Future of Beckett???

[RookieFan15]

It is hard to believe that at one point Beckett Price Guides ruled this hobby. I did some coin collecting a few years back and they have something called the red book which almost everyone goes by. I guess sports card values fluctuate much more then coins.

My question is, do you think Beckett will ever be able to straighten out their price guides and OPG to the point were it will again be respectable in the hobby?

Is it that hard to work with ebay or watch the market and try to update prices ASAP.

Maybe it is to much work for them, or eBay does not want to work with them.

I used to buy Beckett magazines for the articles. It is always fun to read about the cards, top pulls, and super collectors. I would definitely be a buyer if they can get there pricing worked out.

It would also be nice to drop the pricing all together since it seems only hobby shops use them at all. A magazine dedicated to the hobby's top stories and cards would definitely be a hit IMO.

What does everyone else think?

[cincycardshows.com]

My opinion is that beckett has been dead for a while and they just haven't buried it yet. They have done a great job of spinning the grading business off of their name in the hobby or i think the doors would be closed by now. The problem with what you like about the magazine is it lacks the immediacy that everyone craves now. By the time the magazine is in hand we are reading about monster pulls that were made from a product that has been out for over a month. Here and on beckett's own boards we are seeing the monster pulls the night before official release.

[Coug46n2]

Anything printed on paper (besides money and baseball cards) is a thing of the past. Beckett should have found a way to connect with Ebay and other online sites to post real time values of card. Like the stock market ticker, a constant flow of information as sales are made. Instead of subscribing to the paper magazine, collectors subscribed to the online site which could include articles, coupons for grading, forums, previews of upcoming releases, and other items collectors want.

Shill bidding would have to be figured into the online pricing. Too easy for sellers to fake sale prices to jack up the going rate and then do a real sale for more than the items is worth.

Beckett (the magazine) is like newspapers and won't be around for long.

[cincycardshows.com]

Originally Posted by RookieFan15

I used to buy Beckett magazines for the articles.

Also I have heard people say this before about magazines but never about Beckett.

[mjbuchanan80]

Originally Posted by Coug46n2

Anything printed on paper (besides money and baseball cards) is a thing of the past. Beckett should have found a way to connect with Ebay and other online sites to post real time values of card. Like the stock market ticker, a constant flow of information as sales are made. Instead of subscribing to the paper magazine, collectors subscribed to the online site which could include articles, coupons for grading, forums, previews of upcoming releases, and other items collectors want.

Shill bidding would have to be figured into the online pricing. Too easy for sellers to fake sale prices to jack up the going rate and then do a real sale for more than the items is worth.

Beckett (the magazine) is like newspapers and won't be around for long.

Agree. Good money says Beckett (the Mag) will not be around in 3 years.

[BillInDallas]

Originally Posted by RookieFan15

Maybe it is to much work for them, or eBay does not want to work with them.

Both parties stand to gain little in a partnership. Beckett can continue to dedicate little resources to their recycled OPG and collect revenue. While synthesizing the data could yield some customers, the market data is relatively available for little to no cost for the collector as it is. I can't think of a way the Ebay can materially monetize such a partnership.

I think that it requires too much time and money from both Beckett and Ebay to get any kind of joint effort going. Creating any kind of database naming convention such that Ebay info would be able to flow into an OPG or logic that could replicate this would be very costly and time consuming for both parties.

[nhsportsguy]

Oh the interent generation!

A few things about Beckett: First and foremost it is not dead - not even close! Just because the vast majority of us forum people don't use it, doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't. It's kind of like base cards - just because people here don't collect a lot of them, and you don't see them for sale too much in B/S/T, doesn't mean people don't collect them. I sell at 2 shows per month, and Beckett is the standard by which everyone goes by there...well, 50-75% of Beckett, anyways!

The fact is that for every internet savvy person, as I would consider us all to be, there are 1-2 people that only go to shows and their LCS.

Furthermore, regarding Beckett using some eBay ticker thing, that is the exact opposite of what Beckett is! Beckett is not an auction tracker, it is a price guide! I know I'm not saying that right. Basically, Beckett's function is not to report eBay sales, rather to establish an independent 3rd party assessment of value for cards.

Beckett will not go away any time soon-there are WAY too many subscribers! As for Coug's comment, not all things paper are dead, just some things - newspapers are a perfect example.

