Insane Babe Ruth card on Ebay

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Carter08

I don’t know that I disagree with you. But how do you square that thought you with the sale from a few months ago? Not looking to pick a fight. Genuinely confident you probably have an answer.

First, I believe the one from 3 months ago undersold when it went for $59k. The same exact copy sold for $24k back in 2019 and $23k in 2018. This happens sometimes with cards that only come to market once every few years. Buyers just don't know how to comp them, so they just sorta guess and cross their fingers. But the market for Ruth cards, in general, has gone up by 4x or more in that same time span (this is easier to see with some of the cards like Goudeys that come to market more regularly). As an example, 1933 Goudey Ruths are going for around $16k right now in a PSA 3, whereas back in 2018 they were only going for around $3.5k. There are many other cards you could look to beyond just the Goudeys for Ruth, but this is a good starting point for estimating that valuation.

Second, the eye appeal delta between that PSA 2 that sold from Memory Lane and this one is pretty significant. Anyone who cares about centering and eye appeal (which I'm one of) would place a rather large premium on the copy that sold at auction last night on eBay (see pic below where the two are side-by-side). At first glance, it looks like it could be a 3.5, or at least from the front. But the reverse shows a light reverse crease in the lower right corner and a very small section of paper loss, so they're not going to give this a 3.5. It would drop it down to a 2 with strong eye appeal at SGC, which means they'll give it a 2.5. Assuming I'm right (as I don't have it in hand), and it does come back from SGC in a 2.5 holder, then I would value this card somewhere in the $100k to possibly even $150k range if the "right" buyers got into a war over it.

That said, I don't know enough about how the red ink vs blue ink affects the valuation of these. I'd have to research that more. If there is a substantial premium for the blue ink, then my estimate could be off by a factor of whatever the coefficient for the color variation would be. But I'm quite confident that this is nowhere near a $50k card and that someone just made a HUGE score.

[Shoeless Moe]

Condition yes favors to Red one, but in terms of eye appeal I'll take the blue one all day.

The red one is burning my retina.

[Popcorn]

so cool to see. with just listing it “old ruth card” they probably thought it might be worth a few hundred bucks. now they can buy a new Tesla lol

[ullmandds]

many of the rarer...more obscure ruths went underappreciated until just a few years ago. The jacks...the spaldings...the exhibits...some of the strips...the willards...low pop cards have finally got their just due!

[Republicaninmass]

Yes a card UNDERSOLD In a Goldin auction!

It just undersold on Ebay again

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Yes a card UNDERSOLD In a Goldin auction!

It just undersold on Ebay again

What point are you trying to make? That people are pumping ruth? Seems like an odd take but interested.

[Exhibitman]

At what point does 'undersold' become 'market'? Two sales? Three? Five?

I sincerely hope this bodes well for the offbeat, rare Ruth cards, but the card was already a $58K card, so not sure it does. That said, Ruth cards have seen amazing growth. I never, ever thought a 1921 Exhibit would be a $30,000 card but there you have it.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

At what point does 'undersold' become 'market'? Two sales? Three? Five?

It definitely happens. There are times when a card values drop significantly simply because the most recent buyers failed to understand the nuances that made one copy sell for far less than other copies in the same grade. It's happening right now with Wilt Chamberlain rookies in a PSA 7. They were selling for $20k until one of them that was WAY overgraded sold for ~$13k which had a horrible tilt to it, was way off centered, and had 4 soft corners. It would be a 5 if graded today, but it had an old school serial number of 02xxxxxx from back in the days when PSA overgraded cards. By itself, it might not have done much to the market, as the next one did sell for around $20k again, but the problem is that the next PSA 7 sale was another overgraded old serial starting with 0 PSA slab that again sold for something like $13k. Then the next time a 7 hit the market, buyers got scared because they thought the market had crashed on this card and a really nice copy then goes for $15k or so. Then, another. Now, it's the new baseline (until it isn't again).

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by Carter08

What point are you trying to make? That people are pumping ruth? Seems like an odd take but interested.

Certain people are so full of crap, their eyes are brown. Maybe they were the ones hoarding toilet paper.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Certain people are so full of crap, their eyes are brown. Maybe they were the ones hoarding toilet paper.

You're an idiot (as usual). You really think cards don't go undersold many thousands of times per day on eBay and for countless cards in literally every single major online auction? Countless bidders participate in these auctions for this very reason.

This card gets listed ON EBAY raw from an "attic find" with the title "Old Babe Ruth Sports Card" and you think it just pulled top dollar? GTFO here. Care to place a side wager on that ingenious take Mr. "Republicaninmass"? How about you put your money where your mouth is. If this card gets graded a flipped, I'll bet you a grand that it sells for more than $75k. Want to place a bet captain dipshit?

[Shoeless Moe]

um..................4-5 posts earlier in this thread you said it's valued in the 100k-150k range......why the drop to 75k?


inquiring minds want to know.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by Snowman

You're an idiot (as usual). You really think cards don't go undersold many thousands of times per day on eBay and for countless cards in literally every single major online auction? Countless bidders participate in these auctions for this very reason.

This card gets listed ON EBAY raw from an "attic find" with the title "Old Babe Ruth Sports Card" and you think it just pulled top dollar? GTFO here. Care to place a side wager on that ingenious take Mr. "Republicaninmass"? How about you put your money where your mouth is. If this card gets graded a flipped, I'll bet you a grand that it sells for more than $75k. Want to place a bet captain dipshit?