I was curious as to how people come up with prices for variant costume/ wardrobe cards.
I see them all the time on auction sites for really high prices. I know some of them are really unique and interesting variant which of course would be worth a lot more, but curious as to how people come up with these prices.
Do they just pluck them out of the air or is there some sort of way to work it out based on the unique/ rarity of the variant.
I have a few really cool variants myself and have wondered about selling in the past but have no idea how to price.
Any discussion, comments or tips are very welcome and appreciated.

It's really no different than figuring the price on any card...

Popularity of the set
Popularity of the character
Number of cards made (if numbered)
Approximate number of variants that might exist

there might be LOTS of seams

there might be only 10 buttons

only one area has blood stains

etc...

It's all guesswork unless there is recent completed sales to use in the equation, and with variants that have few samples that can be tough.

And on eBay you see a lot of sellers throw out a big price hoping someone just HAS to have that one.

Ed

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Collecting Sketches of the Character Crystal

I think Scifi has hit the nail on the head there.

I'm one of the people that spent a ridiculous amount on a variant card. I would say around 10 times what the normal swatch of it would sell for

I think you have to be really careful when buying costume/wardrobe variants, starting with knowing that it really is a variant.

I have seen the same swatch cards described as yellow and brownish yellow and yellow with brown flecks. Are any variants? If so, which one?

I've seen a damaged swatch with a tear in it described as a variant.

I've seen swatches from multi-color material described as variants because you have more colors on some than others.

I can understand counting buttons and trimming or piping as a variant, but a plain seam or stitching I don't get. It just makes it look ugly.

And solid swatches of a different color on the same card, which one is the most common and which is the rarer variant?

You really have to do your homework because this stuff can go for big money and you can get conned into buying variants that are not so unique, or may not even be a genuine article, if you don't know what to look for.

I'll only pay extra for a variant when there is a pattern to the material that doesn't appear on most swatches. I usually go for the auction format where bidding starts low.

Thanks for the comments.
You do see some people selling 'variants' that don't seem that different really.
I'm talking about things like with a button hole (when there's only like 3 on a shirt or a small logo on a part of the shirt. The cards you can clearly see that are real variants.
Scifi I like the way you explained it. Makes sense. I'll keep that in mind!

What you've got to be very careful of is listings that show a variant and then in the description, says it's a stock photo and you may not get what's pictured. I got stung by this once

The Hiro Wanted poster Prop Card from the Rittenhouse Heroes Archives set featured just a handful cards that actually had pieces of actor Masi Oka's face from the poster and those had a huge premium on them.

On the other hand, I had a really cool bit of Bellatrix LeStrange's face on a Harry Potter Wanted poster, but that sold for pretty much the same price as a regular non-variant version of the card, so I gues it just depends.

One of the most variant-laden versions of a costume card has to be the Dr. Doom Fantastic Four movie costume card that was found in Upper Deck 2008 Marvel Masterpieces II. There are at least 5 totally different kinds of fabrics in them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,

Although the more knowledgable amongst us have pretty much answered your question -

I find that scarcity of the actual card regardless of the variant can play a huge factor in how sellers price the card.

An example I'm familiar with would be Charmed Destiny or Charmed Forever sets that each has a Costume Redemption card and both the actual redeemed costume cards and their redemptions are very rare and can fetch 200-300 per card.

That's 200-300 PER costume card not including the redemption.

I find the over pricing annoying particuarly when you see one seller with 8 radically different variants of one rare card. I pretty much don't both with costume variant because the different in value can be so great - Though I'm venting now haha.

Great question.