Evaluating decks for a purchase price. HA!

[The crowned one]

This is actually something I've been thinking about lately, since joining AT. I have a bunch of decks (some OOP. many still in print) sitting in a box in my parent's basement, and I have been thinking about selling them. I was thinking of doing so on ebay or here on AT, but I have no idea what prices to set.

It seems that some people are out to just make a buck, while others are trying to sell things at a fair price, and I suppose the difference could be considered subtle.

But I suppose it is a legitimate question. How do people set the price of their decks when it comes time to sell them? I don't mean the crazies with their $1000 haunted decks, but the legitimate tarot sellers wanting to downsize their collections, or in my case, free up space in their parents basement.

I am working on a value guide for this exact reason...but to be honest I feel tarot garden has a pretty steady, but mildly optimistic pulse on the market. Ebay is good too, but sometimes some major "blips" show up...you do not see that sort of thing happen at a solid site like tarot garden. ( or my book ..it will be ready in about 1000 years ) Used Amazon and the likes are ridicules.

I prefer to trade for the reason that money values are hard to set between two people. Whether I can afford more or not is not relevant to what I am willing to pay for the auction I mentioned (Pam A) more then plus or minus 10-15% in this case minus as I am renovating.

78 cards for 78 cards seems pretty fair to me most of the time.

 

[gregory]

Yeah - whenever people ask me, I tell; them top ask Jeannette..... I have no idea. I TRY and get decks when they first show up, and some appreciate so wildly that it is impossible to make sense of it.

2_Journey, what you got ?

 

[2_Journey]

Hi the Crowned One and gregory,

Thanks for your replies! I saw them earlier, but haven't been able to respond because of all the holiday stuff going on. Very busy here.

I've been going through my old decks, and there were some real surprises in there. I'll post a complete list in my profile once I decide what to do with them. (Some decks I didn't even remember owning at all!)

I think what's really confusing for me is putting a price on an OOP deck. The pricing seems so subjective! I think maybe I'll sell the OOP decks on ebay, rather than listing them for sale here in the trading forum. That way, I'm in essence letting the buyer set the price, and I don't have to worry about it any more. If I sold them on ebay, I'd set a reserve at the deck's list price when it was in print. That way I feel like I'd be fair, while at the same time letting people pay what they feel is fair. Does that make sense? Or of course I could just list them for sale here, which would save me the ebay headache.

eta: Trading seems like a simple solution, except that my goal is to downsize my collection, rather than swap things around. The reason all those decks were in storage in the first place is because I don't have room for them all. This is all just so very confusing!

 

[rwcarter]

eta: Trading seems like a simple solution, except that my goal is to downsize my collection, rather than swap things around. The reason all those decks were in storage in the first place is because I don't have room for them all. This is all just so very confusing!

Trading can be a trade for money. It doesn't have to be for another deck.

Rodney

 

[Debra]

WELLL...tell us what you've got and we may be able to help you set a fair price. A friend here at AT says...here, unlike e-bay, we kind of watch out for one another. Of course sellers want a good price and so do buyers, but I've never noticed anything outrageous in the trading threads, unlike e-bay.

 

[The crowned one]

Anyone have any idea the value of a French GRIMAUD Le Petit Cartomancien 36 cards . Possible from the 20's but as late as the 50's in a cardboard slip case.

 

[Gavriela]

If it's in very good condition, I'd say $50 - $60 US.

 

[The crowned one]

That is what I thought too. Thanks

 

[2_Journey]

WELLL...tell us what you've got and we may be able to help you set a fair price. A friend here at AT says...here, unlike e-bay, we kind of watch out for one another. Of course sellers want a good price and so do buyers, but I've never noticed anything outrageous in the trading threads, unlike e-bay.

Wow - Thanks for the offer. I'm spending a part of today and tomorrow going through my decks to decide which to keep, which to sell, and which to give to friends. Then I'll have a better idea of what decks I'm keeping and what decks I'm letting go.

 

[frelkins]

Crowned, any volume you publish will soon be out of date. There is a better way, one that relies on the collective wisdom of the entire tarot community, and which will always have the latest, most accurate prices.

It's called an information market, and we should set one up here on AT, so that everyone can frankly state how much they would pay for any particular deck. The market will aggregate all the prices and we can see an open, fair, transparent, real-time price for each.

Currently the lack of knowledge (or to be fancy "information asymmetry") means that we as consumers are vulnerable to being ripped off by unscrupulous folks on amazon & ebay. But with an information market, this would happen less.

Vendors, like Tarot Garden, could match these prices or charge more for value-added - like for Jeannette's amazing customer service and superb deck knowledge, which is worth tons - so it does no harm to our friends the vendors at all.