Posted By:
BillLAs a past dealer turned mostly collector, I tend to disagree with the general consensus going on here. Everything I ever bought or sold was based on a % of book.
All of my stuff had HBV on the back (eliminated the rush to look it up while the customer was walking away). I can't memorize book prices (especially 3 grades), but I can recognize HBV as right/wrong when I see them. Also,(no offense to anybody)depending on the guide used, you might have to trust someone to read the guide correctly, grade it correctly and do math. I'm usually good for 1/3.
To belabor some more, if I see a $30 price on a beatup T206 with a rare back, I know that it has been discounted, but from what? If the auction or price tag state HBV of $300, (which I would still verify if not sure)then I can see that $30 is a good price. But if I have to dig around/ask for HBV, find out it is a $100 card in NRMT, look at the card again to realize that it is overpriced, I'm usualy pretty irritated by the 3rd auction or table. Give me HBV any time. The best price tags(IMO) read something like 100/30. Gives me everything I need to know. Pricing without basis, based on someone else's grading and math is too risky for me. I'll do my own discounting for condition.