Are 50's & 60s graded cards tanking?

RTB

I haven't logged in recently so please excuse if this has been covered. Based on checking eBay recently it seems that late 50s / early 60s card prices have come down a lot except for maybe psa 9s. It looks like a losing proposition considering grading fee (even at $5) , postage/insurance to grade any common or minor star that won't come out an 8. I have a lot of graded cards and more that I could grade, but with more material flooding the market it doesn't seem logical. Any comments?

Reggie

perkdog

Well I can share two minor examples that would leave me to believe that it is a crapshoot with Ebay. I bid and won two seperate vintage card auctions in the past month or so, heres how it went.. I lost out on a '54 Willie Mays PSA 7 the card sold for $630 (give or take a few $$) a week after that I bid on another one and won another '54 Mays PSA 7 for $505 shipped, this week I won a '53 Campy PSA 7 for $211.50, the next day another PSA 7 '53 Campy sold for $331! All cards mentioned above were psa 7 and were very nice examples with not much difference from each other. Just my 2 cents..

RTB

Thanks perkdog, but I should have been more specific. The years that I'm primarily referring to as tanking are 60 61 and 62, the years involved in the grading special. Maybe 59 also, since they are plentifull.

Bosox1976

62's are getting strong prices for key and tough cards in 7 and 8.

Commons & high numbers have tailed off some in 7 & 8.

9's seem about the same to me.

Yankeeefan

I think a lot of the 1960 cards in 8 have sold at decent prices recently also, as it seems like some of the registry sets are upgrading from 7s.
With the supply of 7s outweighing the demand, I'm able to shop for well-centered cards for my registry set and often get the cards for around $5 - $6 (+shipping)

Kurtman9

I recently listed a nicely centered 1961 Topps Chico Cardenas PSA 8 and it ended at $2.75.
I also listed a 1961 Topps Joe Gibbon PSA 8 that ended at $842.00.
You just never know with ebay. Everything is pop-driven.

edited to add: As Mike stated above, 62s are doing very nicely right now, especially low pop 8s.

1960toppsguy

market is way over saturated, especially in PSA-7 for 1960's, the 1950's are pretty much the same with the exception of 52, 53, 54, 58.

Buccaneer

In my experience of selling 500+ graded cards of 1961-1965 in the past couple of years, I would say that it is definitely tanking. However, let me qualify that by being more specific (modifying an earlier post):

1950s PSA 7 = staying steady, maybe a little down
1950s PSA 8 = still going good but bargains can be found (40-50% of SMR)
1960s PSA 7 = dropping like a rock, most can be had for less then grading fee
1960s PSA 8 = going way down as well
1960s PSA 9 = going down, as noted by the huge pop increase in 1963 PSA 9

These apply more to 1961 (which tanked about 2 years ago), 1963-1965. I have no experience with 1962. Usual caveat with stars and low pops. I consider very lucky to have sold 200+ 1963 PSA 7 and 8 commons for 50% SMR (including low pop 8s). The other years, I managed 40% SMR.

SOM

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence on the boards about this, and pretty solid info from reputable collectors.

But, you can check the actual facts at vintagecardprices.com

I subscribe to it, and I love it! (And I have absolutely NO financial interest in that company.)

Nick M

Morgoth

Well most dealers don't want to touch anything past 59 that is not a 9 unless low pop or superstar. Even at that I had offers on some 60's mantles PSA 8s that were 60% of SMR from big dealers. Markirodenko has been listing over the last couple of months an almost complete 59 set on ebay so that year seems saturated as well now. I think the market is correcting itself due to the supply out gaining the demand in these years at the old prices.

gemint

I've managed to build about 80% of the 1961 set without paying SMR for a single card (that's factoring in the shipping fees). However, that last 20% will be much more difficult to get at below SMR. Most of the cards PSA 8's have been going for $10-15 + shipping. SMR is $22.

RTB

To all who responded, thanks. I guess my immediate concern is whether or not it's worth it to grade avg pop star cards (not Mantle) from '60, '61. in both baseball and football if there are no psa 8s, just 6s & 7s? You know, considering grading fees etc. are you better off selling these 6s and 7s raw or graded?
Also, it seems that '61 Fleer Basketball continues to be strong and maybe becoming stronger. Any comments?

Yankeeefan

As far as the 1960 cards go... if they are avg pop commons and look no better than a 7, you will do better selling them raw. If the card has nice eye-appeal, you'll sell it for about the same amount that a common 7 would sell for.
Why spend $5 to grade a card that'll sell for $6, when you can sell it raw for $4+?

relaxed

I had say 200 or so 1963 commons that I had since I was a kid and I would say they were mostly 7's and maybe a few 8's. I had sold a few before with mixed resuts, so I visited a local card shop and he mentioned unless they were 8's I could be disappointed with the results. Well as it turned out I traded around 75 of the commons to him and I got about 25 commons 1955 topps probably PSA6's that I can upgrade my collecton and then sell the others. I'm happy I made that decision.

calleocho

could be a good buying opportunity?

WinPitcher

Some of those 59's that marc sold went for moon money. I have been selling off my 65 set and have had no problems.

Steve

RonBurgundy

"As far as the 1960 cards go... if they are avg pop commons and look no better than a 7, you will do better selling them raw. If the card has nice eye-appeal, you'll sell it for about the same amount that a common 7 would sell for.
Why spend $5 to grade a card that'll sell for $6, when you can sell it raw for $4+?"


I believe this is pretty much spot on. In the past, this was true of just a few years in the 60's, now it seems to be spreading throughout the decade. I think in addition to supply and demand issues, people are coming to the realization that it just does not make sense to spend much money getting 60's commons graded, particularly high pops and low numbered ones. Then again, we'll probably see a rush of people this month on the grading special, but the smart submitters will do minor stars, checklists, teams, low pops, etc. up to $75. Everything else is better off in a card saver I.



Ron

Fletch1750

An interesting example of the 1960's 9 prices falling is the 62 Koufax PSA 9. Madec sold the card in two consecutive auctions, the first copy went for over 60,000 while the next went for around 25,000. Neasrly a 60 % decrease in a few months.

koby

To answer the original question, I have noticed a sharp dropoff in prices on ebay for PSA 7 and PSA 8 level 1960s cards. Almost across the entire decade.