Any tips on valuing a card that doesn't sell often

[skelly423]

I'm considering selling a portion of my collection, and have a good idea of what most of the cards are worth. That said, I have a few cards that don't come to market very often. I'd like to price them so they don't sit on the market for months, but at the same time I don't want to leave money on the table by underpricing them. The price I paid 3 years ago is basically irrelevant.

By way of example, one of the cards is a SGC 2 1915 Cracker Jack Honus Wagner. I know prices on the Cobb and Jackson have gone out of control lately, but don't know if that run has carried through to the next tier of cards in the set. I'm equally likely to believe you if you tell me it's a $5k card or a $20k card.

Any input on how to come up with a reasonable number would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Carter08]

Depending on how it looks my rough guess would be approaching 10k. Honus may not be at the rising level of Jackson and Cobb but he’s not super far behind.

[Exhibitman]

PSA has an auction price function on its web site; start there. A PSA 3 of your card sold last fall for just over $10,000.

[bbcard1]

I usually go the auction house route. With a card of that quality, you will find a good quality AH that is willing to take it with no seller's commission. I can attest that sometimes things go for less than they should, but most of the time they prove out fine, often exceeding expectations.

[icurnmedic]

Im thinking SGC 2 is more like the $7500 range, but if it looks really good , maybe would fetch $10k.
A PSA 1 appears to have sold at $7500 recently, so really anyones guess.
I concur w/ the AH statement above.

Just my $.02

[x2drich2000]

I think $8-10k would be reasonable. If it was mine I would probably price it around $13k and see what offers people make. Wagner is still super popular. and you might be surprised You can always drop the price, but it is hard to raise it.

As far as general pricing of more thinly sold items, I always look at the card in slightly different grades and also similar players in the same grade or even the same player/grade in similar sets. You might not get an exact comparisons, but usually you can get a pretty good idea.

[mrreality68]

could you post some of the pictures of the cards that you have questions about for us to better determine

[skelly423]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

As far as general pricing of more thinly sold items, I always look at the card in slightly different grades and also similar players in the same grade or even the same player/grade in similar sets. You might not get an exact comparisons, but usually you can get a pretty good idea.

I never thought of this approach, that's a great idea.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

I usually go the auction house route. With a card of that quality, you will find a good quality AH that is willing to take it with no seller's commission. I can attest that sometimes things go for less than they should, but most of the time they prove out fine, often exceeding expectations.

"No seller's commission" is a garbage offer. They better be willing to give you a significant chunk of the buyer's premium for a card like that, or you should tell them to go pound sand. There are plenty of options for you to sell that card with about 12% or less in true selling fees.

[skelly423]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

could you post some of the pictures of the cards that you have questions about for us to better determine

Here's the Wagner front (the back is equally sharp/clear, with the same tape staining). Unfortunatley I don't have a scan of the back (or other cards).

[Snowman]

As far as predicting what a card like this would go for when there are no "comps" for it, you can still arrive at a pretty good estimate for what it is likely to go for at auction by looking at other Honus Wagner prices and other CJ prices over time. Basically, just create a spreadsheet of several different Wagner cards that you can find data for which have sales over the past 3 to 5 years. Write down those sales in your spreadsheet. Do the same with other CJ cards that have sales records over that time. You should be able to create an ad-hoc simple regression without knowing how to actually do one. Just estimate the "Honus multiplier" effect and the "CJ multiplier" effect and apply those to your Wagner card. It will be directionally accurate.

My slightly ignorant, though not entirely uninformed guess would be that it's probably about a 12k card today. But I would certainly crunch some numbers if it were mine. But as others said, ya, put it up for auction at a good auction house and you'll get a good price for it. But be sure to negotiate some of that buyer's premium back into your pocket before you consign it to them.

[Leon]

$8858... (do I win?)
Nice looking card...
.

[rand1com]

The only SGC 2 that has been recorded as sold in the last year according to VCP was 9 months ago in an SCP auction for roughly $4500. And, it was your card now that you have posted a picture of it.

I doubt very seriously if the market is double that for this card now.

Having said that, a major auction house will be the best way to get today's market value. I think $10K is a big reach but who knows. It only takes 2 who really want a card to create a bidding war.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by skelly423

Here's the Wagner front (the back is equally sharp/clear, with the same tape staining). Unfortunatley I don't have a scan of the back (or other cards).

Awesome card! Tape stain will drop it below comps for most 2s, so I'd probably lower my 12k guess from above, but it's still a great card that will do well at auction.