Ever been on a forum or in a Facebook group and someone asks the "What's this worth?" question? Of course you have. Oftentimes someone will post the simple answer of "It's only worth what someone will pay for it."
While this is, on the surface, a factually logical statement, it is greatly oversimplified.
The real answer, when applied to any sold item, is far less elegant:
That exact card is only worth what that exact seller sold it for, to that exact buyer, at that exact time, on the exact site, and under those exact circumstances.
Why the difference? Numerous reasons. Let's assume it is an item on eBay:
- -perhaps it was a card listed on just the ebay.ca site as opposed to the ebay.com, hence limiting the audience
- -perhaps the seller did not ship to certain countries
- -perhaps two interested bidders happened to see it and bid it up
- -perhaps the winner needed that single card to finish off a set they have been working on for months, and were willing to pay whatever it took to cross it off the list
- -perhaps it was a specific serial numbered card (some collectors collect jersey numbered, 1/x, x/x, or some other specific numbering)
- -perhaps there was shill bidding
- -perhaps it was a seller with low feedback
- -perhaps it ended at an odd time
- -perhaps a player got hot and the cards are rising
- -perhaps a player is on a cold streak and the cards are dropping
- -perhaps a player got traded and people are dumping cards from the old team
- -perhaps there were two of the same card that ended around the same time
- -perhaps that one bidder who really wanted the card just flat out forgot to place a bid or set a snipe on it
- -perhaps the seller just didn't know what they had, listed it for a low BIN, and it was quickly snatched up
- -perhaps the seller charges a lot for shipping, so buyers have to factor that into total costs
The list goes on. But you can see, there is no magical formula for what a card is worth. So in the future, when you see someone asking, feel free to use my more accurate answer above.
