Tim, Trying to stay on topic here. That's a great card, but with that picture there's no way I'd buy it and I doubt anyone else will. Do yourself a favor and get a great scan of the front and back. Office Depot or Staples should be able to give you a good .JPG for just a few bucks.
"The Sipe market is ridiculous right now" CDsNuts, 1/9/15
<< <i>Tim, Trying to stay on topic here. That's a great card, but with that picture there's no way I'd buy it and I doubt anyone else will. Do yourself a favor and get a great scan of the front and back. Office Depot or Staples should be able to give you a good .JPG for just a few bucks. >>
I just purchased another camera the other day, maybe tonight I will try to put some additional pictures on the auction. Thanks for the input.
You wanted some data and I am going to do my best to provide that. Here it goes.
Let's give a little background first on Beckett. When the company was sold in 2005 to Aprise Media the company was selling 800,000 copies of their magazines per month.
By 2008 that number had fallen to a range of 500,000 to 700,000 and had been on a steady decline for the past seven years.
If you take 2007 revenue of 14.1 million per wikipedia and you compare the revenue from subscriptions of $2.50 per issue and use the low end of the range of magazines 500,000 per month or 6,000,000 per year, you come to 15 million in revenue from magazines in 2007. If revenue was 14.1 million we know that they would have realized a slightly lower average realized sales price per magazine below the $2.50 that a basic subscriber like me paid.
This leaves very little room for revenue from grading, advertisement in the magazine, and online subscribership.
In 2008 the company was put on the auction block once more and sold to a stronger Eli Research run by Greg Lundberg.
Let's now examine the number of cards that are being graded by PSA currently and we can help determine a revenue figure for PSA. In 2011 PSA is averaging close to 450k cards graded per quarter at an average realized price of $8. This translates into annual sales from card grading of 14.4 million and Collectors Universe does approximately 40 million in current annual sales. PSA has a confirmed 85% share of the current submission market which would mean that the total market for graded cards this year will be just under 17 million in total sales for the industry. This leaves Beckett and all othe grading firms to share just under 2.6 million in revenue. If we assume that Beckett represents 80% of the remaining market share they will do 2,080,000 in sales from card grading using the same average realized price per card as PSA.
These numbers would be very consistant with their 14.1 million in revenue and if you check Collectors Universe's revenue from 2007 it is marginaly higher today in total.
What you will find is that the trend of falling magazine sales that in 2008 was already in it 7th year has for certain continued. I was generous in suggesting that Beckett gets 80% of the remaining share of the card grading market.
This is a company that will no doubt have falling sales with their print media division representing the vast majority of their revenue.
Beckett is no longer owned by a collectables company and hence why they began to over grade so many cards once they were sold to true publishing companies.
You can judge for yourself the conclusions but my work tells me that they are in trouble. CLCT has profit margins in the range of 20%. If Beckett has the same and magazine sales fall another 100k they are losing money, 200k they are bleeding ink. The current holding company can absorb that but for how long will they want too?
Good luck either way, I am moving all of my business out of Beckett slabs.
You are getting really emotional about this Beckett vs PSA deal. PSA is obviously #1 in the market. IMO, Beckett is #2. Will Beckett ever be as big as PSA, maybe not, but that does not mean they will not be a viable, profitable company going forward. Fast Food is a great example of this. Subway #1, Wendy's #2, Mcdonalds #3 (This is just an example, I have no idea about who is better than who). All three are profitable, viable companies. You like subway more and I like wendy's more. But both are fine for what they provide. In fact you may even eat at Wendy's once in a while just for a change or they provide an item that subway does not.
I think having Beckett be a viable company serves the Collecting world and is needed.
There is no emotion on my end. You wanted some analysis and I gave you some. These numbers show a real risk to Beckett's business and my job on a daily basis is to manage risk for my clients. If I was recomending investing in a company it would not be Beckett.
I don't think it would be good if they went BK, I am just not willing to risk overnight having slabs devalued which is what would happen if they did so I am not adding any at this point.
I still have some valuable cards in BGS slabs and I don't win if this happens. But I am either selling them or cracking them because I see risk.
<< <i>There is no emotion on my end. You wanted some analysis and I gave you some. These numbers show a real risk to Beckett's business and my job on a daily basis is to manage risk for my clients. If I was recomending investing in a company it would not be Beckett.
I don't think it would be good if they went BK, I am just not willing to risk overnight having slabs devalued which is what would happen if they did so I am not adding any at this point.
I still have some valuable cards in BGS slabs and I don't win if this happens. But I am either selling them or cracking them because I see risk. >>
Risk management or "risky" management? If you're actually in the career position which you state, you should be connected well enough to access current revenue streams for Beckett Media without referencing a near three year old questionable link from Wikipedia. I took a brief moment to link your supposed reference and there was no such information provided. If I was in your position I would think it laughable to recommend any of the major grading companies as potential financial investments. How much growth potential could possibly exist for any of these companies at this stage?
Beckett is a private company and you can not get real time data.
