Beckett Graded Card Investor is dead

ndleo

I just got my new issue of Beckett Graded Card Investor. However instead of graded card prices, Beckett just informed me that they killed the price guide and sent me the "very popular" Beckett Sports Card Monthly to replace it. I think I will be calling to get a refund.

Something is happening over a Beckett. I wonder if all the debt they took on during buyout is starting to haunt them.

WalterSobchak

That's too bad. I really liked that magazine! I haven't bought a copy in a while, but I use my most recent copy a lot.

SOM

Graded Card Investor goes under, and SMR rolls on?

How can this be???

MeteoriteGuy

<< <i>Graded Card Investor goes under, and SMR rolls on?

How can this be??? >>




It means the market can not support a monthy graded card magazine.

They should try an every six months issue...it is pretty much good a couple months anyway.

Boopotts

<< <i>Graded Card Investor goes under, and SMR rolls on?

How can this be??? >>



The fact that the SMR is free has a lot to do with that.

Eventually we end up with one or, at best, two TPG's. You can't have multiple firms operating in a business that offer the exact same service-- sooner or later the weak sisters get weeded out. And for all the huffing and puffing that we see on these boards (and, in fairness. on othes) the service rendered by PSA and BGS is identical, or so close to being identical that the differences are negligible.

It will be interesting to see the graded card landscape in 2015.

MeteoriteGuy

<< <i>

<< <i>Graded Card Investor goes under, and SMR rolls on?

How can this be??? >>



The fact that the SMR is free has a lot to do with that.

Eventually we end up with one or, at best, two TPG's. You can't have multiple firms operating in a business that offer the exact same service-- sooner or later the weak sisters get weeded out. And for all the huffing and puffing that we see on these boards (and, in fairness. on othes) the service rendered by PSA and BGS is identical, or so close to being identical that the differences are negligible.

It will be interesting to see the graded card landscape in 2015. >>




You need to slow down your monthly reasonable post counts...or find another board Guy.


Imagine if in ten years we only have two big card graders...and neither is PSA or SGC. The future...or fate...can be funny.

VitoCo1972

GCI was a really good mag. I will miss it.

SOM

<< <i>GCI was a really good mag. >>


Precisely my point.

I thought that magazine did a terrific job keeping up with TPG pricing, much better than did SMR.



<< <i>The fact that the SMR is free has a lot to do with that. >>


This proves that we get what we pay for.

italianstallionyankees

What ashame this was my favorite magazine. I still have my copy that I obtained at the 2008 Nationals I have every population report from baseball 1951 Topps to 1999 of the cards that it listed written on the side with psa and bgs in pencil and pen. This is one of three copies I have. Surely they will continue this magazine but just not at the monthly issue. It gives great information regarding certain low pops of vintage, and pricing is quite accurate.

Ryan

Blacklabelsociety

they used to sell graded card invester at my local walmart. never seen smr on the newstand.

RonBurgundy

They are local to me, and they have no clue how to run a business. Honestly I'd like to buy them. Me and several members of this board could run that thing 10 times better than it is currently. Maybe I should give them a call.

hookem

That really sucks. I like the magazine and was reading it last night. I was also mad when they got rid of the the Beckett Elite magazine. That was great for getting collectors in my age group (36) into vintage material.

TedSimmonsFan

I just called Beckett to request a refund b/c as was mentioned before they substituted Sports Card Monthly, after trying to convince me that it is a good thing and that I would get 36 issues and me telling them I thought BCM was junk and then them trying to have me switch over to Beckett Baseball which I subscribed to in the past, they finally said I can expect my refund of the remaining issues in 60-90 days. I am finally convinced that the only useful thing about beckett is their show calandar.

vladguerrero

<< <i>They are local to me, and they have no clue how to run a business. Honestly I'd like to buy them. Me and several members of this board could run that thing 10 times better than it is currently. Maybe I should give them a call. >>



they have corporate puppet masters pulling a lot of strings (their parent company), who made a lot of bad changes (ie website), their decline isn't all due to in house decisions...

Boopotts

<< <i>I just called Beckett to request a refund b/c as was mentioned before they substituted Sports Card Monthly, after trying to convince me that it is a good thing and that I would get 36 issues and me telling them I thought BCM was junk and then them trying to have me switch over to Beckett Baseball which I subscribed to in the past, they finally said I can expect my refund of the remaining issues in 60-90 days. I am finally convinced that the only useful thing about beckett is their show calandar.

