Evaluating decks for a purchase price. HA!

cronesayer said:

Hi TCO,

What are we talking about here? Regulating prices of Tarot cards or educating consumers?

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98% education 2% regulation would make me happy

cronesayer said:

I pay what I want to pay. There's a huge difference between what people ask for a deck and what they get for it. I don't see a problem with anyone asking $999 or $9,999 for a Greenwood. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile. I just don't buy a Greenwood until it reaches $199!!!

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I agree, but sometimes I will pay what the market dictates. It is there I run into problems, untill a year or so ago I thought evey deck printed from about 1975 on was worth about 20.00 each. (I still do, thats why I prefer trades )

cronesayer said:

After all, we're not talking about bread, milk, eggs or gasoline, we're talking about tarot cards! If you want to start a consumer guide, I'm sure that would be great, but I think Stuart Kaplan has already done it. If you're talking about regulating prices, I say, "Let them eat cake!"

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I think I might compile a data base, ya right...I do not even have enough time for reading cards, never mind a new project. I would never want to see prices regulated, just consumers (like me) educated or have access to education of realistic values.(Tarot garden seems to me to be a resonable place to start for a guide of realistic deck values.) I think it would be nice if Beginners in their enthusiasum and longer time readers who never collected but now "have the bug" had access to a collectors guide the gives a idea of deck values. I guess if some is asking 2000.00 for a 1996 deck someone must at some time or enother be paying it. That is where it seems crazy to me.

cronesayer said:

Seriously, we are nice to each other on AT, and I love it! I've traded, discounted and given away decks here, even oop decks, that I could have peddled on ebay or Amazon, and I've also received decks from trades and purchases here on AT. It's great and it's fun to be in this community, but I've also peddled decks on ebay and Amazon, and I've purchased MANY decks from ebay and Amazon, and I will continue to do so.

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Me too.

cronesayer said:

Am I supposed to feel bad or wrong for selling a deck for $79 on Amazon that I've traded away here in return for a deck worth $9 on it's best day? No, I don't think I should. Would I try to sell it here for $79, no I wouldn't -- everybody here already has one! Conversely, am I supposed to feel dirty, because I purchased a deck for $7.34 on Amazon that sold for $65 in the AT Trading Thread? (Yes, there are bargains on Amazon.) Am I an evil predator? I guess that's up to you to decide.

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Feeling bad is up to you and I am glad you do not, I love a good deal. I have put a few decks away that will only be sold on E-Bay. A guy has got to support his habit. My collection is big enough, now I am just trading or selling one to buy one to refine my modest collection to my reading taste.

cronesayer said:

c.s.

PS: Did you find your Royal Moroccan Fez yet? I feel my grip loosening!

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I did, my lovely friend Scion gave me one for a song and a dance!

the crowned one said:

untill a year or so ago I thought evey deck printed from about 1975 on was worth about 20.00 each.

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Yep, that's about what they're worth, alright. But I guess anything is worth whatever someone will pay for it.

How true!

I thought about this thread all the way to work. Yeah, I don't sell tarot cards for a living -- only to support my habit of buying tarot cards.

I'm not the one who lists a Greenwood for $999, but would I list a Greenwood I bought for $199 for $250? Probably, because I think my time & energy is worth something. Would I get it? That's entirely up to the buyer.

Would I list another deck I bought for $7.34 for $65, because that's what someone else asks for it? No, I probably wouldn't, because I don't have to -- I can sell mine for $35 and put the money in my pocket (or send it immediately to Tarot Garden ) and not waste my time waiting for someone to come up with $65 (I'm getting older every day).

Does it make me feel like a prize idiot to see a deck, for which I paid $65, selling for $35 (or $7.34) on ebay/Amazon. Not at all, because sometimes I'm the one who only pays $35 or $7.34 or nothing but a deck of cards if I manage a trade. It all evens out, trust me. I sold my pristine "Waking the Wild Spirit" set for $9. I paid $34.95 for it. Who knew it would become rare and highly sought after within months of letting it go? Obviously, I didn't. I also didn't care for the deck, so I sold it for as much as I could at the moment I bid it adieu. Then, I went down to my local bookstore & purchased a 77-card, vintage Albano Waite deck with my $9. That's how it goes, but I still read with the Albano Waite.

In a nutshell (gotta love those squirrels ), I believe in buying low and selling high -- and trading and giving away as much as I can -- and letting the Devil take the hindmost!

Crowned One ~ I saw the comments referring to Royal Fez. I got one from Kenji for $42 and it was brand new, shrink-wrapped and was the late 70's print run! I don't know if he has any left, just thought you might be interested. But perhaps you got what you wanted with Scion

Well, tarot decks here ARE expensive...for me. But that's thanks to the currency...it makes me kinda unable to buy collectors deck and such.

That's why i always see the prices according to what it costs in the local bookshop i buy my national and imported decks If it's more expensive than there, then it's not worth for me. There's this new age sop full of great imported decks...some cost twice what i would pay in the bookstore. Unless it's a rare OOP deck, i;m sorry, but i won't pay.

Anyway, the decks are always there. Nobody buys them. You wouldn't want a Tarot of the Old Path for R$ 120, would you?, when you can get it for R$50...

Playing cards seem to suffer from the same valuation problem.

Take the Circus transformation cards (Schick). I've seen them offered for between £25 and £250..... on e-bay and also on dealer's sites. They are a limited edition of 1000, 1988.

I mean, who knows?

And I thought, maybe, playing cards being more mainstream than tarot cards, that it would be easier to work out what was what. WRONG!!!!!

Aerin

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to buy a new deck. The Osho zen. So, I googled its value in some websites. Then, I went to a local store, and there it was... almost 3 times amazon's price!

That is too much, no matter the currency factor!!! thieves...

Of course I ordered it somewhere in internet. I prefer to wait for 4 weeks than to pay almost 3 times for it!


...as we were getting rich guessing the lottery numbers...

Many moons ago, when I first came to AT, it seems like there had been a website that had been kind of a "purple book" price guide for decks.

Anyone else remember that, or is it just me in my alternative universe?

Speaking of values...Tarot of Marseilles (Grimaud Edition) 1970. Any thoughts...my value guide seems to not have this one listed . Someone here on the Island is offering this deck to me, but I do not know what a fair price would be. 10.00? 20.00? ...

The prices really can be confusing. When I was looking to buy my first deck last month, I had a hard time understanding how the prices worked. I was browsing online a bit and was shocked, as a newbie to the tarot world, to see the range in prices but also that the prices for the same deck could vary so much from site to site. I still don't really understand the pricing...