I was curious how the prices were derived at in the Magazine? (Yes, I read the pricing paragraph in the front). The reason I am asking, is I find many examples where the prices are not very close to the current market.

For example: Under Fleer/skybox Hunchback of Notre Dame cards it lists that an unopened box is $30.00. Yet, on Ebay for quite sometime you can see boxes going unsold for $5.00, and currently there are CASES being sold for under $10.00 At this prices, the chase cards ...etc are way over stated.

Also many base sets commonly show at $10.00 to $15.00 in the magazine. These regulary go for just a few bucks.

I understand they may have retailed for more, but shouldn't the prices show current market value?

Just wondering.....

Reread the pricing paragraph in the front of the Price Guide section, specifically the Dumped Productparagraph.

That will explain part of your queston.

As for the base sets, I will let NSU answer that one!

If you ever want to let NSU know pricing information, there is a web page where you can do that. It is here:

Price Guide Correction Form

Mike.

quote:

Originally posted by miket999:
Reread the pricing paragraph in the front of the Price Guide section, specifically the Dumped Productparagraph.

That will explain part of your queston.

As for the base sets, I will let NSU answer that one!

If you ever want to let NSU know pricing information, there is a web page where you can do that. It is here:

Price Guide Correction Form

Mike.

Thanks for the info! I wasn't nitpicking, just curios.

There are various things in the price guide that in my opinion are nowhere near the correct price however i am in the same position as everyone else in that if you think it is so then fill in the form and tell NSU.

If you are like me and often say well thats not right but then do nothing about it then it will never change.

So for me and everyone else that thinks there are errors in pricing but does not send in corrections have one of these on the house.

Thats better, now then, Dear Bill

I have a slew of pricing change suggestions still waiting in my inbox. I will review all of them before the deadline for the next issue.

Some series grow stale so our primary focus is on what people are buying today. We are always open to corrections but you need to supply specifics. Assume that what you see in the guide is what we currently know about the series.

If you tell us that something is missing, for example, but you aren't specific as to what is missing then it will stay missing for some time. We will just know it is missing opposed to not knowing it was missing until the detail can be obtained.

So, I'll give you all until tomorrow to fill my inbox with corrections if you want them reflected in the next issue.

Please forgive me if I am out of order, but it seems to me that the update to the pricing is a touch ad hoc.

There seems to be no organised way of checking prices in a regular manner.

I have been a regular on this board for some time now, and I must admit that everyone is most friendly and that the board gives you a sense of belonging! Belonging to the "NON SPORT COMMUNITY"

I collect amongst other things Star Wars and LOTR. Now it would be no hassle for me to check the prices of say AOTC autos for a month on a certain auction site, then report the results back to Bill. If a number of members were willing to take part, we could update many of the prices say at least twice a year. This is just an idea, and an area for discussion.

If this sound really stupid then please say.

I just feel that the members of the board could input a lot more in an organised way.

quote:

If a number of members were willing to take part, we could update many of the prices say at least twice a year. This is just an idea, and an area for discussion.

I think that it's a good idea. If you go to a show or buy a card or know someone who has and the prices are way out whack with the guide then the guide should probably be updated. Prices can be obtained off the Net but one has to be careful. Is the price an aberation? If it is off an auction site, are the two highest bidders on a different planet in relation to all other bidders? In those cases, the third-highest bid is usually grouped around the 4th, 5th etc. and seems to be what a more rational person is willing to pay. Not always but....

quote:

Prices can be obtained off the Net but one has to be careful. Is the price an aberation? If it is off an auction site, are the two highest bidders on a different planet in relation to all other bidders? In those cases, the third-highest bid is usually grouped around the 4th, 5th etc. and seems to be what a more rational person is willing to pay. Not always but....

Indeed one does, but the way around such abberations is to average the price over a month or two - over time, the price should stabilise and the average should (in theory) be a vaguely accurate reflection of what collectors are prepared to pay!
Just a thought - I'm happy to help out on the checking...
Au Res.,
Paul

I really must start sending in price corrections, this way the guide would be loads better.

quote:

Originally posted by Quaint1:
Indeed one does, but the way around such abberations is to average the price over a month or two - over time, the price should stabilise and the average should (in theory) be a vaguely accurate reflection of what collectors are prepared to pay!

