Wednesday, February 25, 2009

How Card Companies Ruined the Market


If you pulled a Babe Ruth bat or jersey card 5-10 years ago you would have gotten about $300 for it. Now you are lucky when you get $150-175.
The reason is that Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss have flooded the market with jersey, bat and autograph cards.
There was a time when you would get a plain insert card and be very happy with it especially if it was numbered. Now no one wants a numbered card because they are a dime a dozen.
The card companies are charging $200-250 for a box of really special cards and giving you no more than 1-2 packs of maybe 5-10 cards at most. The Beckett book price for the best card can be no more than $30! Something is wrong with this picture especially in a bad economy. It makes it harder for dealers to sell the single cards and make a profit. Most people buy a box of cards today and are lucky if they break even.
Wouldn't it be better to have less jersey, bat and autograph cards and more regular inserts with things like stats and information about the players so that the fans could really be fans rather than being led by the nose by the cards companies to financial ruin?
Its time to make card collecting fun again and not all about money and at the same time make it profitable for both the fan and the seller. The only ones making money should not be Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss.

2 comments:

  1. .... As Beckett would say (every little) bang for your buck. I agree total about making the Baseball card collecting market fun again. Forget about the reseller and the secondary market; Topps, Donruss, and Upper Deck can I, as card collector at least give my more quality. You don't have to guarantee 1 game used jersey card, a piece of a bat, patch card or autograph card per pack or per box. All that means is justification on behave of the card company to drive the price up. The jersey card that I am bond to get will be a utility infielder, middle reliever or the fourth outfielder for MLB team. Your so called promise of a Jersey card or any type of insert is not increase my chances of a Jeter, Pujols, or Mantle insert.

    Card companies to mislead me. You can make fewer products for all I care. I only ask that if you want to charge $250 for a box give EVERYONE that buys a $250 box, $250 worth of cards, Not only few the customer fortunate to pull a Ty Cobb or Cal Ripken Patch Card.

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  2. Since the cost to the card company is the same if its Pujols or Mark DeRosa when its making the product on things like the regular inserts (not including jerseys and autos) then they should arrange so that the buyer should get more than $250 worth of cards. The cards companies will lose no money and make customers happier and pick up more customers in the long run if they did so.

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