POLL: WAS THIS OFFER FAIR? (PRIZES AWARDED)

[A_Pharis]

The seller is basing his opinion on a sale in which I see one major flaw (value-wise) as far as the hard-core collecting community is concerned. The guy that bought the card "got back into collecting" after seeing Bryce's article in SI. He even states that he's purchased other high end Harper cards.

This guy is no prospecting collector looking to gain value on this card. IMO - this sale figure is not even accurate for pricing other Harper cards since it went to a guy with a TON of money to blow and no real long-term concept of sports card value in the modern era. (And, quite frankly, if this guy was MY investment banker, I'd probably start asking for more frequent periodical reports of where my money is.)

 

[steve-a-reno]

When talking about that much money, anyone ponying up $6k can't be called a lowballer, regardless of the card (with a handful of exceptions, this not being one). I personally would have thought it would be worth more, not that I could or would pay it, but no doubt fair. IMHO

 

[olerudfan]

I think the offer was strong given it was unknown whether Harper would have additional cards later in year. The card isn't auto'd plus he has upper deck USA issues prior to this release. I think had the strasburg not sold for it's initial price the Harper would have been too high.

 

[joelmcook]

I think it was a good a initial offer considering the Strasburg had already been pulled and sold by then to give you a good gauge on price. Did he at least counter at all on your offer? Anyways keep doing what your doing BG and facing the naysayers head on.

 

[matfanofold]

Fair? Yes...

A little low? Probablly...

Insulting? No.

 

[Joshua.Roundtree]

Obviously the seller didn't think your offer was too fair......

And he got twice as much, so........

Seller Wins.

Your offer wasn't bad, how can $6500+ for a single 2010 baseball card be a bad offer? Obviously the seller wasn't in a hurry to cash in and run like others have mentioned they would have. Kudos to him, that card will never sell for that high ever again IMO. Hell, the 2011 Bowman Chrome Auto Super might only get a little more. I can see the seller with arms raised over his head, looking over the Grand Canyon, screaming, "Victory!!!"

Yes, but is it lowball or insulting? That is what the seller stated. BG

No way $6500 is a low ball offer. I don't know why he felt the need to say 'lowball' doesn't seem justifiable IMO. The seller was smart IMO however, because he didn't just take the first big offer and run, he waited and got what he felt like was fair value.

 

[clarkfan]

Definitely not a lowball offer. I think we're forgetting it was damaged slightly, so when someone is going to drop that kind of money on a new card, at least some collector's will avoid it due to the damage on the back. Harper is still 2 to 3 years at least from making an impact in MLB. So, is it a fair offer in today's market, OF COURSE! 3 or 4 years from now, IF, he's as great as everyone seems to predict he will be, the market may/will change. Superfractor's are volatile to say the least. There has been way too many "can't misses" that have missed, so even Harper isn't guaranteed success. I'm guessing the Superfractor Strasburg might be down to $10000 or less already, so lots of factors could affect the overall value of it. What if Harper has a serious injury? Seller was probably just venting a little bit since it took him ages to get his price (listings and relistings and reserves). He finally found a buyer willing to pay the big bucks, so eventhough he got a lot more than BG's offer, BG's offer was very fair at the time of listing and if the card would have been put on ebay for .99 cents without a reserve, BG's offer was probably going to win it, so sounds fair to me.

 

[RZimm11]

“I am relieved at selling the card,” he said. “It took three months of non-stop low offers from almost everybody, including Brian Gray from the Razor company, who only offered $6,750 and said I wouldn’t get over $8,000 for this card."

I don't think what the guy said was completely out of line. He didn't use the term "low-ball" anyway. He said he got months of what he considered non-stop low offers from almost everybody. And I understand him mentioning Brian, because he is a well-known person in the business who was interested in, and at the time, purchasing many high-end cards. I'm sure if the Topps president was out there buying up those cards and made an offer, he would have named him/her too.

i personally think that Brian coming on here trying to justify the offer is ridiculous.

As far as the offer, I think it was a fair price to offer, considering the minor damage to the card and the current industry/economic environment. The seller expecting more was probably a direct result of the Strasburg sale.

 

[A_Pharis]

Seriously, it all boils down to the fact that it got sold to someone with money to blow beyond normal means and no insight into prospecting or future value. Lower offers probably took into account the risk of value loss... or the amount of time it's going to take for it to be worth more than what was paid for it now...

In the grand scheme of things, this sale is moot.

 

[rob167]

Considering you were looking to buy at wholesale prices (more than likely to include in your rookie retro product) I would say your offer was fair considering the market. Conversely, I also believe that it's an insane price for a card of a kid who has to prove himself.

 

[matchpenalty]

Great offer, considering it went to auction before and barley craked 5k not meeting reserve. In this horse bleep economy, not like sellers are getting blown away on anything anymore. Those days are dead and gone.

 

[Leaf]

Dwright, he said he was tired of lowball offers including mine. That is a blatant callout/badmouth. Doesnt matter anymore, deal is over. Ready for the next deal.

Ok, I think I'm gonna move on as suggested... Obviously Beckett had second thoughts about the inclusion of such a statement, since they removed it almost immediately.

That's enough for me.
Bg

 

[Leaf]

A_pharis and securedsports please pm address and well send prizes...
Thanks for thoughts., bg

 

[sebpoo]

I voted fair. I think something around $7500 would have been stronger, however myself i would have made below $7000 to test the water.

edit: lol i was late for dinner by 4 minutes :lol:

 

[Sweetness]

I'd say it was a fair offer. I think that much $ for a player who has not even proved he can play MiLB ball yet is fair. I would have taken the offer unless I already had better offers already.

I would've taken that $ and bought a high grade HOF rookie card a case of Rookie Retro(and pull the Strasburg Super) and buy a case of 06 Bowman(and pull the Longo Super) sell both super's and buy facebook. I'm not kidding.

EDIT: Son of a gun! I spent 6 minutes typing this post and missed out. On second thought I would have invested the money in typing classes. ::facepalm::

 

[CAROLINA BOSOX]

I think it was a fair offer. There really aren't any other cards to compare prices except the other super hyped prospect Strasburg. Like others have already said, these are two different types of players, college pitcher vs HS hitter. So in the end your offer was reasonable and if the seller didn't agree they could counter offer and negotiate from there. After all, a card is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

[Topnotchsy]

I think the offer was on high side based on previous sales of superfractors, which are really the only things you can base it on. Obviously the final sale was higher, but we all know that the sale price of a superfractor does not tell the story about what the market really is (especially when it is a BO.)

 

[Seiya]

It was a fair offer considering he had not played at the time. But with the hype not yet built up it was correct to hold it and wait/ask for more.

 

[notjomommasclint]

with the hype that surrounded him at draft time and during the juco ws... with the performance of the strasburg card knowing that there was an auto coming shortly... i think its an insult.

 

[rymflaherty]

I went with the Yes - fair offer option.
That's a lot of money for a card - could it wind-up seeming like a "low-ball offer"? Maybe - but if someone is taking offers, you really have no idea what others are offering.......and with a card like that you have no idea if a couple people go in with insane offers. So like I said, I went with fair - as (imo) def. doesn't seem like an insulting offer to start out with.