 or so just for those reasons alone.

Strange but interesting question.

[familytoad]

I am a huge baseball fan, and my purchase history and collection shows how much I want “the card” and not “ the future value”. I have a lot of cards that I paid good money for that would be snubbed by the investor types for not being nice enough. My fandom isn’t hard to see.

My point in my response is directly to the 33G Ruth. If it wasn’t worth anything, I wouldn’t pay anything for it. That’s a circular argument indeed.

But if I wanted to enjoy pictures of Babe Ruth, I have other opportunities to print off the Internet, and better pictures/ poses etc.

I want a 33 G Ruth someday, but I want all HOF baseball cards. I cannot think of why someone could sell me one for multiple thousands, but I , in turn couldn’t do the same thing to another collector...even if it was less than what I paid for it.
I know I have bad luck, but I would hope the market didn’t dry up on me quite that fast!

Of course, I know your question is mostly hypothetical. Your point is probably more about “ Is money driving your collection habits , knowing that what you buy today may have some value later...or do you not care at all ? “

Originally Posted by conor912

I'm pretty surprised that 1 in 5 would pay absolutely nothing for a nice, career issued card of the biggest icon the game has ever known. IMO that doesn't bode well for fandom of the hobby for pure enjoyment's sake.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

I am coming at this question imagining we are in an alternate universe and trading cards never attained any real following in that universe. In a situation like that I could see the item having some value just based on age and novelty. I would assume a value of $25-100 or so just for those reasons alone.

Strange but interesting question.

This touches on an important clarification. Yes, the OP assumes cards never had any value to begin with, and not that there was some cataclysmic event that suddenly made all cards worthless.

If cards had no value then TPG companies wouldn't exist, so there wouldn't be such thing as a Goudey Ruth in PSA 5

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Gobucsmagic74

If cards had no value then TPG companies wouldn't exist, so there wouldn't be such thing as a Goudey Ruth in PSA 5

Yes. Thank you.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Gobucsmagic74

If cards had no value then TPG companies wouldn't exist, so there wouldn't be such thing as a Goudey Ruth in PSA 5

Just take away the PSA 5 and make it an EX card. That said there are still several members who would burn 5k!!

.

[RedsFan1941]

Originally Posted by Leon

Just take away the PSA 5 and make it an EX card. That said there are still several members who would burn 5k!!

.

easier to say yes when it is hypothetical. i wonder if that would be the case when the time would come for the cash to hit the barrel head.

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by Gobucsmagic74

If cards had no value then TPG companies wouldn't exist, so there wouldn't be such thing as a Goudey Ruth in PSA 5

I would assume that reprints of a worthless item also wouldn't exist, so that wouldn't be an option either. Printing them out would be possible, but who wouldn't just pay $2 if they wanted one bad enough, which would be much better than a printed version.

To answer the question, I would pay about $100 because I would like to have one, but it's not high on my list.

I also buy a lot of cards I don't plan on selling, so with that in mind, I've paid a lot more for cards I just want to have.

[T20Brew]

I’d look at it like an experience since in the OP’s scenario there’s no real resale/future value. What I mean is, what is the experience of owning it worth to me?
I like to go to concerts, and they can cost a nice chunk, but I pay it, and I usually will pay for good seats. It’s an experience for me and something I can remember in the future, although it has no future/resale value.
So what would the experience of having the 33 Ruth in my house for me to look at whenever I want if it had no future/resale value? Probably $100-$500.

[orly57]

You offer the guy $10. If there is no resale value, that is more than he would get from anyone else. But as mentioned above, I understand that is not the point of your hypothetical. Perhaps a better question would be "would you buy a baseball card even if you were guaranteed to make zero profit or take a 20% loss when you sell it?" This may help us get to the root of your hypothetical, which I sense is really asking if we buy for the love of the hobby or solely for the investment potential.

[kailes2872]

Originally Posted by orly57

You offer the guy $10. If there is no resale value, that is more than he would get from anyone else. But as mentioned above, I understand that is not the point of your hypothetical. Perhaps a better question would be "would you buy a baseball card even if you were guaranteed to make zero profit or take a 20% loss when you sell it?" This may help us get to the root of your hypothetical, which I sense is really asking if we buy for the love of the hobby or solely for the investment potential.

This is my life everyday. I don't know where everyone gets their great deals at. I scour ebay, AH's, BST, everywhere. If I am buying right, it is usually around VCP because there is someone else willing to pay VCP (thus the market price).

I buy these cards for my intrinsic enjoyment. I have a completion gene and each set that I buy I think about getting shoo'd away from the dealer who has the table set up in the middle of the mall. All of the cards that I couldn't afford back then and would only look at in awe now are part of my collection.

However, based upon just getting what I have out of it but paying 10% in ebay fees, paypal fees or AH, I know that I am 13-20% under water just to breakeven. Every day that I buy something, the spread between what I paid for it and what I can get back grows a bit more.

So, in your example, my answer in a resounding yes. It is what I do every day. But, I open my safe and I look at those cards and no one ever tries to shoo me away from my own collection and that is worth the 20% for me.