I bought a Beckett's Price Guide at the store yesterday.Can someone explain this to me..

Question

I was very entertained by reading this,seeing how much Jackie Robinson,Babe Ruth,Roberto Clemente and many other older cards cost.So I decided to look to see how much my Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card may cost,and what it's listed in there.I saw there were 2 columns,the HI and LO columns,but that's what I'm confused about.In the first column it shows $15.00 and $40.00 in the other one.Is this telling me that's what it's really worth?Especially for his rookie card,c'mon! Can someone please explain this to me? Thanks!

Answer 1

The first two responses are correct. Another factor in price is regionalization.  Players cards usually bring a higher price in their local markets. For example, look at Chipper Jones. A great player, no doubt, but if I sell his card in say, Boston, I won't get as good a price as I do in the Atlanta region.  But in general, if you sell a card, estimate that you'll get about one third to half the "HI" value listed in a price guide, if the card is in excellent to mint condition. I use the "HI" value when estimating value for my card catalouge (for insurance purposes).

Answer 2

Basically what it is going by is the sell rate. Prices for that card have commonly been reported at being sold anywhere between $15 and $40. The better condition the card is in, chances are the price value is closer to $40.

Also, Griffey's rookie card is worth less than some players rookies because Griffey was a rookie in an era when cards were mass produced, not taking into thought the idea of supply and demand. For baseball cards, the demand usually stays the same while supply was maxed in the 80's and early 90's thus decreasing value.If Griffey plays a few more years, and approaches 700 HR his card value will go up as demand goes up.

Answer 3

The high price is generally what it's worth but in no instance you get remotely that price if you try to sell. The low price is about what you're supposed to get if you sold it, but it's a buyer's market, so you wouldn't even get that much.

Compare what you see in the Beckett guide to what's on Ebay and you'll see in the majority of cases, even the low price is still higher than what people are paying.