Why do many put so much emphasis on PAST sales??

[Luke]

Past sales are probably the most important piece of info, but then there are a bunch of other factors to consider like how long ago the last sale was, where the market has moved in the meantime, eye appeal for the grade, etc.

[doug.goodman]

Well, it's certainly easier to use past sales as a guide than to use future sales.

Although, I have a number of items which will sell for a million dollars in the future, but I'm willing to sell them to anybody interested for 50% off, due my needing an infusion of cash to buy a new house.

I will sell for 90% off to the OP for the next 24 hours.

Doug "I'll throw this Garagiola card in for free" Goodman

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Well, it's certainly easier to use past sales as a guide than to use future sales.

Beat me to it!

[Oscar_Stanage]

Originally Posted by Luke

Past sales are probably the most important piece of info, but then there are a bunch of other factors to consider like how long ago the last sale was, where the market has moved in the meantime, eye appeal for the grade, etc.

I would also add: date the card was graded, frequency of sales, medium (for example 10 Ebay September sales ~ $100 and 1 $500 sale on PWCC).

[MVSNYC]

Comps are very important (just like in the housing market), but as Luke said, you also have to take into consideration how long ago the referenced sales were. A few weeks old is very relevant...2 years old, well, less accurate for current market value.

[Carter08]

Eye appeal for the grade is tough for me. I like centered but would prefer a sharp higher grade with mediocre centering over a perfectly centered lower grade. Some of the prices when looking at past sales show me that many people feel otherwise.

[parkplace33]

Past sales can be useful but are not the end all be all.

Always remember when selling… it is your card and you can price it for whatever you want.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

Past sales can be useful but are not the end all be all.

Always remember when selling… it is your card and you can price it for whatever you want.

Great Point ! I see a lot of bullying/trashing/belittling on social media Facebook card groups in regards to asking price. I’m thankful Leon doesn’t tolerate it one bit on our BST Board. A lot of sick puppies on Facebook.

[GasHouseGang]

Past sales are used in every market place. That's why price guides have developed over the years. Whether you're talking about cars, houses, or baseball cards, we have used price guides. The guides aren't perfect. They are only guides to help you arrive at a price. Most of the guides used to only come as monthly updates, but now you get nearly daily updates on the web based guides. But the accuracy of these guide depends on the amount of data fed into the guide's database. But if that's not fast enough for you, I guess you can look at the latest ebay sales.
If you aren't going to use some kind of past comparison, how do you ever have any idea what to pay for an item? If you find yourself saying, "This card just sold for x dollars last week on that online auction. I can't sell that cheap." Well, then you are basing your value on past sales.