Site Forum

If you search the forums you will find there are already several threads about this. I think a lot of us agree that this site's purpose is not so much to keep track of pricing but just to facilitate logging collections and trading.

Just want to clarify something that was said in this thread.

The minimum listing price for a "Buy it Now" listing on ebay is 99 cents.

The minimum listing price for an auction listing on ebay is 1 cent.

I would argue Sportlots under values the non common cards because most people realize the seller is making his money off the shipping which we don’t figure into the pricing here.

"...the seller is making his money off the shipping..."

True, same goes for Ebay. I really hate this practice. 

I agree. I would relish finding the cards on my want list for .18 cents.

The cards I'm trying to buy are generally sold for $18 dollars instead. 😂 

I do not use the prices in TCDB for trading purposes. From what I can tell, it just takes the average price of all of the entries and doesn't take into account when the entry was made. So, for example, a no name rookie who starts off as an 18 cent card and eventually goes on to the Hall of Fame, there is no account made for this increase in value, the old 18 cent entries have just as much credibility in the TCDB price as the current value. I think the chart of prices over time is more useful. Also, unfortunately, who entered the price matters. I've seen some prices that look like they were entered straight out of Beckett's, that's an assumption, I don't know it to be true. I take my own entries as solid (of course), I always add the eBay link of the sale, whether it was my sale or someone else's. One issue I've seen that could cause problems with the upload of prices from Sportlots is if the name of the set doesn't match with what it is called in TCDB. An example of this is the 1999 Upper Deck Challengers for 70 parallel set. The name Sportlots uses for it is not the same as used in TCDB (or anywhere else), so that could potentially present a problem. Everyone has their own thought on pricing trades. I don't take a lot of stock in Beckett's. If a $5 cards is CURRENTLY available for $1 on eBay, Sportlots, COMC, or somewhere else, I value it at $1 (assuming the shipping is reasonable). Since I usually wait for the COMC annual shipping sale around the holidays to ship, I consider their shipping cost as $0. I also use the Sportlots Box, so I consider the Box shipping prices in the value. 

This site only looks at the last 5 purchases that are entered and calculate a median, not average price.  If there are at least 5 newer purchases entered then your 0.18 example no longer figures into the value here. It is kept only for historical reference.

TCDB pricing takes the median (middle) value of the five most recent prices. Anything older than the fifth-oldest price is not part of the calculation for the price shown under a card. It remains visible for historical purposes when one goes into the pricing information for a particular card. If less than five prices are available, then yes, some older prices will be used and could possibly not be an accurate representation of the actual going rate of a particular card.

Shipping prices are not used to calculate said median value. They are added for context when viewing the sales data for a card.

Prices submitted are expected to be actual sold prices. SportLots has a minimum selling price of $0.20 per card (formerly $0.18). This means that a card that has a price submitted by SportLots of $0.20 actually sold for $0.20. Mistakes can happen with that information, just as mistakes can happen when a user submits a price, or a scan, or a checklist.

It is worth noting for everyone that TCDB is not intended to be a price guide. The value field is meant to increase the relevant details and information available for a card and associated set, just like the comment field, Note/Note2 fields, and Trivia sections. Those who choose to use the pricing available for their own purposes can do so. If you need an absolute hard and fast price to value your cards, I am afraid you will struggle to find that anywhere. Some discretion should be used when it comes to prices; not only here, but in any market place.

There are several dedicated members on this site who work hard to ensure the pricing function of the site is operating as best as it can. Discrediting the pricing as an absolute waste of time or calling for its removal is a disservice to them. If you don't like it, don't use it. I commend those members who work closely within this area of the site for their civility during this thread (and all other pricing threads that come up every six months).

FAQ regarding all facets of pricing is here, for those who may want to use it for a reference.

I just won an auction on E-Bay;

.50 for the card

.64 for the shipping

.38 for taxes   Who knows where they pulled this number from as CO tax is 8.5% at the most.