Paying a premium over VCP and SMR

[Neal]

I have noticed, besides Mantle, that many HOF players have been selling for a lot more than VCP, and certainly more than SMR - which I have always viewed as solid bathroom reading material.

That said, there have been a few cards over the years that I have paid a little extra ... maybe $300 for a card that normally is $250, just to give an example.

I am not or have ever been concerned about future/present value when it comes to adding a choice example for the grade. Centering, print issues, corners, etc. all come into play for me personally, and I will pay more for it. Sometimes a whole grade higher.

Does anyone else feel this way? I talk to a few collectors from time to time and they are starting to see my point. One of my buddies is very strict when it comes to "VCP price" and disagrees with my thoughts. To him, a PSA 6 is a PSA 6. To me, there is often a world of difference ...

I would like to hear some other collectors opinion. Thanks in advance.

[jmb]

Originally Posted by Neal

I am not or have ever been concerned about future/present value when it comes to adding a choice example for the grade. Centering, print issues, corners, etc. all come into play for me personally, and I will pay more for it. Sometimes a whole grade higher.

I am comfortable paying more if the card meets my criteria, like you stated above. I recently bought a PSA4.5 41PB DiMaggio that I know is perfect for me and I'll never need to upgrade or replace it based on it's eye appeal. I felt I overpaid at $2k for it until PWCC just sold a PSA5 for $2775 that the 4.5 blows away in the eye appeal department. So, it appears I got a pretty good deal now.

[Neal]

Thanks for sharing that, which is a great example of what I was looking to get across.
Nice pickup!

[DeanH3]

I can't tell you how many cards I have overpaid for if you went by SMR or VCP. I always tell people, as long as you're happy with the card, don't worry about the so called "book" value. I have yet to regret, well maybe once, about overpaying for a nice quality card that checks all the right boxes for me. Good luck Neal!

[MetsBaseball1973]

I will happily set a snipe that is 2X the VCP average for a card with great centering, when I see every card pictured on VCP's past sales has bad centering.

Average prices are for average cards.

[pokerplyr80]

It all depends on the card and the eye appeal. Look at that SGC 5 52 Mantle that sold for over 70k or the 4 for at goldin for over 50k. VCP on both is less than half of that. If a card is hot, or so rare that there isn't much data VCP can be way off. And I rarely worry about SMR. You can throw VCP out of the window on any well centered Mantle or other high end card these days. People are paying big premiums for nice cards.

[Neal]

Originally Posted by MetsBaseball1973

Average prices are for average cards.

well said!

[Exhibitman]

VCP is a tool, not a rule, a snapshot of what an average card sold for at a specific time. It is actually a deflationary force if used as a rule because if you refuse to pay more than VCP, you will only buy at or below VCP. That means the next guy who follows the rule will use your sale as a benchmark and so on, which stagnates at best. I think of it more as an idea of what something has sold for, so that I don't wildly overpay.

[aconte]

When I nice card comes up on ebay and it's right for you, sometimes
you got to go big or go home.

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I think of it more as an idea of what something has sold for, so that I don't wildly overpay.

Exactly!

[hcv123]

My best advice is to be an educated consumer. The better you know the card and market for it, the more informed (better) decision you can make about it.

[begsu1013]

even though smr comes out a month early, it and vcp are already yesterday's news already.

literally. pun intended.

i've gone well above both for shining examples.

and was worried about it (for a month or so).

a few years later, they seem to have been absolute wonderful decisions.


and for the record, i would never think that smr is even remotely close on cards on the high end of the grading spectrum.

commons and low grade example of stars are closer to correct, but for the high end stuff smr is sometimes a solid 6 months to years behind today's pricing.

and probably intentionally done for "replacement value" should something transpire while a card is in their possession.

[jmb]

Originally Posted by begsu1013

... and probably intentionally done for "replacement value" should something transpire while a card is in their possession.

Great point. Hadn't thought of that.

Just checking completed ebay auctions of cards I'm buying the prices on SMR are much lower.

[bbcard1]

If nothing ever sold above VCP, nothing would ever go up.

[DBesse27]

Thread after thread on this site and others about how some cards are "high end" for the grade or have "great eye appeal" and that buyers pay accordingly. This is the reality of the economics of our hobby. It's not new and it's not a novel concept. I don't get the continuous discussion of it like its some fresh idea. I guarantee you in a month somebody on this same site will start a thread like "Hey, if I see a PSA 6 that looks better than other 6's I pay more. What do you guys think of that??"

[Neal]

I am somewhat new to the postwar forum, and if there are other posts on the same topic so be it.

[pawpawdiv9]

People will pay more for eye appeal and centering, some like sharp corners too.
Some folks prefer PSA over SGC too.
Like other guy mention, these are tools!!!! I also use past/sold Ebay listings as a reference as well. By all means, Google it!!!!! Everyone in the world Googles something. Just don't 'ask Siri: What is zero divided by zero?
You might find out the exact same item/photo that sold a few yrs ago or just last week. You may find its a scam on Ebay or some ass stole the photo or your mailman stole your box. These are ALL tools of the Hobby.

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

VCP is a tool, not a rule, a snapshot of what an average card sold for at a specific time. It is actually a deflationary force if used as a rule because if you refuse to pay more than VCP, you will only buy at or below VCP. That means the next guy who follows the rule will use your sale as a benchmark and so on, which stagnates at best. I think of it more as an idea of what something has sold for, so that I don't wildly overpay.

Adam, very well said and oh so true.

It comes down to this, if you want a "nice" card, you will usually have to pay a "nice" price.

Otherwise, you will have years and years worth of missed opportunities, and whenever those threads along the lines of THE CARD I COULD HAVE BOUGHT, BUT FAILED TO DO SO pop up, and they always will, you will have so many occurrences to select from, based on your stupid, fathead, chintzy, tightwad, cheapskate ways, you will come off as quite the dumb a-- and it will not be funny.

Having said that, I must say my own sad sack scenario comes down to SELLING a lot of great cards before the advent of the third party graders. You'll have to pass up a lot of great cards before you will feel worse than me. ---Brian Powell