How To Prevent Being Ripped Off On Sports Cards

Buying sports cards is as much about how much you are willing to pay as it is about how much you should be paying. Within the auction format you are generally "cushioned" from overpaying due to the fact that the bidders (or sellers) control the final price of a particular item--a price that rarely overshoots (significantly) the average for that particular card . Often with ebay stores (also found with standard set-ups), the BUY-IT-NOW option allows you to get it before anyone else does--but take heed of the pricing caveats.

Some sellers MAY lead you to believe that a particular card is worth more than it actually is. This can be the case with rare cards that do not normally cycle through the ebay auction listings.

*Card above is shown solely as an example--I do not know the actual value*

Example. You see a rare serialized (#/50) multi-colored patch card of a superstar player, and you become excited at the great find. The book value for this card may be just under $30, however the seller has set the BUY-IT-NOW at $80, with "Best Offer" considerations.

This is a clever buyer trap! By pitching an inflated price to start, consumers will automatically make offers that are within the range that they anticipate the seller will accept. These offers are much higher than the book value itself! So the Buyer sees the listing and immediately offers $60. The seller accepts in a heartbeat. That quick acceptance is a clue that you were ripped off. If the Buyer doesn't realize this, they simply go away with the false satisfaction of having "saved" $20 off the B-I-N.

Unfortunately, the following 4 elements made it easy to rationalize a $80 card value as suggested by the seller:

• Superstar Player
• Serialized (#/50)
• Jersey/Patch (Multicolored or Olympic Team)
• Rare

Granted these kinds of cards ARE generally of higher value than base cards, not ALL of these are going to be high value ones. There are different sets from different brands that also dictate the value of a card.

*To be sure you are paying what you should be and getting a great deal, do your "due diligence" by finding out the price of the card that you are eyeing.*

Through Ebay:

1. Do an "ADVANCED SEARCH" (click the link on any page you see it)
2. Type the name of the card into the search field and check the "Completed listings only" box
3. Click "Enter"

By doing this you will be able to see if there were any items (similar or exact) which were sold on ebay within previous 25 days or so. Adjust your search words due to the fact that different sellers use different title descriptions. If the exact card was sold within the auction history, then compare your potential offer to what is the general going price(s) of that card.

You can also try going to BECKETT.com (front page search field)
The search methods are not very elegant on the Beckett website, but just be sure that you enter:

1. The player's name
2. The card manufacturer (Upper Deck, Fleer, Topps etc)
3. The year (like this: xxxx-xx//2001-02)

Given the name, manufacturer and year, you should get some results which you can filter through--though it is not guaranteed that you'll find the exact card. You may find an identical card (ie. refractor version, chrome version, etc). The results given are from various retail internet card dealers, so you can compare the ebay price to the retail price, and work from there.
 

Have fun, spend appropriately......