The Psychology of Bidding.......

[MattyC]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

My "psychology" is buying only cards with perfect or at least great centering. In my mind--part true, part fantasy--that makes every card I get at a fair or market price ACTUALLY a nice bargain since I figure (hope) that it's at least 10-20% more valuable than the average price for the card due to centering. This often proves true, which only encourages me...

Wonder if you folks agree...

Greg, I think you and Leon have nailed it in your posts here. People love to look at the "average" price on VCP, but that is just what it is-- the average. It is not at all what the very best card in its grade will go for.

I think far too many collectors get hung up on "overpaying" based on the "average," as if that average is the real market price. And that is a gross misinterpretation of what that VCP average really is. Staring at that average and fear of overpaying will only lead one to miss out on and lose the very elite cards for any given grade.

If one really wants a card that blows away others in its grade, and even those with bigger sticker numbers, one has to be prepared to pay a premium over the VCP average. If I know how rare a card is to find centered or without some usual endemic flaw, and I see that rare, standout example, then I want it. And I will pay what it takes to get it in my collection. I never, ever see this as overpaying. Not when the alternative is losing out on the top specimen for the grade, or paying a bit less hard-earned money for an inferior example, when I will forever know very well that there's a better one out there. To me, overpaying is actually paying any amount for a lesser card, just to save a couple bucks.

And the proof is in the happiness. I would bet the farm that when it comes to cards like the ones you mention, and the Ruth in this thread is a prime example, there is far more underbidder's remorse than winner's remorse.

But of course the philosophy you mention only makes sense when one does not view all cards in the same grade as identical. There is a real danger in getting hung up on wanting 'Grade X,' as much as there is in getting hung up on the VCP average. That danger can lead to one buying downright ugly cards that, in the future, will never perform or appreciate the way the best looking ones in the grade will.

Leon's Ruth in the initial post here is just such an elite example for the grade. Should he ever want to sell it, he will be able to find many more buyers for this example that has elite centering, as compared to had he paid closer to the VCP average for an ugly example. And I'd bet the proverbial farm that his 4 will appreciate at a greater rate than the usual looking 4.