>>



Unless you're selling Strasburg cards, in which case there are two useful services that Beckett performs.

Nugen

Perhaps this opens the door for VCP to publish a magazine. Their research of "true prices" far exceeds the data that Beckett uses for vintage cards. I had always wondered why they never published but now with only SMR in the game I think there might be a demand.

cardbender

<< <i>Perhaps this opens the door for VCP to publish a magazine. Their research of "true prices" far exceeds the data that Beckett uses for vintage cards. I had always wondered why they never published but now with only SMR in the game I think there might be a demand. >>



I was thinking the same thing. VCP could expand and publish a monthly guide of 'realized prices'. It would be a monthly magazine that would cost less than their online subscription version, but the prices would lag behind about a month due to printing and distribution time lines. Some issues would not be covered in the magazine version, to keep it from looking like a phone book.

Also they might be able to publish prices from all sources of sales including ebay 30 day store listings, which currently they don't capture.

mtcards

Too bad, the graded card price guide was the only guide that published realistic prices for the cards. The others they had just catered to the people who wanted to think theyre cards are worth something. I mean honestly, I think the last Beckett I had listed 1988 Donruss for $10 a set? Plus Beckett has repeatedly said they dont use ebay sales as part of their pricing which really inflates the prices.

twiley

<< <i>Beckett Graded Card Investor is dead >>



Musta been from all the subscription cancellations after seeing that Strasburg bowman super refractor 9.5 they gave out

vladguerrero

<< <i>Plus Beckett has repeatedly said they dont use ebay sales as part of their pricing which really inflates the prices. >>



Where did you get that from, it's not true

ElToroLoco

I'm positive eBay uses eBay prices, unlike the rest of us that don't have a subscription to on-line price guides, they don't base the prices entirely on eBay sales.

Griffins

Printing and postage will kill most magazines in time. One of these guys needs to figure out that the best way to be viable and profitable is to produce a magazine as an ipad subscription. It could be much accurate as the deadlines are closer to publication, and productions costs would be a fraction of what they are now. Several of my clients are already doing that on catalogs, it's amazing that hobby publications are so far behind.

PistolPete7

The graded card market is still a very small portion of the overall card collecting market. It is not hard to see why the Beckett's offering did not hold up in the market place, especially with the down economy.

SMR on the other hand seems to be a relatively low maintenance product as the prices rarely change. Joe writes 4 or 5 paragraphs a month and a couple of articles which talks about registry sets or dealers who are sponsors/PSA dealers and it is done.

Sabrgeek

Pistol has hit the target with his post.

Regards
Rich

ndleo

I have a feeling that Beckett will eventually move all of the publications to an on-line format, except for the general 4-sport Beckett and the Baseball Beckett.

I think these publishers are just shooting themselves in the foot with an on-line only model. First the portability of a magazine is very useful in our hobby, especially if you go to shows or stores. Second, why should I pay the "retail" price for an on-line subscription when the cost to produce it is a fraction of a magazine and I have to buy a $800 IPAD to make it worthwhile?

Anyways I plan to call Beckett this week to cancel.

mtcards

<< <i>

<< <i>Plus Beckett has repeatedly said they dont use ebay sales as part of their pricing which really inflates the prices. >>



Where did you get that from, it's not true >>




Back when i used to buy the Beckett baseball Monthly, there was an article regarding where Beckett gets their prices from (For raw cards mind you, not the graded). They, ie beckett, said that one of the most common letters they received was on how cards would routinely sell on ebay for considerably less than the LO column in the price guide, to which the current editor, at the time, responded along the lines of "We do not consider card prices from online sales such as ebay because the prices they sell for are "wholesale" prices and do not reflect the true selling prices of cards"

Granted, this was 2-3 years ago, but at the time it WAS absolutley true. Beckett did NOT use ebay sales for pricing of their cards. And honestly, if you look at the sell prices of many of the cards on ebay now and look at the prices in Beckett, I believe it to still be true

vladguerrero

they've been using ebay to gauge many aspects of the hobby and card price fluctuation for a decade, even recording ebay sales figures for any notable card, if you are asking why don't they drop John Smoltz RC's to $0.01 "because I saw one sell for that on Ebay" the editors question answers that and that's what the answer was for. the editors reply was in regards to high and low book, not disregarding the largest market indicator as a useful tool. i would bet there hasn't been a issue from any sport that beckett hasn't mentioned ebay in the past 2-3 years.

mtcards

Agreed, Beckett will use ebay sales of notable cards and notate those sales. I was not trying to infer that Beckett ignored ebay on sales, just on the pricing of the individual cards. I think everyone can agree that it is few and far between when you sell a raw card, especially modern on ebay, for anything close to HI book and usually it is below low book.

