General card valuation question

[HOF_Forever]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

Do you really have success with this approach?

In general, yes. Like I said, I usually end up somewhere in the middle. Seems like buying at 80% of comps is in favor these days, which basically knocks of the BP anyway. Say comp is $1k, offer is $800, settle at $850. Seller nets more than they would have at auction and buyer pays less.

I do find this approach works best with relatively common cards with a decent amount of comps. If it's something rarer than that's a different deal. It also works well if I sell something to the person first using this method too.

[Rhotchkiss]

Just an FYI that the hammer is 83.33% of the final price, not 80%.

For example, the hammer is $100, meaning the 20% BP is $20, and the final price (or real comp per the OP’s question) is $120. $100/$120 is 83.33%.

Another example…. Hammer is $8,600, meaning the 20% BP is $1,720, and the final price is $10,320. $8,600/$10,320 = 83.33%

So you do add 20% to the hammer, but the hammer ends up being 83.33% of the final price. The example above barely nets the seller what they hammer was, which would have been $833.33, in order to yield a $1000 final price.

Also, nobody pays a seller fee in sports auctions anymore.

Otherwise, I agree that when doing a private deal, somewhere between the “final price” comp and 83.33% thereof is fair and creates a double win, where the seller gets more than hammer and the buyer pays less than final price

[HOF_Forever]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Just an FYI that the hammer is 83.33% of the final price, not 80%.

For example, the hammer is $100, meaning the 20% BP is $20, and the final price (or real comp per the OP’s question) is $120. $100/$120 is 83.33%.

Another example…. Hammer is $8,600, meaning the 20% BP is $1,720, and the final price is $10,320. $8,600/$10,320 = 83.33%

So you do add 20% to the hammer, but the hammer ends up being 83.33% of the final price. The example above barely nets the seller what they hammer was, which would have been $833.33, in order to yield a $1000 final price.

Also, nobody pays a seller fee in sports auctions anymore.

Otherwise, I agree that when doing a private deal, somewhere between the “final price” comp and 83.33% thereof is fair and creates a double win, where the seller gets more than hammer and the buyer pays less than final price

Thanks for adding the detail!

I was being a little too loose with the numbers to get the idea across 😀

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Also, nobody pays a seller fee in sports auctions anymore.

Nobody in your rent district Ryan, but I can't sell $50 cards individually with no commission.

[Vintagedeputy]

This probably won’t help you too much, but here it goes….

I don’t believe in book values or comps. These are collectibles. There is no manufacturing cost or materials that you’re buying and every single person has a different threshold of what they feel is an appropriate price for something. I determine value to me. That value may be completely different to the next person and I may be high or low.

Let’s say for example, that the current trend is for a particular card to be valued in the $50 neighborhood. If I see that card and I like the card and I ask someone what they want for it and they say $50 I determine do I like the card more than I like a $50 bill in my pocket. If the card only appeals to me to a $20 level then I’m probably going to pass on the card. It means nothing to me what 100 other people paid on eBay for a card or what someone tells me the card is worth to them. That’s them, not me. Conversely, Someone may tell me that the card is $50 and in my mind I think it’s worth $100 so I will probably buy it because I think I’m getting a good deal because of what I was willing to pay for the card.

It’s the same thing when selling something. Would I sell something for $10??? Maybe. Would I sell it for $1000? Maybe. I have to find the number that I’m comfortable with somewhere in between.

Told ya it wouldn’t be helpful.

[raulus]

I’ll mostly agree with Jim here.

I do think that if you want a card badly enough, then your only choice is to pay what the market demands.

But in a case where you’re not nearly so motivated, then you have every right to pass if you’re not willing to pay the going rate. Along those lines, particularly for rare stuff that almost never trades, sometimes you have to be willing to lose out on stuff to learn what the market really is. Otherwise, you end up buying everything and always wondering if you’re just setting the market yourself, with no one else being willing to pay anywhere close to that amount.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by raulus

I’ll mostly agree with Jim here.

I do think that if you want a card badly enough, then your only choice is to pay what the market demands..

I can agree with that. Again, it comes down to if you like the card someone says is worth $50 more than the $50 bill in your pocket. Only the buyer can make that decision.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

I can agree with that. Again, it comes down to if you like the card someone says is worth $50 more than the $50 bill in your pocket. Only the buyer can make that decision.

I’m with you there.

I think the point that I’m trying to make is that we’re often a lot less cold and calculating. Instead, we often get emotional and irrational, particularly in an auction format. We start out with a max price of $1,000, and the next thing you know, the price is at $3,000, there’s 30 seconds left on the clock in extended bidding, and we’re trying to decide if we can justify going up one more bid increment.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Nobody in your rent district Ryan, but I can't sell $50 cards individually with no commission.

Understood. But that’s why many AHs have a minimum BP. I guess it’s 6 in one hand, 1/2 dozen in the other, but I would think a minimum BP takes care of the issue.