card slang terms

MrNearMint

As I read many of the posts I still don't understand some of the card terminology. What do these terms mean; Flip, Poppage, VCP?

It'd be cool to add a "sportscard/graded card terminology" section to the forum!

Foo3112

Flip is when you purchase a card for a certain amount and then you immediately turn around and sell it for more. Same term as used for when people fix up a house and then sell it for more.

Poppage is when your grades come back. You submit cards to PSA and then anywhere from a few weeks to about 45-55 days, they finally "pop" with the grade results.

VCP - Vintage Card Prices - VCP.com - this site lets you know the latest selling prices on all cards from ebay to auction houses. Very useful tool mostly for dealers so they can know the "current average" of the card(s)

Ironmanfan

i'm sure someone will later explain the definition of the phrase "safety bid"

IMF

hhmag70

The "flip" you see mentioned here very often is the red outlined PSA label present in the slab (plastic case holding the card).

MrNearMint

Thanks foo, I'm learning stuff already. I had an idea about flip and poppage, but somebody mentioned "red flip" which threw me off. VCP.com sounds like a great idea and something that I will surely use from now on. I've been using ebay completed to check for average prices but doesn't always work.

Maurice

This may help.

http://www.psacard.com/lingo.chtml?letter=0

Foo3112

I as well use ebay completed listings - with VCP, you'll need a subscription. Lots of the board members have one. I do not because I don't really go through a lot of cards. My collection is quite small but growing because I am picky as far as condition goes. Not all grades are equal and many will tell you to "buy the card, not the holder" which is a term often used around here. From time to time, you'll see that maybe someone needs a price from VCP and they'll post a thread asking someone for help to give them that info and many guys here are happy to help fellow board members, but if your going to be asking for prices more often than not, you might as well just pay and call it a day. VCP is really useful for those hard to come by cards that usually aren't sold on ebay but on auctions blocks outside of ebay.

You'll start picking up things around here and if your not sure, just ask someone like I still do from time to time. Good luck and I look forward to your threads/post.

Marc

Maurice

"flip" is also a slang term for the printed label in the graded card holder.

PSA/DNA is the autograph division and they use red and blue labels. These are commonly referred to as "red flip" and "blue flip". With red flips, the grade assigned is based on the condition of the card. With blue flips, the grade assigned is based on the quality of the autograph.