Just sad. No, not sad. Pathetic.

[MattyC]

[QUOTE=Harliduck;1270883]

Originally Posted by japhi

Anyone that has VCP access and is following certain cards know that for every shilled auction, there is some idiot pulling the trigger on a BIN at 30% over the previous sale. QUOTE]

I will take exception to this comment. I have been that "idiot", as I am sure MANY here have been as well. When I knowingly overpay on a BIN, it's because I want/need that card, and at that time, that price is what that card is worth. And if I deem that card is worth that amount, well, than that is an accurate reading on value. ANY card is only worth what someone is willing to pay, not what any VCP or any "guide" is reporting. I often times see these guides oblivious to market realities...I see it in reverse all the time as well, our own B/S/T always has sought after cards under the "VCP" price, advertised as such, and not get a second look. Supply and demand dictate price, and often times the demand for an overpriced BIN is purchased because there is no supply to fuel the demand. Calling that purchaser an "idiot" is ignorant.

I could not agree more, Hardi.

I personally think viewing card values exclusively through the prism of numerical grades and VCP grids is myopic. In my opinion, all cards in the same grade are not equal, and so it makes sense that they should not sell for equal values.

If one expects to pay "VCP average" for a card in GRADE X that makes all others in its grade (and some even above) look like dog meat, one is doomed to never have the pleasure of owning that card. The previous sale may have been of an overgraded card with heinous eye appeal.

As you said, a card is "worth" whatever one is willing to pay. There is no set value, ever. Each card has its own attributes, even if the sticker is identical to another sticker. Grades can be identical but cards are not. There are collectors who buy the card, and thus with no two specimens of the same card being identical, the prices-- to collectors with this view-- won't be identical either.

That said, if another collector believes all cards in GRADE X should sell for exactly the same number, to each his own and let every collector be happy.