Posted By | Message |
vrooomed
Posts: 14,818
Joined: Dec 2012
|
Friday, April 4, 2014 10:49 AM | |
A web site devoted to selling sports (and non-sports) cards is going through a major overhaul right now because they can (for whatever reason) no longer use Beckett's info.
If you've seen the site during the last two days, it's a disaster (and that's an understatement). I had Mike Schmidt cards that I had purchased in my inventory and now they are showing up according to their site as Michael Schwimer. Few have card numbers, etc. A complete mess. Totally unusable when you're searching for certain players or specific cards (e.g., 1979 Topps 369). Can't do it right now.
I was wondering if there was any way that this site could lend (sell) its expertise to them, and what this website's policy would be on something like that. I know there are several members here that are members there.
Thanks,
Dan
-------------------------------
-- Dan -- Note: Please see my profile for more info regarding trading (section updated 3/4/2024). I have added a large portion of my inventory to the site, and currently have trading turned on (details are in my profile).
|
|
|
|
Billy Kingsley
Posts: 7,510
Joined: Aug 2011
|
|
|
|
Dixxy
Posts: 349
Joined: Mar 2013
|
Friday, April 4, 2014 4:59 PM | |
I has failure understand "can't use Beckett info." Beckett making big stink about use of info made by public? Info base on people purchase average. Do Beckett have right to public info? Don't site pay for Beckett? Make info available for use? Make Beckett money? Bout as dumb as my grammar.
-------------------------------
The difference between Hoarding and Collecting is Structure. ~Kris~
|
|
|
|
Dave Sosidka
Posts: 304
Joined: Sep 2011
|
Friday, April 11, 2014 9:18 AM | |
Beckett- how the mighty have fallen.
Those who go back to the late 1970s and early 1980s might recall that Beckett was a breath of fresh, reputable air at a time when the hobby was influenced by a couple of New York-based pricing rags, CCP (Current Card Prices) and CPU (Card Prices Update), who intentionally supressed prices on vintage cards and inflated the prices on current rookie cards they'd hoarded themselves. This, of course, was when Dr. Jim Beckett ran the company.
Over the course of time, Beckett's credibility on a number of levels has been diminished, to say the least. The fact that it had become a mouthpiece for the card manufacturers because of their advertising support meant it had broken some of the basic tenets of good journalism. That said, a cynic might say every newspaper in America does the same thing, to some extent.
When it got into the grading business, they overstepped their bounds by new degrees. Now, they were in a position to set markets and then control the prices of items they, in fact, produced. We should all be as fortunate as to get into a business where we can dictate what others will pay for our own products, or at least influence their feelings about the item's worth.
Of course, Dr. Beckett has long since cashed in his chips, and the people who run the company now are desparately trying to keep a sinking ship afloat. eBay and the Internet have rendered their price guides irrelevant. Their website, despite several re-launches, continues to be headache-inducing and unnavigatable. Most recently, they're trying to break into the auction business, which is stretched thin as it is and puts them in competition with some of the few people left who advertise in their publications. Good luck with that.
They can battle COMC all they want, but the fact of the matter is, whatever monies they made off the COMC agreeement should be considered a windfall. COMC could probably have flourished (and now they're claiming they did) WITHOUT any input from Beckett. Unfortunately, at least as I write this today, COMC has been decimated.
|
|
|
|
Dixxy
Posts: 349
Joined: Mar 2013
|
Friday, April 11, 2014 1:21 PM | |
I see we fail to address whether or not our site's expertise is marketable to COMC to help keep them sailing. I would like to point out that, although the knowledge of this site is cumulative, is it credible as a source? we are mostly average people who collect and trade cards who, if we want, could fabricate information just as easily as Beckett, CCP, and CPU. Some of us still use sources like Beckett and Non-sport Update as their reference when pricing out their collection. Personally, if I pay a dollar for a jersey card on eBay and see that Beckett says it's worth ten bucks, I like the feeling that I got a wicked deal. I'm not going to put the dollar I actually paid for the card on the site as the value, even though I was the only bidder because no one else wanted it.
If we offer our knowledge, we had best be able to back all claims we make on this site. I know there have been cards on this site that have skyrocketed in price from .05 to 50,000 and no one knows who the player is. Can we be vigilant as a group to catch these kinds of "mistakes" before they happen? Can we take the ability to price cards away from people who do this more than once?
Being a supplier of information to a site that is making profit off of auctions would be a huge undertaking. Are we ready for that kind of a commitment?
