[fleeryeyed]

I pulled out my collection from 25 years ago and found a couple of cards that might have some worth, including a couple of 1979 Reggie Jacksons and also a 90 fleer Michael Jordan and on both of them found $100+ sold listings at ebay, only to scroll down and see someone sold a lot of 10+ of the same card near mint for maybe $10 total.

That seems like an impossibly big range, especially as the lots were supposed to be in good condition. I feel like I'm missing something obvious. Nothing I'm imagining, from counterfeits to someone getting ripped off, feels like a satisfactory answer, so I thought I'd ask.

The followup question is where should I try to sell cards to get a fair value? I haven't collected in decades and I don't know what I'm doing. I saw some folks being pretty nice in other threads here, so I thought you might have some good advice.

Thank you

[jamesray3]

The range should not be that spread out in my opinion. I would take a guess and say that if either of those cards sold for 100+ that they were very high grade copies of the card. (BGS10 etc)

[yankees_pride]

Ebay is very sketchy

What a card sells for has multiple variables
1) time of day it ends
2) grades v ungraded
3) if the player is hot
4) title/description
5)BIN v bid
Etc...... And there are many more

As far as your cards go I would look at sold listings as close to your card as possible. You can do a couple things
1) if the cards are just taking up space and you want to dump them run auction starting at .99 for 7 days and take what younger
2) take the average and start auction there
3) set a higher then expected price and field offers

Just my 2 cents

If you have any Jeters please contact me.

[fleeryeyed]

The pricey ones were top grade and graded, but the lots I mentioned were listed as being either near mint or near mint to mint. It just didn't seem like a gap that would justify a 100x markup. It's certainly true that eBay can be fickle, and perhaps that effect is greater with collectibles than with the goods I normally bid on.

Thank you both for your input

[djohn]

First make sure you are looking at SOLD listing and not just active or completed listings on eBay. As yankees_pride mentioned, there are several reasons why sale values vary on eBay. The easiest way to gauge value is to look across all sold listings and see what the median selling price seems to be. Then look at active listings to see how many are up for sale right now and what the range in price seems to be. You can also check out other sites like COMC, Beckett Marketplace, SportLots, etc to see what people are asking for a particular card.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you haven't been collecting for 25 years, then a lot has changed over that time. One of the biggest changes is the use of companies to grade cards. There are a few big name grading companies (PSA and Beckett), and even within those companies there are different tiers (for example Beckett has BGS, BVG, BCCG, and Raw Card Review). People will pay a good premium for a high grade card from a big name grading company. However if the card is graded by a lower tiered company like Pro Mint, then the value people are willing to pay is usually much much less. So if the card you were looking at sold for $100 and was graded BGS 9.5 or 10, versus the same card as a 10 card lot of ungraded ("raw") cards which easily could've sold for $10. It just depends on the exact card and how condition sensitive it is (i.e. how hard is it to find in high grade condition).

[nolan5000]

First make sure you are looking at SOLD listing and not just active or completed listings on eBay. As yankees_pride mentioned, there are several reasons why sale values vary on eBay. The easiest way to gauge value is to look across all sold listings and see what the median selling price seems to be. Then look at active listings to see how many are up for sale right now and what the range in price seems to be. You can also check out other sites like COMC, Beckett Marketplace, SportLots, etc to see what people are asking for a particular card.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you haven't been collecting for 25 years, then a lot has changed over that time. One of the biggest changes is the use of companies to grade cards. There are a few big name grading companies (PSA and Beckett), and even within those companies there are different tiers (for example Beckett has BGS, BVG, BCCG, and Raw Card Review). People will pay a good premium for a high grade card from a big name grading company. However if the card is graded by a lower tiered company like Pro Mint, then the value people are willing to pay is usually much much less. So if the card you were looking at sold for $100 and was graded BGS 9.5 or 10, versus the same card as a 10 card lot of ungraded ("raw") cards which easily could've sold for $10. It just depends on the exact card and how condition sensitive it is (i.e. how hard is it to find in high grade condition).

+5000 Well said!!

[Hofcollector]

First make sure you are looking at SOLD listing and not just active or completed listings on eBay. As yankees_pride mentioned, there are several reasons why sale values vary on eBay. The easiest way to gauge value is to look across all sold listings and see what the median selling price seems to be. Then look at active listings to see how many are up for sale right now and what the range in price seems to be. You can also check out other sites like COMC, Beckett Marketplace, SportLots, etc to see what people are asking for a particular card.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you haven't been collecting for 25 years, then a lot has changed over that time. One of the biggest changes is the use of companies to grade cards. There are a few big name grading companies (PSA and Beckett), and even within those companies there are different tiers (for example Beckett has BGS, BVG, BCCG, and Raw Card Review). People will pay a good premium for a high grade card from a big name grading company. However if the card is graded by a lower tiered company like Pro Mint, then the value people are willing to pay is usually much much less. So if the card you were looking at sold for $100 and was graded BGS 9.5 or 10, versus the same card as a 10 card lot of ungraded ("raw") cards which easily could've sold for $10. It just depends on the exact card and how condition sensitive it is (i.e. how hard is it to find in high grade condition).

Well said.