what do you use to gauge what you'll spend on a graded card?

asphaltman76

just curious what everyone uses for this.....do you actually go by the SMR? do you gauge by past sales on ebay you've tracked? seems so many especially the older vintage cards go for alot more than what SMR reports value at.

HoofHearted

1) SMR;
2) How badly I want/need the card; and
3) My BUDGET!

lawnmowerman

I ususally go by past sales. If its a card I cant judge by the past sales I do what Mike does, "How badly I want/need the card"

matt

digicat

Past sales is usually the way to go.

cravetopps

past sales, of course

pop (as long as you think the pop will be relatively static over time)

smr

condition of card in holder - all PSA 8s are not the same, for example

obviously budget and personally, if I need the card to complete a set

all these in no particular order

Brian48

My budget and how badly I want the card. I never take SMR or investor value into consideration. I've overpaid in so many auctions, it's not funny.

MajorDanby

past sales. i use vintagecardprices.com as well as my own research via ebay and private transactions. i use SMR only for post war cards.

Griffins

past sales via vintagecardpricer.com as well.
SMR is totally off on most of the issues I collect, the only thing that means anything is realized sales, which SMR seems to disregard.
I use the pop as a guideline, but it doesn't tell the entire story. And I factor in how nice the card is for the grade- the bottom line is buy the card, not the holder.

MorrellMan

I love cards. That's why I'm here. I can't tell you how many great looking cards from interesting sets I pass up because I'm not familiar with their value. I offer what I'm willing to pay for a card based on my constant awareness of the current market and my own desire level, coupled with altogether too many decades history of buying and selling a card. The bottom line is that I never want to buy a card for more than I can sell it for.

ctsoxfan

The rarity of it - i.e. how often do I see the chance to purchase this card through an auction house, or Ebay? If it's a rare enough card, throw the SMR and related guides right in the trash.

RonBurgundy

I usually go by a percentage of SMR. If it exceeds that percentage, I stop bidding. For certain cards - low pops, certain HOF's - that goes out the window and I go by a feel of what I'm willing to pay.



Ron

80sJunkie

SMR SUCKS REALLY
I'll go by past sales but if its a low pop and i need it the bidding war is on








75 CASE BREAK THREAD

ToppsCo1lector

Past sales and how much I want it. Still searching for a PSA 8 1959 Topps Sam Huff rookie. Missed out closely on a really nice SGC graded version and probably 4 other PSA 8s. I'm about to settle for a lesser example and then upgrade later.

djspann

I have a spreadsheet of past sales that I try to keep current on all sets that I collect. I consider prices and when the card sold.

Doug