When do you consider a card to be "low pop"?

Goodsport40

I was browsing listings on Ebay and it made me wonder about about something.

Many cards are listed as low pop: 1 of 37, 1 of 40, 1 of 35 etc. I'm not saying that sellers should not use this to describe cards.

I realize that "low pop" is a relative term. But, where do you guys draw the line?

For example, I don't consider a mid to late 1960's card a "low pop" in PSA 8 if there are 34 other 8's out there.

Do I have it wrong? Please let the opinions fly!


Robert

jimq112

pm sent

lawnmowerman

Low pop for me is under 10

TheVon

No easy answer for this, but you have to compare the cards graded with the amount of collectors pursuing that card so it would change from set to set. In the set that I mainly collect, the 75 minis, a pop of 35 is definitely not low pop. For PSA 8 I'd say a low pop was 10-12 or less.

Allen

It is relative to the set and the set pop.

julen23

low pop is directly related to how bad the seller wants to get rid of his -ish...

i think "high pop" should b employed as an anti-selling tool.

j

JVette

It is definitely related to the popularity of the set and how many people are chasing the same card. For example the Topps 1965 baseball set is very popular. The #22 card, Charlie Smith is very difficult to find centered correctly. The population report shows that there are now 30 of these cards graded PSA 8 NQ (increased quite a bit in the past few months). The SMR of the card is $16, but the last one sold on eBay sold for $302.

For the 1965 Topps baseball set, you will have to pay a premium over SMR for PSA 8's with pops under 50. Multiple times over SMR for pops under 40.

FWIW - Jack

Wondo

Lo pop means there are more buyers for that card than cards graded at that level - the price is contuining to rise (IMHO)

I have many 1 of 1 cards, but the only thing rarer than a high grade Milk Duds box is a high grade Milk Duds box collector!

WinPitcher

Jack my card 22 psa 8 sold for 605.00 3 or 4 weeks ago.

I think Allen hit it on the head.

IMO if 70 people are building a set and 35 cards exist of a particular player then that card is a low pop.

Also, some cards get cracked out and the pop gets skewed.


I will always take with a grain of salt any sellers claim that a card is low pop.

I will go and look myself.


Steve

Stone193

Low pop is greater than or equal to one and less than or equal to 7.

That's about as arbitrary as anything. Today's low pop is tomorrow's - "crap I wished I hadn't spent 2200 bucks on a common!"


mike

baseballfanatic

Low pop to me doesnt mean a whole lot unless a ton of cards have been graded.

A 1 of 3 with 9 cards graded isnt a big deal (unless we are talking Kalamazoo Bats)

celesterussell

if you are on this bord, you a probably a serious collector.

You know what cards are tough in high grade.

we can all name probably 10-15 from each year right off the top of our heads.