How do you accurately price out a raw vintage set?

akuracy503 · April 23, 2010 3:28AM

Scenario is you are looking to buy based on sellers description, i.e. %50 EX-MT %50 VG-EX.

Without sifting through each individual card and onsey twosey calculating the approximate value how do you price out a complete raw vintage set?

I'm too lazy to audit the set according to scans, I just want to buy the dang thing and not overpay.

Calculate based off Beckett set value? Reference VCP? Or just ask others who have built the particular set in question.

leadoff4 · April 23, 2010 3:34AM

First off it'll matter which cards are Ex-Mt and which are Vg-Ex. Are the stars Ex-Mt or the commons? Is it a mix? Lots of other info. to be known.

akuracy503 · April 23, 2010 3:52AM

The top 5 cards in the set are slabbed EX, the rest is raw and split up %50 ex %50 vg-ex

Conceptually how do you price it out?

corvette1340 · April 23, 2010 4:18AM

<< <i>The top 5 cards in the set are slabbed EX, the rest is raw and split up %50 ex %50 vg-ex

Conceptually how do you price it out? >>

price it out based on the low end and you should be ok depending on the seller's rep and appropriate scans, etc....

akuracy503 · April 23, 2010 5:20AM

Price it out based on the low end of the "set price" Beckett states?
I guess what i'm asking is what source do I use for the price being it's a raw set for the most part.

KbKards · April 23, 2010 6:08AM

Laziness to look at scans got you in trouble on the Ford. I don't know what set you're looking at but what cards happen to be in the 50% EMXT portion and the 50% VGEX portion mean a huge swing in price. Look at all the scans and then ask for more. The more you look and the more you calculate the less dissapointed you'll be when you get the set, or avoid getting it all together. After the Ford you should have learned to be a bit less reckless in buying.

akuracy503 · April 23, 2010 6:33AM

<< <i>Laziness to look at scans got you in trouble on the Ford. I don't know what set you're looking at but what cards happen to be in the 50% EMXT portion and the 50% VGEX portion mean a huge swing in price. Look at all the scans and then ask for more. The more you look and the more you calculate the less dissapointed you'll be when you get the set, or avoid getting it all together. After the Ford you should have learned to be a bit less reckless in buying. >>

Dad?

tunahead08 · April 23, 2010 6:34AM

<< <i>Laziness to look at scans got you in trouble on the Ford. I don't know what set you're looking at but what cards happen to be in the 50% EMXT portion and the 50% VGEX portion mean a huge swing in price. Look at all the scans and then ask for more. The more you look and the more you calculate the less dissapointed you'll be when you get the set, or avoid getting it all together. After the Ford you should have learned to be a bit less reckless in buying. >>

I wish I was half as special as KbKards thinks he is...

akuracy503 · April 23, 2010 6:38AM

In all seriousness I get what you're saying, the oversight on the PSA Ford was my fault (i'll have an update when Joe Orlando gets the card in hand).

I'm not recklessly buying by any means, but am new to buying lots or sets thus i'm asking those who are more experienced.

I can do the math just need to know what most use for price referencing raw cards, Beckett?

RonBurgundy · April 23, 2010 7:15AM

Calculate the entire break value of the set by adding up the individual cards in Beckett. Then figure out what percentage you're willing to pay based on condition. Then go lower than that.

KbKards · April 23, 2010 8:09AM

"Without sifting through each individual card and onsey twosey calculating the approximate value how do you price out a complete raw vintage set? "I'm too lazy to audit the set according to scans, I just want to buy the dang thing and not overpay."

It is reckless buying if you're wanting to put so little effort into evaluating the condition and value. It doesn't matter what guide is used if you can't be bothered with looking at the cards. While you may be new to buying sets the people who are selling them to you aren't new at selling them. Start by looking at, grading, and coming up with a value for the most expensive cards and work your way down. As you near the remaining large group of commons they will range from being free to having to pay too much money for them.

Bosox1976 · April 23, 2010 8:18AM

Lazy Man Method:

NM Set = 80% of book NM set
Ex/Mt = 40% of NM Book
Ex = 30%
Vg/Ex = 15%
Vg = 10%

The advice Tommy gave to value it all at Vg/Ex is good.

storm888 · April 23, 2010 8:26AM

"...Then figure out what percentage you're willing to pay based on condition. Then go lower than that. ..."

////////////////////////////////

MUCH lower.

But, I kinda like the idea of pricing it ALL at the low end of VG/EX.

Indy78 · April 23, 2010 9:19AM

One other way to consider pricing the set is to pick out the top 5 or 10 highest priced cards, and price those individually based on a look at the scans for each to judge condition and then do a search of recent eBay sales for those cards. For the rest of the set, do a search on recent sales of lots of the same year as the set and of a similar condition, and divide the total price (including shipping) for the lots to get a feel for the average price per card. Then just multiply that average card price by the number of cards remaining in the set. Using 1975 topps baseball with cards averaging Ex-Mt as an example:

Brett $30
Yount $20
Aaron $15
Ryan $25
Rice $15
Aaron highlights $10
Lynn $8

For a total of $125.

For the remaining cards (which would include many stars), the average card price (factoring in the shipping cost) when buying lots in Ex-Mt is about $0.20 per card. Multiply that by 653 (the no. of remaining cards in the set) to get about $130. Add $125 for the individual stars to get a rough total of about $255.

I do it this way to ballpark a set price, because this is how I would try to sell it.

How do you accurately price out a raw vintage set?

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