1988-89 FLeer Jordan BGS 9.5

[chadwich]

Hi All,

I'm a life long collector, but new to this forum. Recently I submitted a bunch of Jordan Fleer cards as kind of throw-in's on an order where I wanted to get a Fleer Jordan RC graded. I was pleasantly surprised when one of the 1988-89 Fleer cards I sent in got a BGS 9.5 grade. I was even more surprised when I saw what they were selling for on eBay! So, I figured I'd I throw mine up on eBay and take advantage of the booming Jordan card market. I listed the card with a similar BIN price as a PSA 10 (and a "make an offer" link) and got no bites. So, I halved that price to $1,200 and put it back up as an auction, and still got no bites.

It seems that collectors are not interested in BGS graded GEM MINT cards at the moment, so is it worth trying to get this regraded (crossed over) to a PSA 10? Is it worth it to even try, or does PSA just snub their nose at a BGS graded card?

Here is a link to the unsold auction:
1988 89 Fleer Michael Jordan 17 BGS 9 5 Gem Mint PSA 10 | eBay

On a side note, I have always found BGS grades to be much stricter when it comes to the 1986-1989 Fleer sets than PSA, so it makes no sense to me why people hold PSA card value higher than BGS. I see this is an ongoing discussion on these forums, so I am curious what others think about this in light of the recent market boom for these cards.

Thanks!

[natbornkiller]

probably because you priced the card to high and in the form of an auction too

[chadwich]

Originally Posted by natbornkiller

probably because you priced the card to high and in the form of an auction too

Well, considering PSA 10's with far worse centering than this card were selling for $2,100+, I thought $1,200 was a steal.

Is it fair to say that BGS GEM MINT is no longer valued the same as PSA GEM MINT?

I've been collecting cards for 30+ years and BGS use to always be the top of the line with regard to card value. A BGS 9.5 graded card was typically valued more than a PSA 10. Now it seems that has shifted, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why, as most BGS 9.5's I see look to be much nicer cards than a typical PSA 10 equivalent.

[Grimster]

Originally Posted by chadwich

On a side note, I have always found BGS grades to be much stricter when it comes to the 1986-1989 Fleer sets than PSA, so it makes no sense to me why people hold PSA card value higher than BGS. I see this is an ongoing discussion on these forums, so I am curious what others think about this in light of the recent market boom for these cards.

Thanks!

9 in centering is hurting your card value.

Also, are you just saying that BGS is more strict because it's the one you own? I would bet that if you had a PSA card, all of a sudden "PSA is much more strict you know..."

You really have two options:

Lower you price (last one sold for ~$600)

or

put it up in an auction and see where it ends up.

[Doublexthebeast]

Originally Posted by chadwich

Well, considering PSA 10's with far worse centering than this card were selling for $2,100+, I thought $1,200 was a steal.

Is it fair to say that BGS GEM MINT is no longer valued the same as PSA GEM MINT?

I've been collecting cards for 30+ years and BGS use to always be the top of the line with regard to card value. A BGS 9.5 graded card was typically valued more than a PSA 10. Now it seems that has shifted, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why, as most BGS 9.5's I see look to be much nicer cards than a typical PSA 10 equivalent.

PSA 10 will always crush BGS 9.5 on these older Jordan cards(and other players also). The PSA set registry really drives the market. Starting an auction at $1200 is a bad idea to. You should either start it at .99 and let it ride or do a buy it now/submit best offer. You basically did a combo of the two and for some reason that never seems to work out very well.

[chadwich]

Originally Posted by Grimster

9 in centering is hurting your card value.

Also, are you just saying that BGS is more strict because it's the one you own? I would bet that if you had a PSA card, all of a sudden "PSA is much more strict you know..."

Grimster, thanks for the feedback. No, I am not just saying that because I own a BGS. I own a lot of both, and have had cards graded by both BGS and PSA since they started. BGS was much much harder to get higher grades from in the beginning of the grading craze. There were also a lot of rumors circulating around our area that a batch of counterfeit Jordan RC's had gotten graded by PSA, so that hurt their brand for quite a few years. So, being an older collector, I have always kind of help BGS to a higher standard when it comes to grading. Especially looking at the 1986-87 fleer set, which is what I focus a lot of my collecting on. I can send you numerous examples of PSA 9 or 10 graded 1986-87 fleer cards that the centering subgrade would never get above a BGS 8. So, that also has a pretty strong effect on my opinion.

[chadwich]

Originally Posted by Doublexthebeast

PSA 10 will always crush BGS 9.5 on these older Jordan cards(and other players also). The PSA set registry really drives the market. Starting an auction at $1200 is a bad idea to. You should either start it at .99 and let it ride or do a buy it now/submit best offer. You basically did a combo of the two and for some reason that never seems to work out very well.