Collectors Universe (CLCT) pays a 9% cash dividend annualy and is actually a great stock. With very little revenue growth the stock most likely is not going to take off but for yield hungry investors it is a strong bet. The market likes heavy cash paying stocks with bond yields at near all time lows and bank deposit yields at almost zero.
In full disclosure I do not nor do any of my clients own the stock.
<< <i>Beckett is a private company and you can not get real time data.
Collectors Universe (CLCT) pays a 9% cash dividend annualy and is actually a great stock. With very little revenue growth the stock most likely is not going to take off but for yield hungry investors it is a strong bet. The market likes heavy cash paying stocks with bond yields at near all time lows and bank deposit yields at almost zero.
In full disclosure I do not nor do any of my clients own the stock. >>
It doesn't matter whether Beckett is private or not. If you do what you say a couple quick phone calls should allow you to gather that information. The dividend was only restored in 2010 and it's certainly not sustainable for this sort of company. Just wait until the commodity bubble bursts and watch that dividend disappear. In full disclosure, I certainly wouldn't trust you with my money.
GAI is the only company that had a real chance in pushing PSA. Many people were using them. They had a good thing going. They got greedy and it became corrupt. Many PSA dealers were grading quite a few cards with them. In the beginning their grading was spot on. In my opinion...beckett is lost and can't spot trimmed cards and generally just overgrades cards. They won't be around long...I don't need many figures to know this.
The grading standards have changed at Beckett. What was once a BGS 9.5 is more likely a BGS 9. Where the BGS 10 grade was almost impossible to get, it is now given out regularly. The solid labels with no subgrades on front are a good way to tell if it's an older graded card. IMO the turning point was the 1981 Topps Joe Montana that went from a 9.5 to 10 and sold for a $50K plus. The floodgates opened.
<< <i>The grading standards have changed at Beckett. What was once a BGS 9.5 is more likely a BGS 9. Where the BGS 10 grade was almost impossible to get, it is now given out regularly. The solid labels with no subgrades on front are a good way to tell if it's an older graded card. IMO the turning point was the 1981 Topps Joe Montana that went from a 9.5 to 10 and sold for a $50K plus. The floodgates opened. >>
According to Beckett 7 out of 1000 cards grades a 10. Just check out Greg maddux rookies psa vs bgs and se the differences. i do think it is easier to get an 8.5 from beckett than psa. 9's and up are a different story.
They have been giving the 10s to the high volume graders since inception. This and bumps have been going on as long as BGS has been grading. I do agree that the standards have changed from time to time, but it isn't a new phenomenon at all. I have graded 1000s of cards at both companies since the inception of both and they both have had ups and downs.
Back to the original topic....I just checked out the new pictures for the ebay listing. Still not great close up pictures, but I can now see a fair picture of the back. Is that a stain at the bottom right corner?
<< <i>Back to the original topic....I just checked out the new pictures for the ebay listing. Still not great close up pictures, but I can now see a fair picture of the back. Is that a stain at the bottom right corner? >>
It is not a stain, but more like a "fleck" of different colored cardboard/paper.. Definitely not a stain, it was made this way by Topps.
Comments
Trying to stay on topic here.
That's a great card, but with that picture there's no way I'd buy it and I doubt anyone else will. Do yourself a favor and get a great scan of the front and back. Office Depot or Staples should be able to give you a good .JPG for just a few bucks.
CDsNuts, 1/9/15
<< <i>Tim,
Trying to stay on topic here.
That's a great card, but with that picture there's no way I'd buy it and I doubt anyone else will. Do yourself a favor and get a great scan of the front and back. Office Depot or Staples should be able to give you a good .JPG for just a few bucks. >>
I just purchased another camera the other day, maybe tonight I will try to put some additional pictures on the auction. Thanks for the input.
Its not hard and we are talking about 1000.00+ your asking for.
Nice card.
WORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!
<< <i>Dont try. Do!!
Its not hard and we are talking about 1000.00+ your asking for.
Nice card.
WORDS!!!!!!!!!!!! >>
My big problem is that I have not used the camera yet or downloaded anything from it to the computer. That's why I said "try"
Nice card
<< <i>Hmm. But youre on here instead.
Nice card >>
I am not at home currently and that is were the camera is.
Not cool dude.
Let's give a little background first on Beckett. When the company was sold in 2005 to Aprise Media the company was selling 800,000 copies of their magazines per month.
By 2008 that number had fallen to a range of 500,000 to 700,000 and had been on a steady decline for the past seven years.
If you take 2007 revenue of 14.1 million per wikipedia and you compare the revenue from subscriptions of $2.50 per issue and use the low end of the range of magazines 500,000 per month or 6,000,000 per year, you come to 15 million in revenue from magazines in 2007. If revenue was 14.1 million we know that they would have realized a slightly lower average realized sales price per magazine below the $2.50 that a basic subscriber like me paid.
This leaves very little room for revenue from grading, advertisement in the magazine, and online subscribership.
In 2008 the company was put on the auction block once more and sold to a stronger Eli Research run by Greg Lundberg.
