Site Forum

Hey guys, so since the site uses a Median Price to calculate the card's value, if I purchase a card at a significantly lower value than the Median Price on the site, what's the advantage to reporting it (other than gaining points on the site)? Why would I want to decrease the value of the card in my collection?

In short, the value of a card is what you are willing to pay for it and the seller is willing to accept.  A lot of people on the site turn off the pricing function becuse they feel a lot of people overvalue the cards.  One advantage for you adding your price to the site though is for those that use the function to see what a real time (or as close as possible) value of the card is.  An $800 card 20 years ago is likely to be worth $20 today, but because nobody has put that value in, many who don't know the price assume its still $800.  Adding your price to the site would give a better idea of the current price or at least a general idea of what a buyer COULD get the card for, even if it is way under market value.

I'm sure these Aaron Judge cards going for $1,000+ right now will start to decrease in price in a year or two but if the prices don't reflect the decrease, people may overpay for the card thinking they got a good deal.

I see. In general though, don't older cards gain value over time? i.e. Gehrig, Mantle, Ruth, etc

Depends on how old.  The cards in the 80's were worth way more in the 80's.  Cards from the 20's, yeah, they generally increase.  It's the old supply and demand concept.  Prices increase when demand goes up or supply goes down.  20's cards have low supply.  80's cards had high demand in the 80's cause everyone thought they would get rich.  Now, the supply is so high and demand went down, so late 80's/90's are generally worthless.

As for the pricing on the site, I like the feature and use it as a guide, but not as a religion.  Someone reporting a price doesnt make your card worth more or less.  If enough people report prices, the concept is the price median would somewhat resemble the market, but the reality is there isn't enough data loaded in the site to be accurate.  If I see a card is worth a lot on the site, I don't think I have anything yet, but I'll go check eBay to see what recent auctions have gone for.  If you use the site's pricing in this manner, it is an awesome feature.  If you try to use it as gospel, you really are setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration.

The pricing function on this site is not an accurate gauge of any card's value.  The prices entered vary too much in source.  As jupiterhill stated, two values entered a decade apart will most likely be completely different, more so with cards from the 70s and on but even with some of the older cards.  As well, some prices entered have been asking prices and not actual sale prices; there is no way toverify any prices entered though I have had Admin delete totally erroneous price entries. Add in that the prices entered for the same card does not take into account the condition of the card.  Again, this would be more so for the older cards; it could make a Mantle or Mays card seem really affordable when, if someone is wanting a Mint condition card, the price is no wherenear the true cost.  These are some of the reasons many on here don't use the feature.  Best way to ruly value what you have is to research recent sales to see what similar cards sold for.

Didn't know one got points for entering card prices.  Wouldn't pay $1000 for any card that was not older than me.