Resale Values of Certified GU Items Have Officially Collapsed

[commando]

Just an observation. It seems to me that the high point-of-sale prices paid to teams and their resellers for game-used items cannot be recouped on the secondary market. To make matters worse, many teams now think their GU merchandise is much more valuable than it really is, which makes it more difficult for resellers to do bulk buys at a reasonable price.

There are several reasons for this. One is market saturation. The Mets, Cowboys, Royals, Vikings and even the Yankees have made available literally tons of GU items over the past few years, meaning if the item is not from a star player, it's virtually a guarantee that the early buyer is paying too much. Unpurchased equipment continues to have lower and lower asking prices on Ebay, and can be solid acquisitions for those who are patient enough to wait (and are not afraid of losing the item).

I think speculation also plays a huge role. Similar to the card market, where you paid $5 for a rookie card a couple of years ago and it now books for $1.50. More often than not, players either fade from the spotlight or perhaps become a solid player at best. The Colin Kaepernick stories are rare. I think we all understand this, but it is nonetheless a huge reason why buying a newer jersey carries extra risk. I have seen a couple of beautiful Bernard Berrian Vikings jerseys sell on Ebay in the $150 range, complete with the Anniversary patch and J.O. paperwork. A couple of years ago, someone paid upwards of $600 or more for these same jerseys.

The slow economy has impacted all areas of collectables, including game used. A collector might impulse-buy a bat for $20, but probably not a jersey for $250 (unless it is a steal). An argument can be made that there are more sellers than buyers at the moment -- and we know how that impacts the whole supply versus demand thing. The people with money can pick and choose the items they want, while paying much less than they would have a few years ago when more buyers were on the scene.

Nothing too earth-shattering here, but just an obvious, general observation. Any comments?

[hairyangryfella]

I also wonder where some of the bidders/buyers go...

I paid over $950 plus shipping plus import fees for a jersey from NBA Auctions. I cannot even sell it for $700 shipped now.

I'm new to the game, but I'm learning that unless you buy a star or someone who becomes hot, you're unlikely to do anything but lose if or when you try to sell.

[ctguy212003]

Stars or up coming stars is the only way to go. Geting caught buying "cheaper" middle class players will leave you broke. There must be a demand.

[Samets]

I hope the economy impacts the GUU Chicago Bears market even harder... I have some money that I want to spend and farther I can stretch it, better for me!

[COWBOYS4EVR]

Great point you have brought up. I've been thinking this reminds me of
when the trading card business got big in the early 90's. I read an article on
how card company's just pushed out more and more which dropped prices on value. Example Emmitt Smith's rookie card Score 101T. One of the best running backs of all time, book value in 92 was over 400. Today less than 100 bucks and going lower, reason......over saturation of the market.

I only collect football, but my concern is not just only GU items but also issued.
NFL Auctions is playing a big part in this, even though it for a good cause.
Every week there's jerseys of the same player every auction every other week.
Even on eBay there's more than one posted, and just like the card game this will
happen to the jersey market. I believe that for the low dollar on some, collectors are just going with the issued and that's enough for them. Unless its a major milestone jersey with some sort of patch attached or huge hit marks, your gonna maybe break even or lose.

[commando]

You guys are making great points... many thanks for the comments.

Samets, how are Bears prices today versus three or five years ago? Maybe that's not a fair question, because once again, five years ago some of the players would have been highly-regarded prospects.

I know people will say "If you're a collector, value shouldn't matter." And that's true... I have overpaid more than a few times to obtain rare Houston Gamblers items. But the point here is, that across the board most prices are really soft except for the premier items. All the bulk sellers continue to heavily discount their asking prices as their inventory is not moving.

[beaglegypsy003]

This is a reason I collect/buy what I enjoy. Even when the price I pay is low, I would say my collection except for one or two pieces would be considered commons. As such I would never see a profit if I chose to resell anything. Still I really enjoy my collection for what it is.

[solarlottry]

I do not buy what I am interest in for the purpose of resale so I am not concerned about what prices I might get if I decided to sell something. To me the supply of 49er game worn items is the exact opposite of what "commando" accurately accesses is the supply of many other game worn items.

NFL Auctions has obviously increased the number of 2009-2012 game worn jerseys as they routinely sell at least 4-6 different players jerseys every season. Usually 2 or at most 3 jerseys of such stars as Willis, Gore or Justin Smith are sold as well as 1 or at most 2 of other players. Theoretically the fact that so many Willis shirts have been sold since 09 (between 6-10) should make them readily available and somewhat cheaper than what initially sold for. The problem is that one rarely sees any of the 49er gamers sold by NFL Auctions for resale.

Additionally the supply of vintage 49er jerseys is almost non existent so when one pops up for sale they sell quickly and for high prices. I cannot remember the last time a quality 49er vintage (1979-1989) was for sale on eBay.

The supply of 49er gamers from the early 90s through 1995 is also quite low and usually fetch prices that are high. The last shirt I won on eBay was a 1994 Gary Plummer away throwback without a team letter that I paid over 1700$ for. Plummer is no superstar so even solid non superstars can fetch good money.

The prices that most of the game worn items we all collect is related to what you collect and who wants to buy or sell. When supply is low for a variety of reasons prices are high but in the case of items mentioned earlier like Cowboys or Yankees shirts, prices tend to fall as way to much of it is released. I wish that I had the problem of too many 49er shirts around with team documentation that were cheap!

Always buying 49er game worn items and paying a finders fee.
Paul
garciajones@yahoo.com

[Samets]

...Samets, how are Bears prices today versus three or five years ago? Maybe that's not a fair question, because once again, five years ago some of the players would have been highly-regarded prospects.

The prices are high and they have always been that way. I personally think that there are some teams that no matter what they do there will always be more collectors chasing and paying high prices for GU items.

I personally started to move away from the current players and higher prices to the forgotten heroes of the days long gone. There seems to be a bit less competition and the prices tend to be more attractive. Jerseys have more "wear and tear" and just sing to me!

I have been patiently watching the prices realized for some current Bears and am amazed at what some people are willing to pay. For example, Devin Hester, he has been a huge failure on the offense since he was yanked from Special Teams, yet people are dropping serious coin for his jersey! Do people think that in 5/10 years anyone will care about the jersey he did absolutely nothing in (literally)? Cutler is another example, he's a good quarterback but not HOF material and once he's gone, he'll be in the same bucket as Grossman. We came close but no cigar.

I'm also tracking Urlacher prices. He's gone from Chicago and as sad as I am to see him go, I want to see where his jersey prices will go. He's not in HOF yet and there were a ton of them released... Do I want one? Hell Yes! Will I pay the inflated $5,000 - $8,000 prices? Hell NO!

The perfect example I have is the alternate Nick Roach that was on eBay for a little while... Nick was a current player at the start of the listing and it started out at $750 (I was thinking $500 jersey at the time) and slowly the price kept dropping in $50 increments until he left Chicago. The seller re-listed it auction style with reserve and it was not met since the bidding stalled at around the $300 mark...

Rant off.

Samets out.

[slab0meat]

This is a reason I collect/buy what I enjoy. Even when the price I pay is low, I would say my collection except for one or two pieces would be considered commons. As such I would never see a profit if I chose to resell anything. Still I really enjoy my collection for what it is.

Pretty much my situation as well. Other than Yankees jerseys (talking baseball only here), I collect styles of jerseys I like and am happy if it's a cheap common player. I have no plans to resell anything, though you never know what might happen. I certainly would NOT be making any profit if I sold off what I have. I collect what I like and want to keep, hopefully long enough to pass them along to the kids.