Will B/S/T Activity Pick Up AFTER the National?
 

Seems pretty slow to me right. Just typical summer slow down, or due to the National? I'm guessing activity will pick up when it's over.

Years past, was always an uptick before the National, as people were raising funds. Don't see that anymore.

Maybe it's just the stuff I look at, but BST activity in general seems like it's been on a slow downward curve here for few years now.

Totally. People bottom pick the $45 and $75 items, but once you move into higher end stuff things generally just sit. For the same reason all the "eye candy" from the National will be at the next show. Buyers want post covid prices with a haircut; Sellers want pre-covid prices with a bump.

i hope it picks up after the National. hoping people upgraded their collections and have the lower grades for sale and need to pay off their credit cards!

I will go the other way and say there is just less buyers on here so listing stuff is a waste of time. I have noticed stuff doesn't sell even when listed below eBay prices. I recently had 3 auctions and I pretty much gave 2 of the items away. I seen one a few days later listed on eBay for 20 times what it sold for on here.

I know over the years I have bought a ton of great items in the BST section but have not bought much in the last couple years.

I remember when BST was a lot of eye popping stuff. Unless I dreamed it, Jeff L. once listed a Joe Jackson Cracker Jack PSA 7.

Exactly this.

I raised around 50% of the funds for a Jim Thorpe auto purchase this week through B/S/T over the past month -- mostly small items, but I cleared the cash I needed to make it happen.

That said, from a buying perspective since I joined 14 months ago, I've had more luck throwing out an LTB post, then someone reaching out to me via PM who didn't have the item officially for sale.

I recently sold my 48/49 leaf Paige here
But no luck on the 51 mick i had up
It’s a hit or miss
But I made some good purchases thru bst here

My experience as a seller lately is T206s listed at 90-100% of eBay/VCP sale prices move right away. All the other common stuff (Goudey, Topps, etc.) just sits there. Rare stuff is hit or miss. Generally, if I'm looking to sell something from PSAs "Top 250 Sports Cards in the Hobby" (which accounts for much of what I sell) I'll end up clearing more if I consign it to one of the big eBay sellers than I was able to get on the BST, so I figure the people buying that stuff via eBay are not the same eyeballs we have on the BST.

I have built a number of low grade Topps and Bowman sets, probably 75% through the B/S/T. And while not full sets, quite a few t205, t207, CJs, Goudey and Play Ball in lower grade from the B/S/T. There is one nice large group of raw t205 listed right now. Also a big lot of 1971 Topps. I already have a complete 1971 set, but it's a nice lot, nonetheless. But other than that, not so much. I'm sure I am overlooking some. Seems like oh so many high grade individual cards. And way fewer of them of late, or so it seems to me anyway. I wonder if there is a real trend downward, or if it's seasonal, or an effect caused by the National. Looking, unfortunately, like it may be a trend, based on what you folks are saying.

I have only been a member for a couple of months, but made 3 or 4 purchases so far, but things slowed down the last 2 weeks, but i thought that was due to folks getting their inventories ready for the national, etc

I just hope that the sellers don't come on B/S/T and try to get the kind of prices I'm seeing on the videos from the National. Maybe they're just leaving lots of room for negotiation.

Having been there this week, I accepted that the 15-20% markup is the price of seeing things in person -- including things I've never seen anywhere before. The amount of work put into some of the setups is museum-like. I think what happens at The National, stays at The National, at least it should.

I feel like I've paid fair retail on all my purchases this week. I wish I was going Sunday -- I gotta think the last few hours are when to buy.

Stuff listed on the Net54 B/S/T board SHOULD be listed for 10-15% less than eBay pretty much always. No ebay fees here and if people pay with PPFF or similar there is even more savings to the seller.

I have noticed much fewer ungraded T206 sales threads. I don't know if that is because more people are collecting T206s now than say 5 years ago and aren't parting with as many. Or if more and more are getting graded and thus not as many ungraded available. A combo of the two. Or something else. I think that the prices of most T206s at the LCS, ebay, and shows are high. So I usually wait to find them here for a reasonable price.

While technically I agree with you. But also consider buyers here don't pay sale tax or usually shipping.

Good point.

I have seen an acceleration of sales on eBay. I suspect buyers who went to the National and didn’t find anything to buy decided to buy my stuff online instead.

I haven't seen as much of interest on the B/S/T compared with when I first joined, but also, as I've picked up the cards I needed for my project, my interests have narrowed. Now, I'm down to ten cards, and with some of them probably being in the single-digits in terms of number of signed copies out there, the odds of one of them popping up here, at a price that the seller and I can agree on, before someone else sees it and swoops in, are low.

It's been pretty slow on the BST section. Something we once tried on another message boards years ago was a virtual card show. Arranged a time where people all made up to post virtual tables of items with prices, and buyers knew to check it out. Got a lot more action than the regular day-to-day and definitely seemed like a real success. Maybe a thought to try here.

That sounds like it could be fun.

I'm at the point now where there's nothing I really want to let go. Maybe that's where the majority is for the time being.

I am very happy with the BST lately as Bob F listed some amazing memorabilia items and I bought the Muller pitching figurine. He still has some great items left for sale. I also bought some cool photos from Dave B. I check the BST frequently as I never know what cool items might be listed.

Alan

Well the National is over, but i am sure everyone who went is recovering. The videos i saw from the show looked interesting and amazing the variety and depth of inventories being showcased. Hopefully BST will rebound this week with some renewed enthusiasm!