Beckett price shift

[Jef]

I had to stop by my parents' house during lunch today and search for something in the closet of my childhood room. I found an old stack of Becketts from about 93-98, and picked one up randomly to flip through it.

The prices were obviously wayyyyyyyy higher for most cards than they are now, and I'm not even talking the ebay values - the Beckett prices themselves have just fallen across the board.

so what happened? Did an issue randomly come out where every single card had a down arrow? Did an issue randomly come out where all the cards were priced lower and Beckett pretended like nothing was wrong? Was it ever addressed?

I know the prices mean nothing, blah etc etc etc - just curious as to when/how this total shift happened.

[inopethflames]

i havent subscribed to them for years, but they would just say for certain things, including like multiple years of everything, that they lowered prices across the board to reflect current pricing conditions. beckett is worthless anyway since ebay came along. if beckett says something is $100 and it sells for $10 on ebay is anyone going to buy that card for $100 or $80 or $50 just because beckett says so. maybe they still have a place in hobby stores or whatever, for some reason, but thats about it. a hobby store can probably show less informed buyers that the card they just pulled books for a certain amount.

[rttrffg2012]

Internet broke down a lot of barriers, like distance and availability.

Overproduction is an itch.

Fake autos brought down the value of real autos

All your heroes are old

[Fraser9698]

The economy had a little bit of a change in it that may have affected prices.

[XARZY]

Beckett for many years inflated the value of items and created a percieved value in the hobby that in turn drove its popularity. Over time as people realized that bv and SV were completely different, the hobby lost value (overall) and many people got turned away. Since then beckett has adjusted the listings to reflect 'current' market trends.

[aro13]

When cards started getting graded and prices became more accurate Beckett faced certain issues. When a 1961 RC books for say $300 in NM in Beckett but PSA 7's continually sell for $200, Beckett has little choice but to lower the price.

I would imagine that they used arrows gradually over time.

[MavsRChamps]

Beckett for many years inflated the value of items and created a percieved value in the hobby that in turn drove its popularity. Over time as people realized that bv and SV were completely different, the hobby lost value (overall) and many people got turned away. Since then beckett has adjusted the listings to reflect 'current' market trends.

LOL ... you're exactly right! Several yrs. ago, I would buy lots of common/mediocre rookie cards that booked for like $4 - $8 each for like 10-20% of total "book value" ... Thought I got great deals, but the cards just got lower and lower in price

Not sure the price anymore, but I remember for years 2003-04 Bowman common RC's were like $4 and Bowman Chrome Rookies were $8 in Beckett ... Yet in lots (since individually they wouldn't sell at all), these cards easily sold for as low as 10 cents each !

[carrollm09]

There were definitely issues where entire products went down, but, as stated, the internet has combined local markets into a global marketplace, so the act of actually finding a previously-rare card is simplified so people aren't willing to pay as much as when they actually had to travel and scour shows to find something they were looking for. Time also takes its toll as people continue to bust old wax and more 'new' old hits surface and fewer people are looking for the same card. The rarity of cards hasn't changed, but the supply has, and Beckett prices are often reflections of what a card 'should' be valued at based on product cost and scarcity--being how much it would cost, on average, to pull a specific card--not what a card actually sells for. At this point the vast majority of people that want specific 80-90s cards have them and they sell for drastically under what it would cost to pull them. There's always someone willing to overpay for a card based on condition/service or other factors, but Becketts still have some use as a reference, as long as you consider that almost everything listed is over-priced but a relative percentage.

[rttrffg2012]

This is what many don't understand.

Those that use the book as a guide think Beckett is virtuous.

The truth: Beckett sells magazines by telling people what they want to hear/read.

They want to see their card investment is flourishing. People read about their equity building and want to buy more magazines, more internet subscriptions, etc...

[k13]

I notice they under price a lot of new stuff especially high end but low end is all overpriced.

[Amerigo Vespucc]

Other than the few articles to read and "hot list," most people go by ebay completed auction prices.

[tjthomps89]

I agree that Beckett is irrelevant to most collectors.

But every now and then I get someone on eBay asking me what a card "books" for. I'm not sure if everyone has had that experience, but it still happens to me every once in a while.

I guess some people still use it, but not many.