Beckett question

[TribeBuckeyeFan]

I'm really trying to get back into collecting however, I'm finding Beckett being really prohibitive for me due to the cost. I generally buy/sell/trade BB, BKB, and FB, but with the cost of Beckett anymore it makes it really difficult. My question is, has anyone else found that Beckett changes the way you collect due to their subscription costs? It's very hard to trade when you don't the value of cards, obviously, having to rely on Ebay for selling amounts, but we all know that is not really as accurate as we would like.

Looking for any feedback on how you guys are doing it, assuming you don't have unlimited pots of money laying around to pay for subscriptions in addition to buying unopened material.

On a side note, not Beckett related - I notice there doesn't seem to be much activity with Panini products. What's up with that? Is Panini that unliked because they bought all the Pacific, Donruss, etc. product names?

 

[TribeBuckeyeFan]

Anyone? No input?

 

[Camsue]

I primarily stick to the online guide baseball if I have say fball to look up when I renew I choose fball for that time frame say 1-3 months gives me enough time. The only downfall is when new products are released and you are on the wrong sport. But with release info on new products usually don't have that issue. Hope this helps

 

[Yankeeswin]

I can say for Panini baseball, they don't have team logos and uniforms, they can't even use the team names. I find most of their cards pretty ugly. I only do baseball so Beckett online isn't such a bad price for me. Especially since I do most of my trades there.

 

[Sportnut08]

At the end of the day, Beckett is a price guide and should be looked upon as no more than that - a guide. There are so many flaws in their pricing to rely 100% on it. For example, I collect Giancarlo Stanton. Beckett lists his Topps Update RC at $15. Parallels to this card that are much more rare - Gold /2010 to name one - books $12. If there's something you really want, trade what you're comfortable trading, not what a magazine tells you. To use Stanton as an example once more... I have collected him since he was drafted and finally got my hands on a Topps Update Target Retro RC. Obviously much more rare than the base as I had never seen the card (sure I may have missed an auction or two during a brief hiatus from trading) until his recent surge in August. Again, Beckett has a puzzlingly value of $10 on this card. I gave up a card with a BV of $250 for it.

I use all forms of information I can to make the best decision possible. Beckett, eBay, and my own wants/willingness to trade. If someone wants to trade solely by BV, that's fine, but there is a high likelihood that they are leaving value on the table, on one side or the other.

Look at sales, think about what you value the card at that you're trading - how much am I invested? How much did I pay, what did I trade for it? Do I value what I am trading for equally or greater than what I am trading away? Sure it's fun to know what our card books at, but by no means should this be the only fair way to trade as a large number of traders seem to still think. Most traders are not going to say no if offered a $10 card that sells for $50 for a $10 card that sells for $2. Do your own research on your own cards. Don't assume that Beckett has every card covered.

 

[mrmopar]

Beckett is still in business? Haven't used their services or purchased a magazine from them in years.

 

[reickholt]

Its like buying gas for your car. Neither is very useful without the other.