What do YOU use Beckett for?

[TJCloutier]

Specifically Beckett's online website. What exactly do you use it for? To check Beckett Values or to just look a card up? Perhaps you trade on Beckett? I'm curious as recently I was looking at recent price changes for Gary Sheffield also I don't have price guides through them. Their system has been flawed for years imo and this is yet another flaw. Somehow they reflect recent price changes however don't indicate whether there was a price drop or raised the price. I automatically assume they dropped the price but you never know. Link is below for anyone interested. Maybe I'm missing something but I doubt it. Thanks for looking!
http://www.beckett.com/player/gary-sheffield-412788

 

[steve1972]

definitely the card values but also read the box break section and see what the results of the breaks are to see if really worth buying the product.

 

[Beachbum]

Values mostly, sometimes for generating player lists. I subscribe sporadically...probably once every 6 months just to get caught up on new acquisitions that I don't have BVs for.

 

[TJCloutier]

Values mostly, sometimes for generating player lists. I subscribe sporadically...probably once every 6 months just to get caught up on new acquisitions that I don't have BVs for.

I'm already 1000+ strong in my excel list and wouldn't take the time to go back through and input Beckett Values. Although I wish I had them they'll probably never be an upload option so I don't see any point in myself subbing anytime soon.

 

[Beachbum]

I'm already 1000+ strong in my excel list and wouldn't take the time to go back through and input Beckett Values. Although I wish I had them they'll probably never be an upload option so I don't see any point in myself subbing anytime soon.

I use Excel too for all of my inventory, tracking, etc. and it works great for me. When I first started inventory about 5 years ago, I slowly started putting BVs with all the singles that I have...it took me about 2 years to get it all together and many of the BVs I have are dated but I won't go back and check them, they are close enough for me to estimate the value of my collection and trading purposes.

 

[TJCloutier]

I use Excel too for all of my inventory, tracking, etc. and it works great for me. When I first started inventory about 5 years ago, I slowly started putting BVs with all the singles that I have...it took me about 2 years to get it all together and many of the BVs I have are dated but I won't go back and check them, they are close enough for me to estimate the value of my collection and trading purposes.

The reason I didn't include them at the start is due to the fact that Beckett Value has no meaning at all. I'm not just saying to me either. It's simply a value Beckett deems on their cards that isn't reflected on the market at all. I see an auto I have books for $40 and it means nothing to me. I immediately go on eBay and look at what I can get. After that I subtract a couple dollars that I assumed I'd receive from eBay and then post it for sale here at the discounted price.

 

[seal006]

Specifically Beckett's online website. What exactly do you use it for? To check Beckett Values or to just look a card up? Perhaps you trade on Beckett? I'm curious as recently I was looking at recent price changes for Gary Sheffield also I don't have price guides through them. Their system has been flawed for years imo and this is yet another flaw. Somehow they reflect recent price changes however don't indicate whether there was a price drop or raised the price. I automatically assume they dropped the price but you never know. Link is below for anyone interested. Maybe I'm missing something but I doubt it. Thanks for looking!
http://www.beckett.com/player/gary-sheffield-412788

To see if a card value have moved up or down you need to click on each individual card. There will be a gree arrow for up and a red arrow for down next to the hi value assigned to that card.

The reason I didn't include them at the start is due to the fact that Beckett Value has no meaning at all. I'm not just saying to me either. It's simply a value Beckett deems on their cards that isn't reflected on the market at all. I see an auto I have books for $40 and it means nothing to me. I immediately go on eBay and look at what I can get. After that I subtract a couple dollars that I assumed I'd receive from eBay and then post it for sale here at the discounted price.

No matter what anyone states, Beckett values ARE valid. They may not be the actual price you feel a card is worth, nor it may not be the value you see a card sell for on the bay. BUT the Becket value assigned to that card is where all those others begin. Wether it is a percentage of the Beckett value is used, or the Lo price, the price in Beckett are what the real pricing is based from. It is a bit unfair to compare prices on eBay with what you find in Beckett. Online or in print, all price guides are are one month, sometimes more, behind current prices. This is because the data processing for evaluating and changing prices for each individual item takes time. Ebay is "real time" price information. Plus you need to take into account eBay is a marketplace, with competition compeating for the same buyers. A price guide is not a marketplace. It is a resource. Above all, a price guide is just that, A GUIDE. It is not some law etched in stone. It is merely an indication of where one could use as a starting point. After all, value is based on each individual. What I may consider to be a $5 card you may consider to be $3. Or Beckett states a value of $100, but you feel it is only worth $25. These cards do not have a face value. They are not like stocks that have actual value based on a company's success. Love it, hate it, Beckett is most likely responsible for bringing in more people to this hobby than any other person or company.

Look at Jose Abreu cards right now. At this very moment his cards are selling well above Beckett BV. Yes, Beckett could change those prices online to reflect this, but then they would be doing a disfavor to those that pay for a hard copy each month. Not to mention they would need to do this for every card that sells on eBay, which just isn't feasible. Markets always move faster than guides. Always has, always will.

 

[jflan702]

Nothing! Ever since they made their site change a few years ago, I have exactly 0 posts, and plan to keep it that way. I don't trade by BV, I trade to trade, so that eliminates their gross BV's.

JMO.

 

[mm1sub]

Nothing! Ever since they made their site change a few years ago, I have exactly 0 posts, and plan to keep it that way. I don't trade by BV, I trade to trade, so that eliminates their gross BV's.

JMO.

Guess that is why we make such great trading partners John. I would not trade a 1952 Mantle for a bunch of commons but have no problem trading cards I do not want for ones that I do want. I have never even been a member of the Beckett site. I do go there for the show schedule but I do not even know if they have forums.

 

[TJCloutier]

Guess that is why we make such great trading partners John. I would not trade a 1952 Mantle for a bunch of commons but have no problem trading cards I do not want for ones that I do want. I have never even been a member of the Beckett site. I do go there for the show schedule but I do not even know if they have forums.

I use to post them back in 2007-2008 or so. Back then the only reference method was to copy and paste the users username into your sig lol. It worked though I never got stiffed in 50+ trades. Too bad I couldn't transfer that, they never transferred us when they switched so.

 

[DaClyde]

I check it occasionally to see if they've added any new (old) cards to their database for the players I collect and to see if they have yet corrected known errors in their data (none, yet). I have no interest in their "beckett values" and don't see the value in paying them for the privilege of trading cards. Despite the slowdown of interesting conversation (at least interesting to me) on several of the better message boards, there is still comparatively little sign of intelligent life on the BMB. Lots of the same basic questions that get asked everywhere else, but little else that hasn't already been discussed, in much greater depth, elsewhere.

 

[mrmopar]

Absolutely nothing.

Beckett has become obsolete in my mind.

 

[pmanningsfan73]

Same reason I collect baseball cards, to waste money haha! Seriously I use the organize & the price guide to help in trades. I also get on there to trade sometimes & read the forums.

 

[bblair_2002]

Good reading material when I'm sittin on the can.

 

[houbb]

Beckett=waste of my time. Haven't used them in years, and don't see a need to use them in the future.

 

[KCLJ520]

Not a thing!

 

[David K.]

Only use at as a guide.....ebay has the more update prices. Best regards, David

 

[GotMelky]

I used it sparingly before - never took BV too seriously. After they decided to throw a hissy fit with COMC and brought forth a lawsuit, I severed any tie I ever had with them. They are a dinosaur.

I can probably tell you Beckett BV before they price any new product - it's the same all the time. Common autos and jerseys automatically get priced at $8.00 - when you're looking at maybe a couple bucks realistically.