[Keyser Soze]

Originally Posted by nhsportsguy

Oh the interent generation!

I sell at 2 shows per month, and Beckett is the standard by which everyone goes by there...well, 50-75% of Beckett, anyways!

This has always been my question. Why is a "price guide" still relavent in any hobby when you have to lop 50% - 75% off of what they say it's worth to MAYBE be able to sell an item. The fact that it's been that way for YEARS and they've never adjusted their prices to reflect reality tells me that they MUST be in bed with card company's. That's the only justification that I can come up with for why they grossly overstate the values of cards so systematically. I guess it just makes some collectors feel better about their collection to see that Beckett says their collection is worth $2,500, regardless of the fact that they couldn't get $700 cash for it.

[nhsportsguy]

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

This has always been my question. Why is a "price guide" still relavent in any hobby when you have to lop 50% - 75% off of what they say it's worth to MAYBE be able to sell an item. The fact that it's been that way for YEARS and they've never adjusted their prices to reflect reality tells me that they MUST be in bed with card company's. That's the only justification that I can come up with for why they grossly overstate the values of cards so systematically. I guess it just makes some collectors feel better about their collection to see that Beckett says their collection is worth $2,500, regardless of the fact that they couldn't get $700 cash for it.

You mis-read my post - I didn;t say 50-75% off of Beckett, I said 50-75% OF Beckett - if Beckett is $100 for a card, I'll get upwards of $75 for that card at a show, most of the time.

Remember, you need to see the bigger picture of collectors. Not everyone is into the online collecting like we are! There are tens of thousands of people that only collect base sets, team sets, RC's, etc, and they ALL use Beckett as a guide! But, it is just that, a guide. If someone sees a value listed of $100, they want to think they're getting a deal (not paying full retail, which is what Beckett is), so we discount it 25%+. Make sense?

[VWBUS1978]

coins don't have the ability to hit home runs. they have a pretty stable value.

players can get hurt, do steroids, Meth, get a DUI and anything else you can think of.... and that means bye bye value.

Beckett mag sucks.

[Keyser Soze]

Originally Posted by nhsportsguy

You mis-read my post - I didn;t say 50-75% off of Beckett, I said 50-75% OF Beckett - if Beckett is $100 for a card, I'll get upwards of $75 for that card at a show, most of the time.

Remember, you need to see the bigger picture of collectors. Not everyone is into the online collecting like we are! There are tens of thousands of people that only collect base sets, team sets, RC's, etc, and they ALL use Beckett as a guide! But, it is just that, a guide. If someone sees a value listed of $100, they want to think they're getting a deal (not paying full retail, which is what Beckett is), so we discount it 25%+. Make sense?

Understood, but you're getting bogged down in the details, my point remains. First, I bet you get 50% of/off BV a LOT more than you get 75% OF book value. Second, i think you're grossly overestimating the amount of card collectors that don't utilize the internet.

Third, you bring up another reason I hate BV, because it's a tool that dealers use to try and screw you. A lot of dealers don't even want to deal with you when you make it apparent that you see right through the charade that is their BV-based prices and that you actually know what cards legitimately sell for in the real world. I talk to dealers quite a bit when we (rarely) have shows here in Houston, and many say they aren't doing well and I finally got one to admit that they're having to settle for less money on cards because more and more collectors know their $h!+ and don't care what Beckett says. You been selling at shows long? You experience anything similar?

[Positivity]

As an LCS owner, I honestly don't use Beckett at all. I price things at a price at which I know they will sell. I use Ebay alot in tagging my cards, with the only exceptions being local mark-ups (Chiefs, Royals, Jordy Nelson...most things with a connection to Kansas).

I barely even carry the magazines for sale in my shop. By the time I'd buy 10-12 magazines per month, sell 3 or 4 of them for slighly above my cost, and mailed back the unsold covers for credit on my account, I was LOSING money.

I basically order three of each magazine and once they're gone, they're gone. And there are some months that I don't even sell the three that I have.

[cincycardshows.com]

Originally Posted by nhsportsguy

Oh the interent generation!

A few things about Beckett: First and foremost it is not dead - not even close! Just because the vast majority of us forum people don't use it, doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't. It's kind of like base cards - just because people here don't collect a lot of them, and you don't see them for sale too much in B/S/T, doesn't mean people don't collect them. I sell at 2 shows per month, and Beckett is the standard by which everyone goes by there...well, 50-75% of Beckett, anyways!

