Post Card Dealers

[BeanTown]

Ive never been to a postcard show. But one question I have for postcard dealers are why do they write the price of the postcard in pen or pencil on the back!!!

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by BeanTown

Ive never been to a postcard show. But one question I have for postcard dealers are why do they write the price of the postcard in pen or pencil on the back!!!

I'm guessing its so you know how much they are asking.

[Exhibitman]

Hit and miss. I rarely find a baseball postcard on the cheap but when I do it is an absolute steal, so I keep trying.

And yes, the whole writing thing is bizarre. I can understand it on a cheap one but on one ticketed at hundreds of dollars...I guess they figure since most postcards have writing why not go ahead.

[Jeffrompa]

I've been involved with postcards most of my life can't tell you how many prices , identification marks I've erased from postcards that's been going on for at least 60 years .

[philliesfan]

When I was about 12 years old I picked up about 6 exhibits, 2 Mantles, 2 Mays, an Aaron and a Musial for about $10.00 at a flea market in New Hope, PA.
I knew they were valuable........................except they turned out to be reprints.

[swarmee]

Exactly; many dealers write prices directly on cards because condition isn't as critical as it is in other collecting genres. And because it's fairly easy for someone to change a priced sleeve from a $1 card to a $50 card because postcard dealers are generally very spread out and have tons of inventory to watch. So writing it directly on the card reduces the chance of fraud.

[slidekellyslide]

Postcard collectors, a group which I belong to, don't have the same mindset as sports card collectors. Collectors are not sending in their Oskaloosa post office postcard to be graded and I doubt that it will ever come to that. The condition does matter, but writing a price in pencil or even a location that can be erased is no big deal and never has been.

[swarmee]

I turned some $1 1964 Beatles postcards into $35 each by having them PSA graded.