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Kobe price raising, your opinion

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gt2590

Super Moderator
Aug 17, 2008
38,658
3,246
Near Philly
After a short trip to the LCS I went online and noticed the across the board prices jacked up for Kobe stuff.

While I was there a random guy came in and bought almost all their Kobe singles. The owner honored the prices that had been on there previously but had set some others aside that had already been raised.

As a guy who used to run a hobby shop, I’m not a fan of this practice but I wouldn’t go so far as to condemn shops that do it. Obviously, it doesn’t happen often so maybe they justify it as a rare chance to make some extra dough.

Your thoughts?

And please keep it civil and don’t put this thread in “Wall of Shame” type bickering...
 

BunchOBull

Active member
Dec 12, 2008
5,463
14
Houston, TX
Personally, in situations like this, I remove cards of said player from my inventory for a couple of weeks. Then I see where the market has settled at the end of that period and price accordingly. It would be silly from a business perspective to sell one's wares below market, especially if it only leads to someone immediately reselling the card to capitalize on the tragedy because, ultimately, the underlying ethical dilemma still manifests, only at the hands of someone else. That said, I think we make too much of sellers capitalizing on tragedy. While it's not my style, limiting the number of sellers who try to capitalize only shocks the market further because it limits the supply in a period of high demand. If sellers flood the market at peak times, there will be a spike in price, but not as much as had there been limited supply, and it normalizes more rapidly. Either way, any change in market cap comes at the hands of buyers more than sellers anyway...they're the ones who are driving up realized prices.

In the case of Kobe, the spike will have lasting impact because his market will never reset to prior levels. Not only was he an all-time great who died unexpectedly, but he's now a Hall of Famer. Collectors want to connect with him, the untimely loss, and his greatness, so it's being driven by multiple factors.
 

Pinbreaker

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
10,131
287
Laguna Niguel, CA
We see this all the time when an athlete passes away.. We saw it when Ted Williams passed and even recently when Tyler Skaggs passed..

Nothing new and I'm sure we will see it again..
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
I looked at ebay Sunday and hundreds and hundreds of his cards were being sold for prices 10x+ what they were Saturday. PSA 10 1996 Topps paper rookies for $2000 compared to $200 before, for instance. It's just something that always happens, but I can't think of another time a star of his magnitude died so young and it went to the extreme. Prices will come down sharply over the next week or two but I don't know if they'll settle out to where they were. I suspect that will take a few months or a couple years, if ever. The exception is that autographs will probably be permanently higher. He signed quite a bit, no shortage of his sig if you just want one without caring what card, but there will be no more.

I don't get involved. I think one time I sold a card into the wave of demand after a death, but usually I stay out of it. I don't think there's a moral issue, but I just think it's distasteful.
 

mhcook

Member
Feb 22, 2011
165
1
This question is even more difficult for a shop owner. As a shop, I would not want to tell customers (especially new customers that came only for Kobe) that I had none available for sale.

I think it was a horrible business decision to leave them all out at prices well below market. If he was going to do that, then he should have implemented a 1 per customer rule so he wasn't just giving a flipper a gift (which is exactly what he did).

I think the best decision would have been to keep the prices up to date with the market or remove prices and quote market when someone inquired.


Sent from my SM-N950U using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

gamecockfanatic

Active member
Jun 17, 2009
945
25
Gamecock Country
i have never been one to go overboard by listing everything i have or jacking up prices to ridiculous extremes , but i admit i have sold a few items of athletes who had recently passed....in the case of kobe , i had been putting together a stack of random inserts to try to raise a little money to help with my housing search...oddly (or maybe sadly) enough , i had planned to scan them while watching a south carolina women's basketball game this past sunday afternoon and then start listing them that same night...when i turned to the game , the previous one was just wrapping up and the announcers were talking about the great loss....took them a few minutes to say exactly who had passed , bu when they did i opted to hold off on my plans to list that day....that said , i WILL b listing just a few today but most had few if any copies already live so i'm totally in the dark on what pricing to use....hopefully i won't be slammed and referred to as some ruthless vulture looking to capitalize on kobe's untimely death for my own monetary gain...

disclaimer - i have never really been a fan of kobe , but i was aware enough of his greatness that i always tried to accumulate what i could while moving duplicates to help fund my more active collecting pursuits...
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,099
Thankfully it is not a common occurrence. When my son walked in the house from work early Sunday afternoon and announced Kobe had died in a helicopter crash, my heart sank. Not that I am a big fan of his, but because he was such a huge name and was so young. People die all the time. We honor them, but a guy who is 88 and dies of natural causes if just a basic fact of life. He lived a full life and his time came. However, when it is so unexpected and more so, a tragic accident that we all hope will never be our own fate, it seems to sting a bit more, at least for me.

I thought about it (stars dying too young) as we discussed the event. Two names immediately came to my mind. I was saddened more by the losses of Phil Hartman and John Candy than any other celebrity deaths that I could think of.
I enjoyed both of their careers and it was very sad to know they were gone forever, while still in their prime. I then thought about sports and a similar event and had to think a bit harder. Not that we have not lost athletes at a young age in my lifetime, or tragically, but no recent players with the star power of Kobe came to mind. The only comparison I could come up with (and maybe I am just not thinking of something obvious here in someone more recent) was Thurman Munson, who not only died young and tragically, but while still an active player.

Of course as I wrapped this thought up, Puckett and Gywnn came to mind, as did Gary Carter. All unfortunate losses of men who were too young to go, although those examples were at the hand of disease and certainly much less sudden and unexpected

I can't think of another time a star of his magnitude died so young
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,099
Regarding the original thought, I have never really understood this drive to buy something for a player who recently died, with the exception of autographs. Especially basic cards, photos, etc. However, with signatures you have already missed the boat. I guess buying whatever you can as quickly after as possible minimizes your future cost until the market settles back down, but you are still well above the market when the player was alive. Kobe was not a cheap autograph when he was living, but now the prices are steep!
 

JVHaste

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2015
4,751
270
Vancouver WA
Of course as I wrapped this thought up, Puckett and Gywnn came to mind, as did Gary Carter. All unfortunate losses of men who were too young to go, although those examples were at the hand of disease and certainly much less sudden and unexpected

It reminded me of Roberto Clemente, who was 38 when he died in a plane crash. I wonder if NBA will create an award like MLB did for Roberto to honor his charity work.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,099
Clemente is a very close comparison for sure, historically speaking. I'm sure fan reactions at the time were almost identical. Although for me personally, I was oblivious to it. He died when I was 3 1/2 years old. Kobe is by far the biggest name to die in such a sudden and tragic way, where I was personally knowledgable of and affected by the news. I hope we never have to experience another like it.
 

gt2590

Super Moderator
Aug 17, 2008
38,658
3,246
Near Philly
When Dale Earnhardt passed so suddenly, his non-autographed products took off but have since mostly settled back down to more reasonable prices...
 

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