SMR pricing for raw commons.

[661fish]

I was at a card shop yesterday and picked out 59 and 60 commons. About 70 plus. Some were hi numbers. All exmt to nrmt and raw. He told me he goes by SMR. I was a little apprehensive when he said that, but went along with it. The total ended up being over $600!!! My jaw dropped. I topk about 15 put of the lot and it still was over $450. Is it fair for a dealer to charge SMR for raw cards? Nrmt 1960 commons start at $4 nrmt.

[pokerplyr80]

It is fair for a dealer to charge whatever he or she wants, as it is fair for a customer to pay it, pass, or make a counter offer.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

$4 for truly NM 1960's is pretty spot on in my book. if you have a NM 1960 set it's going to sell for a decent premium over "book"

[Yastrzemski Sports]

My uncle was also in the card business and his philosophy was always that if he went up to a dealer and there were no prices on anything he would keep walking. That was good advice.

If you walk into my shop and go into a box of 1960 cards - you will find a price on every card. Then you can make an informed decision. I price by Beckett and adjust for condition. I do not charge you the price of grading for an ungraded card.

[mintacular]

No, way too high. That price builds in cost of grading which you should not be charged for

[mintacular]

In my mind imagine if this group well scanned etc was to let rip in an auction, what would it sell for? $200 max? Your price should be some where in that neighborhood. If you buy in bulk you should get a wholesale price PERIOD

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I'll take all the NM 1959 and 1960 high numbers you can get me at $4 apiece. Even bulk grading is $8 a card so I don't understand how $4 is a graded price.

[661fish]

I said hi numbers were priced more.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I still don't see the problem with $4 apiece for truly NM cards, sorry. Anyone have their Standard Catalog handy? I bet they're listed right around $4 probably more. I also fail to see what $4 has to do with graded pricing, 7's list for more than $4 in both sets. I often use SMR for a ballpark figure. It doesn't mean I'm charging you a graded price for a raw card.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

I'll take all the NM 1959 and 1960 high numbers you can get me at $4 apiece. Even bulk grading is $8 a card so I don't understand how $4 is a graded price.

I'm with you Scott. When I sell graded cards (some high graded) and they end up bringing less than the grading fee, I cringe.

[insidethewrapper]

$450 for 70 commons from the early 1960's is less than $ 6.50 each and that includes some hi #'s ( how many ??). Not such a terrible price if in nr mt condition.

[mintacular]

Based on $6.50 per card this fella could put near 4K into a '60 set with no stars and ya'll think that's a good/reasonable deal? The only way he should pay anywhere NEAR this price is if they are razor sharp centered blazers with no snow, no dings, etc.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Personally, I would give some kind of quantity discount for 70 cards, but if you want a NM set oddly enough you have to pay NM prices for cards.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by mintacular

Based on $6.50 per card this fella could put near 4K into a '60 set with no stars and ya'll think that's a good/reasonable deal? The only way he should pay anywhere NEAR this price is if they are razor sharp centered blazers with no snow, no dings, etc.

^^This.^^ As a would-be set builder, commons are what jump up and bite me right in the rear. I sometimes have given in and paid too much for nice commons. However, this was my flawed logic: My budget wasn't very large, and I could afford a few commons at a time. So, over time, I put the set together a little at a time in chunks that I could afford. In the end, though, I had waaayyyyy too much in the set because of that approach.

[mintacular]

Also, tell the dealer to spend $500 in grading fees to get his 70 commons graded, then tell him most commons sell for 50-75% of SMR and pretty quickly the conversation changes. Pricing raw cards at graded prices is apples and oranges, those SMR prices already nearly double market prices on most commons have the cost of grading baked into the cake. I stick to my original that anything over $200 you probably spent too much

[Johnny630]

Pay a percentage of high Beckett :-)

All is good

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by mintacular

Also, tell the dealer to spend $500 in grading fees to get his 70 commons graded, then tell him most commons sell for 50-75% of SMR and pretty quickly the conversation changes. Pricing raw cards at graded prices is apples and oranges, those SMR prices already nearly double market prices on most commons have the cost of grading baked into the cake. I stick to my original that anything over $200 you probably spent too much

Without knowing the amount of High #'s it's hard for me to say. For 70 Low Numbers I could see me discounting to $200.

The flip side is when I guy comes to your table and wants all 165 of your 1952 Topps commons and minor stars. You quote him $1200 (the low numbers avg VG the rest avg EX) thinking you hate to go that low but it's a good sale overall and there's a little profit in it and the guy comes back with "I was thinking $800" If you want to buy wholesale maybe you should invest in a booth at the show like I have to! This happened at Philly this weekend.