Are teletrade/heritage price guides as bad as CU?

airplanenut

Figure that one must factor in:
a- final value fees that could affect bidding
b- a toned coin commanding a premium of possibly 100s of a %
c- an ugly coin/bad picture/no picture losing bids

With all of that factored together, are the price guides really accurate?

DaveG

I don't have a lot of experience with Teletrade/Heritage, etc., but I find that, for what I collect (mostly higher circulated grades of mid-19th century coins), the Grey Sheet and CoinWorld's Trends give me a good range.

But, to my mind, there's no substitute for going to shows and seeing how the material you want is actually priced in the real world.

Russ

Jeremy,

On Teletrade there's also has a lot of shilling going on, so there's some price inflation built in to that.

I'd say that, like any venue, if the sampling is small, the prices will be inaccurate. But, if the sampling is large enough, it will certainly be closer to reality than the CU price list.

Russ, NCNE

heavycopper

Heritage's price guide seems to be accurate to me. That is the price people (including me) actually pay for a coin. If it doesn't sell or there is a buyback, the price is not listed. Teletrade is interesting because it often shows ICG coins go for the least.

sinin1

Teletrade -> 'has lots of shilling going on" -> yes, seller can bid on their own coin but if they end up high bidder, the sold coin does not end up in the price realized guide, although the buyer pays fees ($100 max)

Teletrade price guide is price realized (not including the 10% buyers premium - and sales tax for the priviledge of living in one of their states (NY, NJ, CA) of coins that sold (not including buybacks)

What it does not take into consideration is returned coins (the coins buyers get but don't like -> return them and Teletrade sells them again)

Teletrade values are decreased because of non-pictures, but are increased because of uniform closing time and big group of bidders at same place at same time.

Coin Universe price guides are values - and don't give the range involved

Teletrade Real Price Guide gives the range and number sold, as well as what company (Pcgs, Anacs, Ngc, Icg)

jom

I've found that the Heritage Auction archives to be a VERY good resource. I find price guides usually a bit high BUT if you know, on average, how much they are off they would be a good resource as well. Personally, I like Coin Worlds Trends best. Also, if you can use the Grey and Blue sheet you can get a good "bottom line" figure.

jom