Whats the point of the SMR?

[HRBAKER]

Does the SMR still list prices for cards in grades that haven't been graded yet?

[drc]

I'm a regular lurker on the PSA board, and it doesn't appear that even PSA enthusiasts take the SMR prices seriously. They often criticize and joke about the prices.

In short, when someone asks why do people advocate SMR prices, I'm unaware that anyone sincerely does. As a marketing and sales tool, maybe, but I said sincerely.


Though, as I mentioned with the Beckett and SCD price guides, a price guide doesn't have to be accurate to be useful in some way.

[kcohen]

As a price guide, I think SMR is crap, at least for pre-war. But my personal opinion is irrelevant inasmuch as others use it as a resource, which gives it "validity." What Cy wrote is reflective of my experiences as a dealer at shows. Many dealers and customers cite SMR prices. So whether they are based in any market reality or not, they can definitely have an effect on the price for which you may be able to buy or sell a given card.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by kcohen

Many dealers and customers cite SMR prices. So whether they are based in any market reality or not, they can definitely have an effect on the price for which you may be able to buy or sell a given card.

Dealers cite it to get more money for their items...Customers cite it to bring outrageous prices down to a more realistic level.. Basically, it's only cited by people who know that the SMR is BS, but use is as fact when it's beneficial to them..

[T206DK]

I'm just curious if anyone on this board has ever been solicited by PSA for information regarding sale prices of cards. I have a pretty large network of dealer friends nationwide in the card and memorabilia sectors and not a one has ever been asked to submit any data to PSA; Not even the ones that were able to send in customer cards for grading. I don't use the VCP so I can't speak about that really. Other than to say it probably offers more real time sales information than you'll ever get from PSA.
In my opinion the prices are a bunk!! I rarely sell anything for SMR value, and I rarely buy anything for SMR value. The SMR is mainly for the advertisers you see who pay for space in the magazine. They have the $$ and the inventory to drive the market wherever they want it to go, whenever they want ....all with the help of the SMR. If you look at the prices in the SMR for certain sets they haven't changed much since SMR has been in existence either, which tells me that they are not a good guide for what a person is willing to pay for a particular card in 2012. ( In my opinion cards have only intrinsic value and are not really worth the prices you see in the guides. they are only "worth" what someone is willing to pay for them at a given moment. It's unfortunate that loads of dealers don't get this fact, thus we have massive amounts overpriced inventory clogging up Ebay...some of which has been for sale by some dealers since 2002 according to my brother....thats 10 years to you and me .

[kcohen]

I agree that that is often the case, David. More than once, a potential buyer has cited a SMR quote on a particular card. My reply is to ask them to bring me as many as they can find of that card and I'll buy them all at the SMR price.

[Delray Vintage]

I like Vcp because it is much better for 19 th century, where smr is so far off it is useless on old judge. I would pay anyone smr prices for a Psa 7 for old judges but smr never changes. For example I own the only Connie Mack OJ 7, and they lowered the price from 10k to 9k for no apparent reason. They use their listing below their chart to basically tell the latest prices but rarely update their list prices. Vcp is also good for frequently sold issues for all years.

[majordanby]

anyone here know what SMR prices are based on? VCP is not a literal price guide (unlike beckett or SMR which provide one value with no uncertainty for each card), although the consumer can use it as one. All VCP is doing is giving you the distribution of actual sales prices of a card - based on that distribution, you make the assessment of what price you want to buy or sell a card (usually, the user takes the mean value over a given time period). I'm not entirely sure what SMR uses to judge the price of a card.

Personally, I dont use SMR. I use market value - and market value is based on realized prices - and i can obtain realized prices based on, amongst a number of sources, VCP's services. Were in a capitalist economy - the market, based on the tug and pull of demand and supply, determines the price...or, at least that's how it should theoretically work.