If that is true at your local shows I am absolutely stunned. I promote shows and just had one this Sunday. 65 dealer tables and 250 customers and there weren't 10 Beckett's in the room. If 50-75% at your show use Beckett as the standard maybe it's a regional thing but I don't see it. The standard everywhere around me is an iphone loaded up with ebay completed auctions.

[nhsportsguy]

I can assure you that I'm not exaggerating. At the shows I do mostly everyone goes by Beckett, albeit with a 25-50% discount. I've been back on the show circuit for a little over a year, so I have some experience. Keep this in mind, though, that the shows I do are relatively small - 20-30ish dealers - and it's a lot of old(er) people and younger kids. Beckett, to me and a lot of rational sellers, is a good base-line as it is an idependent company's opinion. They have nothing to gain by raising or lowering their prices...if that changes, I'll be right on the band-wagon to boycott them!

Keep this in mind, too - for the past 5-7 years it has been a buyers market. That goes even moreso for vintage stuff! Once the disposable income of 'regular' people and collectors gets back to pre-economic sh!t-hole levels, you may see the pendulum swing back in dealers' favor.

[DaBaddestHic]

Originally Posted by nhsportsguy

Keep this in mind, too - for the past 5-7 years it has been a buyers market. That goes even moreso for vintage stuff! Once the disposable income of 'regular' people and collectors gets back to pre-economic sh!t-hole levels, you may see the pendulum swing back in dealers' favor.

I'm with you on Beckett still having uses, but we're in the minority on here lol.

What you say about the economy really intrigues me though. I've only been back in collecting for a year so I don't know what it was like pre the economy going to hell. Was it really easier to get closer to book values for cards back then than it is now? And if you broke a box of cards back then, was it easier to make your money back without having to depend on some giant hit than it is now?

[WJCIII]

Originally Posted by mjbuchanan80

Agree. Good money says Beckett (the Mag) will not be around in 3 years.

Do you know how many people said the same thing 5 years ago?

[hermanotarjeta]

It's the only montly guide around. So hopefully it will stay. It provides great entertainment, and also gives you leverage in negotiating deals. CMOC still goes by beckett as well.

[foreverLFC]

1. i think there needs to be more articles. I do enjoy the articles but there just isn't enough for $9.99.

2. They should just make it E mag for ipad and kindles with a monthly subscription. Have the app be able to be updated over the air when someone is hot or someone is slumping and it would give you notifications for those certain things. Also take their blog and make that available on the app with the box breaks etc.

3. i do use it as a guide of the value of a card. i sell and buy on ebay a lot but just because a red refractor sells for $5 because someone else decided to let it run at .99 for a day and it end at 1pm or whatever. i'm not going to sell mine for that. I like to remind myself that in all of the world with all of the collectors out there, there are only going to be 25 people that will have this card. So i'd rather keep it than sell it for $5. Same with the golds and all the other numbered cards.

[Tigeroil]

Try Sports Collectors Digest...it's a great read.

[nhsportsguy]

I miss TuffStuff!

[pmannings#1fan]

I'm fairly certain that Beckett does follow the market of the card prices. My 2010 Topps Chrome Carlos Santana blue ref auto /199 went from a BV of $40 down to $15, funny cause around same time that was average sales on eBay.

[californiakron]

For graded vintage cards I use VintageCardPrices.com They track almost all ebay sales on GRADED vintage cards using ebay sales and other auction sales. Definitely comes in handy.

[Strasburg]

I think they will have to drop the price of their online price guide, ALOT!

[rudyjustinfarrell]

Someone on here wrote a program that actually scoured Ebay for completed sales and spit out numbers SOLELY from Ebay.

I think Beckett is an interesting read as entertainment, sort of like reading People magazine. You don't necessarily use it solely as your news source. As a price guide? I think it sucks.

[Poonchka]

Ebay is one tool you can use but when I win an auction on ebay for $10 and I would have paid $30, does that mean for the next person to look at my completed auction and say that is only worth $10. What are you willing to pay for it? I would expect beckett to be closer to $40 or more on the high value because I am so used to a percentage off beckett, and maybe they know everyone expects a percentage off beckett. The thing is you are still looking at beckett to figure out the percentage off, that you want. I still subcribe to the online price guide, part of my fun is looking up cards on beckett and sometimes finding a nice surprise.