Let's now examine the number of cards that are being graded by PSA currently and we can help determine a revenue figure for PSA. In 2011 PSA is averaging close to 450k cards graded per quarter at an average realized price of $8. This translates into annual sales from card grading of 14.4 million and Collectors Universe does approximately 40 million in current annual sales. PSA has a confirmed 85% share of the current submission market which would mean that the total market for graded cards this year will be just under 17 million in total sales for the industry. This leaves Beckett and all othe grading firms to share just under 2.6 million in revenue. If we assume that Beckett represents 80% of the remaining market share they will do 2,080,000 in sales from card grading using the same average realized price per card as PSA.
These numbers would be very consistant with their 14.1 million in revenue and if you check Collectors Universe's revenue from 2007 it is marginaly higher today in total.
What you will find is that the trend of falling magazine sales that in 2008 was already in it 7th year has for certain continued. I was generous in suggesting that Beckett gets 80% of the remaining share of the card grading market.
This is a company that will no doubt have falling sales with their print media division representing the vast majority of their revenue.
Beckett is no longer owned by a collectables company and hence why they began to over grade so many cards once they were sold to true publishing companies.
You can judge for yourself the conclusions but my work tells me that they are in trouble. CLCT has profit margins in the range of 20%. If Beckett has the same and magazine sales fall another 100k they are losing money, 200k they are bleeding ink. The current holding company can absorb that but for how long will they want too?
Good luck either way, I am moving all of my business out of Beckett slabs.
Take care.
You are getting really emotional about this Beckett vs PSA deal. PSA is obviously #1 in the market. IMO, Beckett is #2. Will Beckett ever be as big as PSA, maybe not, but that does not mean they will not be a viable, profitable company going forward. Fast Food is a great example of this. Subway #1, Wendy's #2, Mcdonalds #3 (This is just an example, I have no idea about who is better than who). All three are profitable, viable companies. You like subway more and I like wendy's more. But both are fine for what they provide. In fact you may even eat at Wendy's once in a while just for a change or they provide an item that subway does not.
I think having Beckett be a viable company serves the Collecting world and is needed.
I don't think it would be good if they went BK, I am just not willing to risk overnight having slabs devalued which is what would happen if they did so I am not adding any at this point.
I still have some valuable cards in BGS slabs and I don't win if this happens. But I am either selling them or cracking them because I see risk.
<< <i>There is no emotion on my end. You wanted some analysis and I gave you some. These numbers show a real risk to Beckett's business and my job on a daily basis is to manage risk for my clients. If I was recomending investing in a company it would not be Beckett.
I don't think it would be good if they went BK, I am just not willing to risk overnight having slabs devalued which is what would happen if they did so I am not adding any at this point.
I still have some valuable cards in BGS slabs and I don't win if this happens. But I am either selling them or cracking them because I see risk. >>
Risk management or "risky" management? If you're actually in the career position which you state, you should be connected well enough to access current revenue streams for Beckett Media without referencing a near three year old questionable link from Wikipedia. I took a brief moment to link your supposed reference and there was no such information provided. If I was in your position I would think it laughable to recommend any of the major grading companies as potential financial investments. How much growth potential could possibly exist for any of these companies at this stage?
Collectors Universe (CLCT) pays a 9% cash dividend annualy and is actually a great stock. With very little revenue growth the stock most likely is not going to take off but for yield hungry investors it is a strong bet. The market likes heavy cash paying stocks with bond yields at near all time lows and bank deposit yields at almost zero.
In full disclosure I do not nor do any of my clients own the stock.
So I just picked up 100 shares. It's like buying a case of cards right?
"Live everyday, don't throw it away"
<< <i>Beckett is a private company and you can not get real time data.
Collectors Universe (CLCT) pays a 9% cash dividend annualy and is actually a great stock. With very little revenue growth the stock most likely is not going to take off but for yield hungry investors it is a strong bet. The market likes heavy cash paying stocks with bond yields at near all time lows and bank deposit yields at almost zero.
In full disclosure I do not nor do any of my clients own the stock. >>
It doesn't matter whether Beckett is private or not. If you do what you say a couple quick phone calls should allow you to gather that information. The dividend was only restored in 2010 and it's certainly not sustainable for this sort of company. Just wait until the commodity bubble bursts and watch that dividend disappear. In full disclosure, I certainly wouldn't trust you with my money.
<< <i>The grading standards have changed at Beckett. What was once a BGS 9.5 is more likely a BGS 9. Where the BGS 10 grade was almost impossible to get, it is now given out regularly. The solid labels with no subgrades on front are a good way to tell if it's an older graded card. IMO the turning point was the 1981 Topps Joe Montana that went from a 9.5 to 10 and sold for a $50K plus. The floodgates opened. >>
According to Beckett 7 out of 1000 cards grades a 10. Just check out Greg maddux rookies psa vs bgs and se the differences. i do think it is easier to get an 8.5 from beckett than psa. 9's and up are a different story.
<< <i>Back to the original topic....I just checked out the new pictures for the ebay listing. Still not great close up pictures, but I can now see a fair picture of the back. Is that a stain at the bottom right corner? >>
It is not a stain, but more like a "fleck" of different colored cardboard/paper.. Definitely not a stain, it was made this way by Topps.