To What Extent are Raw Book Values...

[mintacular]

inflated due to bad #'s ginned up by hobby guides (basically I'm talking about Beckett) OR a misinterpretation of those values by those who do not accurately factor in condition with the "Hi" value listed in these publications....

Not interested in bashing Beckett or discounting the "low book" (which nobody uses) but want to really get at if Beckett is more at fault for false valuation OR if people are just not accurately making the adjustments for lower than NM values. Technically, Beckett technically adds a table which in truth brings the NM value down to market evel if you do the math as one should. For example, an "Ex" card for cards 60-70s should really only be 20-40% of NM bK example a $80 NM card (ex: 1970 Mays) should be "worth" $!6-34 which is what they tend to sell for.

OMG I accidentally just defended Beckett's B.S. price guide!

[drc]

Traditionally, these books have retail pricing. They often say as much, telling the reader that these prices aren't what they will usually get.

[novakjr]

I think the high value would more likely reflect what you would pay at a show or shop on a local level. Yes, "high" retail value! Also factor in that the "high" value isn't standard retail, but retail value in the Best local market for each individual card. Obviously, you would expect to pay more for some older Cleveland Indians player in Cleveland, than you would in, say, California or Texas. Take Herb Score's rookie card, the card is more valuable in Cleveland, whereas outside of Cleveland, he holds minor relevance because of his ROY award. Maybe Joe Charboneau as another example. You may get 50 cents to a buck for his rookie in Cleveland. Outside of Cleveland there's probably not too much interest. Mel Harder is another that you'd expect to pay a little more for in Cleveland. Every major team, has players that are very significant to their respective franchises, while not being all that well known or at least popular outside of their market. Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox I believe reflect somewhat evenly in all markets though.