Thanks Doublethebeast! I appreciate the feedback. Does BGS no longer have a registry? Or is it just no where near the PSA registry hype? Also, would this card be worth trying to crossover to PSA?

Thanks again.

[regularp]

My two cents: it's never wise to start an auction price of anything that high. You want as many eyes as possible on it and starting the auction at $0.99 gets that done. If the auction starts out really high, some people will just ignore it.

Second, as was already pointed out, an auction ended a month ago for a BGS 9.5 that wound up a shade over $600. You greatly overestimated the worth of your card.

[ThoseBackPages]

99 cent it and let it ride!

You've had the card for a while, so there is no way youre gonna lose on it, as it was "cheap" to buy in raw form just a year ago.

[chadwich]

Originally Posted by regularp

My two cents: it's never wise to start an auction price of anything that high. You want as many eyes as possible on it and starting the auction at $0.99 gets that done. If the auction starts out really high, some people will just ignore it.

Second, as was already pointed out, an auction ended a month ago for a BGS 9.5 that wound up a shade over $600. You greatly overestimated the worth of your card.

Thanks for the feedback. Regarding the "greatly overestimated" value: That last BGS 9.5 card sold on May 10th. That same week a 1988 Fleer Jordan All-star card sold for $49 and now you can't touch those for under $150-200, The 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990 fleer cards have all nearly tripled in value over the last month, so why would a double the price of 1988 fleer be "greatly overestimated"?

That was my thinking when I listed it. obviously the market agrees that it was priced too high, just seems that not being PSA 10 is its biggest downfall. Any thoughts on if this is worth a crossover attempt?

[chadwich]

Originally Posted by regularp

You greatly overestimated the worth of your card.

Looks like I'm not the only one...LOL

1988 Fleer 17 Michael Jordan BGS 9 5 | eBay

[Beavers98]

Yeah, as mentioned, either do a BIN with offers or do an auction with lower starting price. The combo of both is just awkward for some people.


..

[Verufian]

Originally Posted by chadwich

Looks like I'm not the only one...LOL

1988 Fleer 17 Michael Jordan BGS 9 5 | eBay

I would guess he saw an auction starting at $1200 being listed over and over, and decided to undercut you as a BIN.

I would also bet if you lowered your price to $800, they would lower theirs to $799

[felix434]

I pretty much have the exact same card. Low bgs pop of about 70 only. I'm planning on crossing it over to psa 10 and holding on for a very long time.

[chadwich]

Originally Posted by felix434

I pretty much have the exact same card. Low bgs pop of about 70 only. I'm planning on crossing it over to psa 10 and holding on for a very long time.

Are you confident it will crossover to PSA 10? Looking at recent pricing, it looks like it is a $1000 or more increase in value if it does cross.

[felix434]

Originally Posted by chadwich

Are you confident it will crossover to PSA 10? Looking at recent pricing, it looks like it is a $1000 or more increase in value if it does cross.

I can't guarantee anything because I've never done it before but I'd say it's a good shot. Other psa 10s have same 9 centering and still selling high. So I don't see an issue and it's a risk that I'd be willing to take. If not, crack it and send it raw.

[Starman101]

Originally Posted by chadwich

Grimster, thanks for the feedback. No, I am not just saying that because I own a BGS. I own a lot of both, and have had cards graded by both BGS and PSA since they started. BGS was much much harder to get higher grades from in the beginning of the grading craze. There were also a lot of rumors circulating around our area that a batch of counterfeit Jordan RC's had gotten graded by PSA, so that hurt their brand for quite a few years. So, being an older collector, I have always kind of help BGS to a higher standard when it comes to grading. Especially looking at the 1986-87 fleer set, which is what I focus a lot of my collecting on. I can send you numerous examples of PSA 9 or 10 graded 1986-87 fleer cards that the centering subgrade would never get above a BGS 8. So, that also has a pretty strong effect on my opinion.

I totally agree with this and feel the same way...

It seems like BGS 9.5s are now more "common" than PSA 10s

Though Ive seem MANY PSA 10 Fleer RCs with 65/35 Centering that I would never touch...

But ONLY because its in a PSA 10 case it fetches for astronimically high prices with the whole registry thing???

I personally would rather have a very high grade BGS 9.5 Fleer than any PSA 10

Id keep the extra cash I would have spent on the PSA 10 ang go on a nice vacation

[regularp]

Originally Posted by chadwich

Looks like I'm not the only one...LOL

1988 Fleer 17 Michael Jordan BGS 9 5 | eBay

His card's gonna sit in purgatory as well like many other cards on eBay.