8.06.2009

What to do with the anger with Beckett redux

Whoa, did I disturb a hornet's nest here or WHAT!?!!? I wanted to repeat the comments I've received so far in order to foster more conversation about an alternative to Beckett, not really about "Beckett" or "book" value.

Captain Canuck said...

not to mention that Zistle has never, ever, frozen or crashed anyone's browser.....

sound familiar beckett users?

August 6, 2009 11:03 AM

paulsrandomstuff said...

How is Zistle's pricing any better than Beckett's if you don't know where they get their data?

August 6, 2009 11:08 AM

Gellman said...

Second, the values listed are useful from a trading perspective. That is, only for relative values. The people I trade with locally use it to make sure that everyone is getting fair value. I understand it and use it to, just so that no one gets shafted.


This argument makes no sense, as many people understand that two cards that book for 50 bucks may sell for 10 and 20 dollars respectively.

The issue remains, Beckett tries to assign a static price to a dynamic value. That will never work. Something is only worth what someone else will pay for it, bottom line.

August 6, 2009 11:14 AM

Blogger MattR said...

Zistle is great. It would be nice to see more people on it. I only have part of my collection on there but I'm working on it. :)

August 6, 2009 11:46 AM

Blogger Collective Troll said...

I have never used either Beckett or Zistle and I think I am much happier for it... I like to trade cards that I don't have for cards that I do... If you are trading a 1:4 pull for a 1:4 pull, I don't see the need to get price guides involved... Thats just me. When I go in the card shop and ask for the price on a card, he always says something like, well it books for 30-well how much is it?

August 6, 2009 12:25 PM

DKRILL:
Troll, the only problem with your method is that I could trade a 1:4 Josh Barfield for a 1:4 Derek Jeter. That doesn't seem like fair value.

And Gellman, I see your point, but the point I was trying to make is that it is not the absolute value of the card that I am interested in, but the value of it relative to the value of another card. Most people don't do exact value, so whether something is $10 or $20 doesn't matter too much. It is the value that it is worth to you. For example, I place a higher value on Omar Vizquel, Grady Sizemore and Jim Thome cards than Marie, who values Albert Pujols cards more. And Grand Cards like (surprise) Curtis Granderson cards more, so he is more likely to value those higher than me.

In other words, It's All Relative.

6 comments:

Collective Troll said...

I see your point... BUT if it was say a 1:4 JP Howell card, that would be way more valuable to me than the Jeter. Its just as hard to pull, but the value lays with who wants it...

Rod (Padrographs) said...

I would just as soon trade a Jeter or Pujols for a Adrian Gonzalez straight across, because I dont collect Jeter or Pujols and do Gonzalez. If you get what you want and I get what I want, sounds good to me.

Carl Crawford Cards said...

I tend to agree with Troll and Rod. I've made a trade or two where I'm sure the other guy felt like he was getting a "steal" or something, but I was in a position to hook the guy up, relatively speaking, and he had some stuff I was really after. With my limited budget. I do what I have to to get what I want.

Conversely, I posted recently about a reader who hooked me up in a major way with a ton of '73s, including some stars, for about 10 Heritage Sps.

No one discussed book, etc., and everyone was stoked in the end,

And speaking of, you're Bonds and Maddux go in the mail tomorrow. I'm been out of packing supplies, and so delayed.

Ashley said...

Hey--it is Ashley from Zistle. I just wanted to mention our opinion a few topics.

1. We are not huge pricing nuts and don't think that the hobby should be all about "book". That is why we comb through prices on sites like ebay and check out my cards to give you an idea of the price on the market right now. We don't vouch that it is perfect and we also don't charge anything for it. Why? Because we know that you could use this amazing thing called the internet and figure it out yourself. But, we know that isn't always convenient so we added what we think is a neat feature.

2. If you want to pay your hard earned money for unreliable information so that you can squabble over book price - good for you. We aren't trying to beat Beckett on pricing. We also recognize that combing ebay and retail sites isn't perfect and make no claims to be perfect. We offer an average of recent prices and transactions as well as the lowest transaction to provide a frame of reference.

3. I think you should consider Zistle if you are interested in being part of a tightly knit community of hobbyists who believe that grouping together and creating our own library is more powerful than relying on someone else to provide that data. You should join Zistle if you want to use a website that makes sense and doesn't leave you wanting to pull your hair out. You should join Zistle if you want to have your questions answered quickly, feel like you matter, and don't risked getting banned for mentioning a competitors name. You join Zistle if you like to contribute and share your collection and love of the hobby with others. That is what Zistle is about.

JD's Daddy said...

Zistle eh? Sounds cool to me (uh oh did Beckett just ban me??). Truth be told I have a beckett online membership simply to use their pricing as a way to determine what I have. There are so many parallels and subsets that I need to see the checklist. I am totally about giving zistle a go though...

AdamE said...

I have teh perfect card pricing tool. It isn't Beckett, ebay, or Zistle. It is simply this. Red Sox cards are gold and everything else is worthless.

Seriously I haven't bought a beckett since sometime in the 90s, no need. I don't look on ebay to see prices either, no need. All you have to do is remember that the more popular the player and theshorterprintedthe card the more it is worth in trade.

The only time I would consider using any kind of book would be if I was trading some kind of important vintage card for fairness. (Mays, Aaron, Williams, Clemente, Yaz)