PWCC Part Deux

[Steve D]

Originally Posted by iwantitiwinit

It is basic free market tenant that a psa 4 of a certain player is a psa 4 of that player regardless of who the seller is, the laws of economics make those 2 cards equal value.

In my opinion, something is occurring in certain auctions to garner higher prices for the exact card than in other auctions for that same card.

Can it be anything else?????

All PSA 4's (or any grade), are not equal. One only has to look at PSA's grading standards to realize this.

First off, does the card have 50/50 centering, or is it centered 85/15?

Is there a crease in the card, or not?

Is the surface scuffed/scratched, or not?

How bad is any rounding of the corners?

How much of the original gloss remains?

Are the borders clean & white, or are they dirty?

Finally, who is the seller of the card? If on ebay, what is their feedback level? Basically, how reputable are they? I would much rather spend a bit more and deal with a known reputable seller, than take a chance with "Bubba's Auctions".

Steve

[iwantitiwinit]

I was waiting for that response, the premise is not flawed. I am talking about a general population of say psa 4's. While one specific psa 4 might be a bit different from another psa 4 in general they are graded using identified guidelines and fall within a specific framework to be graded a psa 4. That's whats meant by commoditized. Think for instance about cocoa beans one bean might be a bit better than another but still fall within the grade "A" classification . A psa 4 is essentially a psa 4 and if you sell enough of them the quality averages out.

If you can establish that one seller only sells the highest quality cards within that specific stratification of say a psa 4 then you can be right (or it can be viable that they garner higher prices than another seller) but I think to believe that one seller takes the time or rejects other cards that are considered weak for the grade I think is naive despite what they might claim in their descriptions.

Thoughts?

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by iwantitiwinit

I was waiting for that response, the premise is not flawed. I am talking about a general population of say psa 4's. While one specific psa 4 might be a bit different from another psa 4 in general they are graded using identified guidelines and fall within a specific framework to be graded a psa 4. That's whats meant by commoditized. Think for instance about cocoa beans one bean might be a bit better than another but still fall within the grade "A" classification . A psa 4 is essentially a psa 4 and if you sell enough of them the quality averages out.

If you can establish that one seller only sells the highest quality cards within that specific stratification of say a psa 4 then you can be right (or it can be viable that they garner higher prices than another seller) but I think to believe that one seller takes the time or rejects other cards that are considered weak for the grade I think is naive despite what they might claim in their descriptions.

Thoughts?

I understand what you're trying to say in principle, but I think the argument is weakened by drawing an analogy to real commodities like cocoa beans. In a single bushel, there's what, maybe 100K beans? Of course minor differences between single beans are not likely to be noticed and they are purchased according to their broad classification. However, in any given year, a T206 Red Cobb PSA 4 might see 20-30 examples change hands, and these occasions are infrequent enough whereby the individual quality of each card can be assessed and valued relative to other examples.

If you're talking about PSA 9 Ken Griffey Juniors, where 100's might be sold in a given year, then I agree with your point, that prices should generally fall within a very tight range. But I believe it's hard to apply that argument to pre-war where populations are significantly lower.

[slipk1068]

We know Cortney was pals with Brent. Do we know if the consignor John P. was friends with or knew Brent? Was John P. friends with or did he know Cortney?