Our defunct competitors used to publish a price range (high/low). In theory an average price is meaningless without knowing something about its standard deviation. i,e. what is the actual range of prices that constitute the mean? For example, Assume you are a school counselor and you are counseling two students who consistently receive final grades of 50 (out of 100), obviously a failing grade. If you looked at the kids' individual tests and one is consistently scoring 40 to 60 points and the other is always scoring either 100 or 0 would you have two different situations to address or would you treat both kids the same?

With higher priced cards, the sample size of realized prices isn't large enough (..and NSU frankly doesn't pay me enough - no one could) to do a thorough statistical analysis on all such cards. As such, I do use my better judgment in eliminating absurdly low and high prices to keep a tight standard deviation around our averages, whenever possible. I don't eliminate high or low prices just because they exist but if those swings are plus or minus 50% or 100% of a major clustering of prices at any given point in time then they may get eliminated before the average is calculated.

Two gripes that I always hear from dealers about our pricing is that collectors don't want to pay the catalogued price and that our prices are too low. Dealers are invited to submit their selling prices but most don't. I understand why. If they had a card priced at $60.00 and sold it for $50.00 and $50.00 were reflected in the guide then there are too many instances where people will walk away from the next $60.00 card thinking it is overpriced, which is isn't if the dealer is discounting.

If you see a price in print, it's frozen in time. That's a fact. Since we don't print "retail" prices but actual selling prices you might be very lucky to find a card still selling at our published price when you hit a show weeks or months after that price is published! When you use the guide you need to extrapolate the prices to the current market. You need to decide for yourself as to which direction a card is heading at the time of purchase.

I better get back to finishing up the pricing for the next issue. As an FYI I only received one email suggesting changes to the guide yesterday.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill DeFranzo:
When you use the guide you need to extrapolate .

What in public!!!!!!

I have decided to help Bill and report wholesale prices back to him. I am going to review all star wars autos for Feb and Mar,and see how it goes.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfman-golf:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill DeFranzo:
When you use the guide you need to extrapolate .

What in public!!!!!!

once again I had to check my dictionary

I use the price guide as a checklist mainly. The prices go and up and down depending on so many factors, that almost any price guide on trading cards is worthless.

quote:

Originally posted by spidergoblin:

quote:

Originally posted by wolfman-golf:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill DeFranzo:
When you use the guide you need to extrapolate .

What in public!!!!!!

once again I had to check my dictionary

quote:

Originally posted by spidergoblin:

quote:

Originally posted by wolfman-golf:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill DeFranzo:
When you use the guide you need to extrapolate .

What in public!!!!!!

once again I had to check my dictionary

Which word did you have to look up in the dictionary? Extrapolate or public?

quote:

Originally posted by kingraider32:
I use the price guide as a checklist mainly. The prices go and up and down depending on so many factors, that almost any price guide on trading cards is worthless.

Are you saying that the Non sport update is worthless? I agree that prices fluctuate, but to say the update is worthless is a step too far. The magazine is a guide, and makes no excuse for it. New people in the hobby need a price guide!

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but on this occasion, in my opinion I think you are wrong with your opinion!!!

Yeah, what he said! I think your opinion is wrong, too but hey, we all have a right to our own opinions!

[/QUOTE] Are you saying that the Non sport update is worthless? [/QUOTE]

He's not bashing NSU! He's stating an opinion! As long as he pays for the NSU, I for one, don't care what he thinks about it. It's not just a price guide. It has many interesting articles and a lot of pretty pictures.

to the Harrises, the writers and everbody else that helps deliver my NSU! But I'm not real fond of that mail snail that delivers it!

quote:

Originally posted by steve j:

Are you saying that the Non sport update is worthless? I agree that prices fluctuate, but to say the update is worthless is a step too far. The magazine is a guide, and makes no excuse for it. New people in the hobby need a price guide!

I rarely use the price guide myself except as a checklist... sometimes to put a max on certain rarer cards I'm looking at and don't know much about.

For me the best thing about NSU are the articles on old/new/current releases or card related topics.

Worth it just for that!