However, in the article where I paraphrased the editor's response, they went on in further detail to say that their card pricing is based entirely on completed transactions from card shows, publications sell prices and transactions reported by their regional correspondents and larger dealers and that individual pricing of cards are not influenced by online sales such as ebay because they were considered "wholesale" or "close-out" prices. I admit in the past three years since that article was written, the percentage of card sales online compared to shows has probably increased and that may have changed how they determine "book" price now , I dont know and I am not suggesting it hasnt been changed. I am just saying that on sales of John Smoltz RC's as you say, back in 2007, they did not take into account sales on ebay.


Edited to add: The only beckett I have is a March 2010 football Beckett. For kicks and giggles, I checked out the 1990 Pro Set Emmitt Smith RC (BV $2.00-$5.00) and found that of the last 20 completed raw sales of this card on ebay, the average price was $1.70, with most sales falling in the $1.25-$1.50 range. The average is high because of three cards with a combined sale price of $12.00. Still with most of the sales being in the $1.50 range or less, it would seem to dictate a lower LO column price. I honestly think Beckett artificially inflates their prices to an extent, it is advantageous to do so from a business standpoint for many reasons, but I would be willing to bet that just about any regularly traded card would have the same ratio of sales to LO column pricing.

hookem

<< <i>Edited to add: The only beckett I have is a March 2010 football Beckett. For kicks and giggles, I checked out the 1990 Pro Set Emmitt Smith RC (BV $2.00-$5.00) and found that of the last 20 completed raw sales of this card on ebay, the average price was $1.70, with most sales falling in the $1.25-$1.50 range. The average is high because of three cards with a combined sale price of $12.00. Still with most of the sales being in the $1.50 range or less, it would seem to dictate a lower LO column price. I honestly think Beckett artificially inflates their prices to an extent, it is advantageous to do so from a business standpoint for many reasons, but I would be willing to bet that just about any regularly traded card would have the same ratio of sales to LO column pricing. >>



Another thing to keep in mind is the shipping cost associated with those sales. I would guess that most of those $1.25-$1.50 auctions had a buck or two in shipping along with the auction price which would put them right in the middle of the price guide range.

That said, I agree that you the price guide is most times very inflated to realized sales. In fact I generally will bid up to 50% of what an item "books" for and it is surprising the number of items that I still win.

slantycouch

<< <i>

They should try an every six months issue...it is pretty much good a couple months anyway. >>



I agree, and think this makes the most sense. Monthly was overkill.

BobbyVCP

If there is someone here that wants to take this on we are more then willing to discuss options and provide the data.

SDSportsFan

I got my copy of SCM yesterday, and immediately fired off an email to Beckett, cancelling my subscription. I have absolutely no use for the magazine, as I do not collect new cards, and don't collect anything other than baseball and football.

Steve

dzolot

i'm a fan of GCI. thought the pricing was decent (although the articles weren't usually particularly good) and am sorry to see it go. i would imagine that beckett will still provided graded pricing on their website.

ndleo

<< <i>

<< <i>

They should try an every six months issue...it is pretty much good a couple months anyway. >>



I agree, and think this makes the most sense. Monthly was overkill. >>



It was actually printed every two months, which may have been overkill. I think it started out as a quarterly magazine, which made sense, then they got greedy and went for bi-monthly.

GCI did a much better job covering the graded market compared to SMR or the previous Beckett attempt at a graded card price guide.

Like I said before, something is wrong at Beckett if they kill off a quality publication like GCI.

hookem

So are we sure the magazine is finished? I got this email from Beckett today with my recent sub:

Thank you for submitting your cards to Beckett Grading Services. We are
sending this email to inform you that your order was received. If there
are discrepancies with your submission, we will contact you. Thank you
again for choosing Beckett Grading Services.


Sincerely,

The staff of Beckett Grading Services


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ndleo

Just cancelled my subscription. The customer service rep told me that they plan to add graded card info in the new Beckett Monthly. I'm going to wait and see how this turns out.