Ninetales: 2600
Mewtwo: 1950
Alakazam: 1950
Fair, or am I way off?
A Mewtwo sold for $3000 recently but I feel that’s a huge outlier to current prices. I’m basing my price off Pierces graphs and assuming no EBay fees.
I don’t understand pokemon pricing when it comes to PWCC.
On one hand PWCC listings are used by sellers to say “this isn’t the fair market value, it’s much higher - this is a PWCC listing, and they suck/saturate the market - real value is much higher”
On the other hand, when there is a high PWCC listing its the opposite, and its an outlier… but the truth is outlier cards have often made an impact on pricing as a whole for a card before - when do we determine if somethings an outlier, or the true demand for the card currently. What if there’s similar prices in the past, etc etc. For example, the Mewtwo sold for 3000+ 4 times or more in the past year
Not trying to come off as anything other than confused. What are the real values, PWCC averages? Median?
I personally would come to a compromise of between the last 2.
If my card just sold for 3100 in an auction, what incentive do I have to sell it for 1950 … the middle point is definitely something i’d look into.
Looking forward to responses
2 Likes
There are many more variables than just last sold price to determine the value of a card. Even the term “value” itself is subjective. People’s stances are also heavily impacted by their position of buyer or seller. This is why you see people cherry picking prices such as with PWCC.
Things what I always look at when viewing sales
-
The seller: Some of the more prolific sellers in this community command a higher premium, just being simply who they are. Eg Pratte selling the last Fan Club Eevee for $2500 when the last one sold for $1200. Also, Cullers selling the last 1st Base Venusaur for 6K and the new record for a Charizard at 40K. This is also a combination of being patient as well since they are in no hurry to sell. With most higher end hobby items, you find some people will pay a premium to buy the seller.
-
The time of year (people generally have less money to spend during the summer)
-
Averages of sale: A single data point does not reflect the price, especially in extreme cases. I try to take an average of at least the last three sales of a card before submitting an offer to a seller.
-
Condition: Not all PSA 10’s are equal. I double check listings on lower sales to see if the card was a “Weak 10”
1 Like
Agreed on all fronts
I think the major factor on the premium to well known sellers is, they put their prices high, and are patient - understanding what they have is rare, and understanding that it won’t be on the market frequently. That brings in the premium, when the right buyer approached.
Which is why I think a high PWCC auction, shows the current value - more people might need it for their set this week, than the last listing. I’m sure if there were a Mewtwo psa 10 listed for 3000 right after the PWCC listing, it would have sold
But it is, what it is - I do believe a high listing should shift the averages of a card higher than previously however minuscule
The mewtwo looks like it was shilled to me. Also, there are a few listed at just above 3k with best offer and I’m almost positive one of those sellers would take 3k immediately.
What can you buy the card for? Answer that question and I’ll tell you what the market price is.
2 Likes
I would buy without hesitation at those prices. You may be able to get the prices in an auction or from a seller needing to sell quickly, but otherwise I would think the offers need to go up at least a little.
If you’re slightly flexible, your offers are very fair. That’s around what I’d be offering too.
You did your homework, so no one can accuse you of lowballing here whether they like your prices or not.
It might be hard finding a Mewtwo for $2k with that recent $3k sale, but that doesn’t mean you should be overpaying for it. I’d wait and see where the price settles.
Never be afraid to overpay for a card. It’s healthy for the hobby.
1 Like
A fair offer is somewhere between what the highest buyer is willing to pay and what the lowest seller is willing to sell at.
But usually - for highly desirable items - you’ll need a more than fair offer to convince someone to part with their item.
Wouldn’t sellers selling for cheaper be good for the market too, helps newer collectors get cards.
… =D
3 Likes
If you’re buying then those are on the low end, particularly for Alakazam and Mewtwo. If you’re selling then those are fair for the current market, but not a penny less. I’ve not seen a recent ninetales sale but $2600-$2800 is a fair price.
One thing to keep in mind is that the auctions almost always sell for lower than a patient BIN seller. Yes I could reasonably sell my Alakazam for $2200 without any trouble but then where do I get another one? By paying $4.5k to the patient seller Mr. Smpratte… or hope that in the next auction I’m not bidding against someone with deeper pockets than mine? It’s not in my interest to sell for bottom barrel prices, so to net a deal you may have to up your offer to make up for that difference.
1 Like
Efour is the last place someone should look for a card.
You’re prying it out of a collection or the end collector. Everyone here knows the prices, the deals and the steals. You should always expect to pay a premium on efour. There’s not a selling section for a reason. I consistently see threads of people coming to efour for the best prices when this place is nothing like Facebook, Instagram, eBay, etc.
I’ve messaged people privately to help explain this, although many still seem to misunderstand. You don’t buy your Corvette from the guys at the Corvette club. You look for the dealer with the best price.
8 Likes
I partially agree, there is a markt for everything I guess.
If the corvette club has the car you want you still go there…
Plus serious collectors also have surpluses and most of them are very trustworthy.
Also for me (Europe) shipping with lower declared value can really help.
1 Like
There are great reasons for both sides. Dealing with collectors is usually seamless and fun. The main point is you shouldn’t hunt for the lowest price on efour. It’s not the place to request a bargain. Every graded card on my wants list has an offer above fair value in my opinion. I cannot find them anywhere else, so I am hopeful to find them on efour as a last resort.
I think what Zack mentioned can be true for higher end items. There are a lot of trades/deals that occur here for lower to mid range cards. For example I negotiate much more on newer cards and/or lower range items.
In general “well below market” isn’t a thing for 1st ed base. No one can consistently flip 1st ed base 10 holos. Even dumping them on ebay will earn a pretty consistent range. Therefore it’s difficult to incentivize people to sell. Which is why you see some buy threads with the same wants for years. It’s not that people here won’t sell, literally no one will at their prices.
5 Likes
My issue is, why are a lot of higher than normal auctions always called out for shilling… I can see the bid history… and I bid like that all of the time. Little increments, trying to see if the highest offer is out of my range, so i can move along. I think calling every listing a shilling - when its only slightly higher than the average is bad for the hobby… creates this very complex situation for finding prices.
Also, someone noted theres plenty of Mewtwos at 3k -I only see 1 listed at 5k. I’m interested in seeing the 3k listing, if someone can point them to my direction
Just a heads up, ‘String Bidding’ or repeated bidding in small increments in an attempt to determine the current highest bid is considered unethical by many auction houses and you may be banned on eBay by larger sellers and auction houses if you attempt this.
PWCC issued a statement earlier this year stating that they will be investigating and possibly banning people that use high numbers of incremental bids.
1 Like
Yes, they took a lot of heat because their consignees were manipulating their own item prices and bidders complained.
This is happening on cards I want to bid on right now, if I message PWCC will they do something about it?