Quote:
Originally Posted by ooo-ribay
It may be true of all memorabilia, but I think pins are especially hard to “value”…
First, you’ll have the situation of multiple ebay bidders but with only two putting in big bids. Let’s say you had last minute snipes of $132, $475 and $500. The pin will sell for $480, but without either of the high bids, it would have gone for $133. Is it really “worth” $480? We’ve all experienced what I call “that one other guy” who either beats you or costs you a lot of money. And now, with the $500 bidder out of the way, the same pin might go for significantly less if it comes up again. There have definitely been times where, in hindsight, I was glad I lost out the first time around. Some of Paul’s inflated “values” may be due to the fact he regularly dueled with another big time pin collector.
Another factor, I think, affects pin value for a team collector like myself. I often joke with my fellow Giants collectors that “after you, me and he gets one,” these pins go for peanuts. That is, after we fight among ourselves, there’s no one for the next bidder to fight with. I know a newer Giants team collector who is frustrated some pins I have are now hard to find but if he does find them he usually gets them for less than what I paid (not always).
PM-10’s may be easier to value than “team” pins but, again, I almost think their value actually goes down as the collectors who want them, get them. To me, only the super rare, “seen once every 10 years” pins can really be assigned a value. Am I making any sense?
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I tend to follow a very simple rule about valuing collectibles. I don’t pay much attention to eBay sold prices or “comps”. What a buyer and seller sold a particular item for yesterday, last week, last month is irrelevant to me. That’s them. I’m me. There really can’t be a price guide for collectibles in my mind. I may ask a fellow collector what they might value something at, but the ultimate decision to buy or sell at a particular price is mine.
Example: You have a Mantle signed ball that want to buy. Would you sell it for $1? No. $100? Probably not. $1,000? Well, now I’ve probably got your attention. So $1,000 is the ceiling. I ask, would you take $200?
You: $900?
Me: $300?
You: $800?
And so, we dance.
Sometimes, I pay over “comps” because I see something that I must own. Sometimes, I offer less than comps because that’s what I value it at.