-------------------------------
The difference between Hoarding and Collecting is Structure. ~Kris~
|
|
|
|
Billy Kingsley
Posts: 7,510
Joined: Aug 2011
|
Friday, April 11, 2014 1:43 PM | |
Personally I would
be happier if we
just documented the
cards here, and let
others worry about
price. After all,
I'm a collector,
not a seller, and
what a card could
proverbially sold
for means literally
nothing to me. I've
been collecting
since 1988 (I was 4
years old) and I've
never sold a card,
and never intend
to. I'm a
collector, not a
seller.
I remember before
the Database put in
the option to block
the pricing junk
(I'm being nice, I
normally refer to
it much harsher)
somebody had put in
$25 on some of the
base cards in 1994-
95 Upper Deck
(NBA)...cards that
could be found for
a nickel if you
could find them at
card shows, but
most of the time
you couldn't
because they are
base cards and most
people don't care
about them. My
copies came from
the 500 cards for
$5 boxes I used to
be able to get in
the 1990s.
I did get my order
from COMC the other
day...everything
was packed well and
it completed a set
that's very
important to me.
PlayerPCCollector,
thanks for your
post. I've never
known NBA cards
without Beckett. I
collected NASCAR
before Beckett
issued their racing
publication, before
that I was more
than happy to just
collect whatever I
could find. I
picked up an issue
of Beckett
Basketball last
year, there were
essentially no
articles, the
reader's write was
gone, it was mostly
just price
guide...just about
worthless to me. I
have not picked up
any more issues nor
do I plan to,
unless the format
of the magazine
goes back to what
it was in the 1990s-
articles about the
hobby. I didn't
even know there
were card
publications pre-
Beckett. I never
even thought to
look. (as an aside,
I would not mind
seeing the covers
of card related
magazines added to
the Database...I
have a complete
collection of
Beckett Racing, and
all Beckett
basketball from
1996-05ish,
somewhere, and
other random issues
of other
publications like
Tuff Stuff, etc.)
-------------------------------
VERY slow trading due to health problems. Not transferrable so safe to trade with, just moving is painful and can't always access the cards. Cardboard History My COMC New Collection Website: Cardboard History Gallery (Still under construction) Tips on how to make your scans look like the card does in hand (No more washed out, fuzzy scans!):
|
|
|
|
Billy Kingsley
Posts: 7,510
Joined: Aug 2011
|
|
|
|
jupiterhill
Posts: 1,225
Joined: Jun 2013
|
Friday, April 11, 2014 3:11 PM | |
Its a shame Beckett didn't want to partner with them anymore, for no other reason as it has leveled COMC. I think in time it will be better, but yeah, I haven't been on there much lately. I haven't been on the net in general lately but what time I have hasn't been spent on there. I still plan to buy from them though.
-------------------------------
Royal Card Review is my blog if you feel like checking it out, thanks if you do!- royalcardreview.blogspot.com/ In the process of updating my collection so don't trust any of my lists right now.
|
|
|
|
Dave Sosidka
Posts: 304
Joined: Sep 2011
|
Friday, April 11, 2014 3:50 PM | |
Some random responses:
I like the idea of databasing issues of hobby publications. Even better, scanning and making searchable PDFs of the pages. The Trader Speaks, Baseball Hobby News, Sports Hobbyist, Baseball Advertiser, and many others should have an online home.
As far as reliability goes, I think the accuracy of baseball checklists on tradingcarddb is just as good, if not better, than other platforms. As a matter of fact, the inclusion of pictures makes it better than the phone book-thick publications Beckett and SCD put out each year. As for prices, there's no way to guarantee accuracy- regional variables as too great. I might be able to go to Minnesota and sell Joe Mauer cards all day, but good luck selling them in Boston or New York.
I have to say, I don't consider myself an average collector. I've been collecting from packs since 1973, going to shows since 1978, bought from Topps from 1980-1990, ran auctions and shows, wrote for a few articles for SCD, editied a newsletter for baseball postcard collectors, and had actually started a website similar to tradingcarddb back in 2000 (just couldn't see it through). I have been to a couple of dozen Nationals. And I'm lucky enough to be friends with some of the most knowledgeable collectors in the country. I don't know it all, but I know a lot.
As for a card's worth, whatever makes you happy.
|
|
|
|
Young Kilo
Posts: 118
Joined: Mar 2012
|
Friday, April 11, 2014 10:08 PM | |
Seeing COMC practically beg the public for help was pretty sad. I stopped paying attention to Beckett. They lost there way a long time ago.
|
|
|
|