Never understood "paying strong" on BST

[iowadoc77]

My version of paying strong is this- I am looking for several nearly impossible John McGraw T206 backs and I will overpay to get them due to rarity. This is the only context I understand this phrase. Paying strong for a readily available card doesn't mean much to me.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by iowadoc77

My version of paying strong is this- I am looking for several nearly impossible John McGraw T206 backs and I will overpay to get them due to rarity. This is the only context I understand this phrase. Paying strong for a readily available card doesn't mean much to me.

That makes sense. I will pay strong for a Gehrig Rogers Peet of Gekrig kut out because I've never seen one.

[mechanicalman]

I guess I don't understand the confusion here. My presumption is that if a collector is "paying strong" they are willing to pay above the VCP average, the idea being that they are trying to buy a card not currently for sale, and they need to compel a seller to part with a card.

I'm not sure if the reference to All Star Cards is a joke or not, but their buy price on a 41 PB Teddy is $550. If I found a centered example in the same grade, I'd probably pay double that. I'm not sure it makes sense to compare the dealers who are "paying strong" vs. the collectors doing so.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

I guess I don't understand the confusion here. My presumption is that if a collector is "paying strong" they are willing to pay above the VCP average, the idea being that they are trying to buy a card not currently for sale, and they need to compel a seller to part with a card.

I'm not sure if the reference to All Star Cards is a joke or not, but their buy price on a 41 PB Teddy is $550. If I found a centered example in the same grade, I'd probably pay double that. I'm not sure it makes sense to compare the dealers who are "paying strong" vs. the collectors doing so.

Ha. $550? For the right one, I would happily pay double that, maybe more.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

I guess I don't understand the confusion here. My presumption is that if a collector is "paying strong" they are willing to pay above the VCP average, the idea being that they are trying to buy a card not currently for sale, and they need to compel a seller to part with a card.

I'm not sure if the reference to All Star Cards is a joke or not, but their buy price on a 41 PB Teddy is $550. If I found a centered example in the same grade, I'd probably pay double that. I'm not sure it makes sense to compare the dealers who are "paying strong" vs. the collectors doing so.

VCP can only get you so far. If the last sale of a particular Ruth or Cobb card in that grade was $1000 in 2014, what's a fair price now?