General Forum

Im aware that some people say commons are "worthless" (especially from junk wax era) I am simply curious as how others value commons. I look at what they can be bought for (.18?) but others like to use ebay as a standard?? .99?....Ive seen people use tcdb as a guide at .05. and the unusual method of using weight as a value. What value do you use?

I'll generally go with .05 per, since that's the lowest Beckett value from the 90's. Maybe semi-stars and stars slightly higher

But I don't use dollar value strictly to gauge a trade, since value of cards is subjective to each party

I have bought lots of commons locally at about 10cards or more/$.01 so in a way they are worthless. However, I think if you are buying for needs and not in bulk in my mind the floor is probably about $.05 per card as whomever is selling is putting in the work to sort package and pull these worthless cards for a sale.

So if buying bulk and not selecting I will approximate 10 cards for a penny. Selecting needs $.05 per card.

Dont disagree with you one bit! Im not really even looking at $$, just fair trades,(common for common)  but have had several proposals insisting my commons are worth .05 and their cards are worth the highest values, anywhere from 2 to 1 to 10-1.....lol just say NO! 

Five cents per card is nice, but I imagine if you find that special someone who wants to take them all off your hands, sometimes a penny per card will do fine for the space that the quick cardboard eviction provides.

For me, commons are just as valuable as semi-stars and stars since I will take pretty much any Red Sox I don't have. Some count their nickels, some don't.

It depends on the amount of cards sold at once and what the buyer is planning to do with them.

I've seen wholesalers (who will immediately flip) purchase loads of 5K boxes at 4 cards / 1 penny. Collectors might go the 1-5 cent route if they are grabbing teams or lower-end players they collect.

Most Commons to me are nickle and dime cards.

BUT As you are talking about trading.     I'm willing to trade in others favor to get cards I need.  So a lot of times  2 to 1 or 3 to 1 even 4 to 1 cards is not out of line.  That is just me.  10 to 1 would be what 10 cards he wanted.

One of the larger Chicago area card stores recently had their we buy anything day including the "junk wax" commons in pretty much any condition.  They paid by weight and it was about .20/lb based on the small batch I brought in.  in doing a quick google search and some math as others have mentioned I think that works out to about 10 cards for a penny.  
 

of course that is buying in bulk with no searching or even looking at the cards.  So guessing team or player collectors sorting though may have a bit additional to that.  

I try to trade commons for commons, keep the cards similar by brand and keep them close in years also...I know that's not always possible, but its worked well for me and I also don't have to spend time looking up comps. 

As a team collector mostly I value a trade with commons as either 2 to 1 or 3 to 1. I try to male it worth while for the other party. A card has as much value as it means to the person receiving it. I just have to have as many Flyers cards that I can.