[mizzouman_2000@hotmai]

So, I've seen multiple comments along the lines of "If you really want to know a card's value, look at eBay."

I gotta tell you, if I go by eBay, I seriously question how is Beckett assessing cards?  I have some cards I'd like to start selling, but when I look at eBay for an idea of what to expect, it's extremely disappointing.

No, I'm not so naïve to expect to get book value out of a card, but I'd figure 50% give or take.  I'm seeing some cards going for 10-20% of Becket value. 

Obviously there's a lot that goes into it (i.e. condition of the card), but the ones I've looked at have generally been in very good condition (no obvious defects from the best you can tell not seeing it in person).

Other than the Beckett marketplace, is there somewhere better to sell cards on-line?  Should I just take them to a LHS to see if the ones I'm trying to sell are of any interest to them?

Thanks!

[kerryandbeth]

I know what you mean. I have a card valued by Beckett at $80 but I saw several for sale on eBay for less than $25.

[mizzouman_2000@hotmai]

You can actually have it show you what they sold for, except when the seller accepts an offer for a lesser amount. I don't look at in-progress auctions.

[kerryandbeth]

You can actually have it show you what they sold for, except when the seller accepts an offer for a lesser amount.  I don't look at in-progress auctions.

Yeah, I know.  Past sales don't mean much either.  Just look at Zion Williamson in basketball card sales!

[PhoenixRisen]

There are a lot more things that go into a successful ebay auction than just the card. You have to get it in front of people, list it at a good time and end your auction at a good time when lots of people are online bidding. Your title needs to be good and your pictures need to be good. And many more factors to consider. So you might find some auctions sell for really low while the same card might go for more the same day. Plus, with modern cards, the market is SUPER volatile. So a card could sell for 50% book today and 25% tomorrow. Then in a week it's back up above 50%. That's why you don't just look at a couple sales. You really have to look at all the trends in the sales and as many comps as you can to really get a good idea of the value of a card. An app like Market Movers does that for you (even the free version) or you can do it yourself. Another thing to look at is both auctions and buy it now sales. Auctions will tend to be lower for most cards unless it is a really hot card. But if you see a few buy it now sales out there that are higher than the auctions, you can be confident there are buyers out there willing to pay that amount (and it's likely the buyers of the auction cards would have paid more than they did, they just didn't have the competition at the time). Since many ebay buy it now sales end in a best offer price, instead of going to ebay, use 130point.com they will show you what the actual best offer price was instead of the original price with a line through it.

It sure can seem disappointing when you realize just how far off Beckett is from the actual market, but once you start looking at sales on multiple platforms you will likely stop even looking at Beckett for card values. It really is worthless. But once you are free from the idea of "book value" your expectations of card values gets a lot more realistic and you will end up with a much better grasp on the market. Which can actually result in higher sales for your cards if you know how to maneuver in that market.

[Phillies_Joe]

Try selling cards through COMC. Myself, I wouldn't list anything less than $3-5 and make sure that your cards don't have 100's of the same for sale. Will take a couple of months to get it rolling. You can also try Facebook and Instagram groups and pages. I suggest that you take a couple of weeks and really learn how the systems work so that you are not doing stuff blindly. We all learn the hard way re mistakes.....good luck - selling individual cards can be a real grind and lead to really not enjoying/burnout for cards.

If you subscribe to the Beckett online price guide - you can see specific card market data (raw and graded) sales. Only problem is that a lot of the data isn't updated consistently real time or updated at all. Looking today see that sales for 2011 Mike Trout US175 has posted sales through 01/10/22, yet all my 2021 Topps 206 have no sales listed.

[jaredhuizenga]

Beckett doesn't have the requisite number of staff members to keep accurate prices on things. There are things not even listed in the online OPG from 2012 that I sent them information on, including print runs and sell sheets from the manufacturer, that haven't been addressed.

Comps on COMC, eBay, etc. are going to give you a more accurate idea of the actual current market for your cards. I also use 130 Point to find eBay sales data because it includes accepted offer prices.

Beckett pricing is kind of a dinosaur these days.

[rjcj2017]

Try selling cards through COMC.  Myself, I wouldn't list anything less than $3-5 and make sure that your cards don't have 100's of the same for sale.  Will take a couple of months to get it rolling.  You can also try Facebook and Instagram groups and pages.  I suggest that you take a couple of weeks and really learn how the systems work so that you are not doing stuff blindly.  We all learn the hard way re mistakes.....good luck - selling individual cards can be a real grind and lead to really not enjoying/burnout for cards.

If you subscribe to the Beckett online price guide - you can see specific card market data (raw and graded) sales.  Only problem is that a lot of the data isn't updated consistently real time or updated at all. Looking today see that sales for 2011 Mike Trout  US175 has posted sales through 01/10/22, yet all my 2021 Topps 206 have no sales listed.

My famous eBay selling horror story - I once sold a hand-collated complete set of 2005 Topps Football - it went for a whopping 99 cents.

And I miscalculated the shipping - I charged $7, it cost me $11 - so in the end I actually paid someone $3 to take my set away from me.

But you know what - I still honored the sale.

Want to know why?

Because I'm not a doosh bag.

[Phillies_Joe]

My famous eBay selling horror story - I once sold a hand-collated complete set of 2005 Topps Football - it went for a whopping 99 cents.

And I miscalculated the shipping - I charged $7, it cost me $11 - so in the end I actually paid someone $3 to take my set away from me.

But you know what - I still honored the sale.

Want to know why?

Because I'm not a doosh bag.

Yikes! heard your hand collated baseball set story, but not football.  I never sell an item starting an auction @ $ .99.  Always start at the least $3.00 for raw.  With ebay standard shipping, I'll take the $2 net sale ($.93 shipping).  I never charge for shipping.  Ebay is great for getting views on your cards - fee's stink.

[mizzouman_2000@hotmai]

Thanks, everyone for the feedback.

Yikes! heard your hand collated baseball set story, but not football.  I never sell an item starting an auction @ $ .99.  Always start at the least $3.00 for raw.  With ebay standard shipping, I'll take the $2 net sale ($.93 shipping).  I never charge for shipping.  Ebay is great for getting views on your cards - fee's stink.

Yeah, I've been trying to sell a batch of Nolan Arenado cards (2 bundles of roughly 15 cards). I've started the auction at $0.99 and it's been auto-reposting for the last 2 months. No takers at all. In that time, only 1 watcher.

When I started posting some individual cards last week, I set the starting price at a few dollars - some fraction of book value (maybe 25%). like I said earlier, I don't expect to get book, but I'm not going to give it away, either.