Autograph Offering: 2008 Jay Bruce

On the last day of this month, etopps will offer 200 signed 2008 Jay Bruce cards at $39.99 a pop.

Before evaluating the value of this auto via ebay sales, the one thing about this offering that sticks out came from etopps email about the offering. Only 1 auto is allowed per order. Had I guessed beforehand, I would have assumed there would have been 3 allowed per order. I honestly cannot recall when was the last time there was this restriction.

Either this was a mistake or it's a reaction to the demand for the Longoria auto that sold out in minutes and sold $200 higher on ebay on the same day.

Besides all of this, at a penny less than $40 for a 1 of 200 autograph is a reasonable deal but you may be able to get a better deal on ebay if you're concerned about numbers such as quantity of autographs and price. There aren't that many /200 autos that have shown up on ebay recently. And of course there is a plethora of sticker autos that do not have the same appeal/demand/value as an on-the-card signature.

Bottom line: I would not expect the card to sell much higher than what etopps is asking. In other words, it's a weak flip on the secondary market unless there are etopps buyers who have been waiting since last year for this card to be offered. And since there will be 200 lucky buyers of this auto, some of these Jay Bruce fans are bound to buy it and will not have to depend on ebay to purchase it.

Friday Marketwatch - April 24

As of today, April 24 the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 241
Sell-Through: 41.91%
Average starting price: $3.08
Average final price: $8.48

Highest Single Card Sale: 2001 Albert Pujols, $54.99
Highest Mult-Card Sale: Allen Ginter Etopps in hand 5 card lot, $43.88
Highest Graded Sale: (100) 2003 LeBron James, BGS 9.5, $6100
Highest Non-Graded Autograph Sale: 2008 Evan Longoria, $240
Highest Graded Autograph Sale: 2007 Adrian Peterson BGS 9, $180

Other best sellers:

* 2003 LeBron James
* 2008 Daniel Murphy
* 2008 Allen & Ginter Tom Brady
* 2008 Evan Longoria

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well: 2006 Greg Jennings - 7 bids

Take The Surprise Out Of The Autos

The hibernation of etopps autograph offerings is finally over. Not one basketball offering and a late start for baseball compared to last year when the autographs started in March.

So why the long wait? With the crippling economy, it's statistically possible that some of the membership has been affected one way or another (such as unemployment). My guess is etopps took a wait & see approach based on recent IPO sales from the last two weeks of baseball IPO orders.

So etopps is taking the low road by offering Evan Longoria auto for $45, low enough to be a test to see whether or not we are willing to shell out the extra bucks beyond each week's IPOs? Since etopps is offering only four IPOs at a time at decent prices (and print runs I should add), I'm not sure if this particular autograph is a good one to determine whether autographs with higher asking prices will sell-out.

History shows the momentum of both the baseball and football IPO seasons are at their peaks usually at the start of their respective seasons. As an example, etopps could offer four place-kickers in its first week of football IPOs and they would all sell out.

But let's focus on the the long baseball season. IPOs stretch from April through August week after week. Etopps ought to take a longer look at the ordering patterns in May and June to see if people continue to place their orders for every IPO -- or are they ordering less and less? (Especially the Monday after credit card bills are issued) Or simply: will the IPOs sell out week after week, month after month even with this economy?

And if they don't sell out, then what does etopps do about the autograph offerings? Will etopps regret selling Longoria at $45/each if this auto could be better positioned if IPO sales start dwindling? Wouldn't it make more sense to sell the higher-priced autos now at the beginning of the season/momentum?

Maybe.

What if etopps had a different approach to the autograph program? What if we were given the entire autograph schedule for this year's baseball season? As blasphemous as this sounds, what does etopps have to lose? Why be surprised each week? We no longer have this surprise for each week's IPOs - in fact, we were just emailed before 1PM EST which cards will be offered.

By seeing the entire autograph schedule, members can financially plan ahead to buy the autograph they really like. I think this is something we deserve even if the whole schedule cannot be released, it should at least become available to members as soon as the autograph are a definite go.

What's the gain of being surprised each week? If you were not a member of etopps 3+ years ago, there was a time when we didn't know the IPO offerings each week until they were posted, the autographs just showed up for sale without a head's up and the catalog would just become available without any schedule. In other words, it was chaos.

While I understand etopps does not give a schedule of their IPOs for the season and it's their decision, not having one for the autographs which requires deeper pockets is not in their best interest at the time of this economy, especially when the hobby is sinking, disposable income is lacking and the thrill of the surprise is merely a shell of what etopps used to be about.

Etopps can gain something from the membership by disclosing their schedule of auto offerings that they need as much as our IPO orders: trust.

Friday Marketwatch - April 17

As of today, April 17 the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 148
Sell-Through: 73.65%
Average starting price: $2.62
Average final price: $7.87

Highest Single Card Sale: 2001 Albert Pujols, $40.99
Highest Mult-Card Sale: 50 Different Etopps In Hand Lot, $29.12
Highest Graded Sale: 2001 Albert Pujols, BGS 9.5, $75.95
Highest Non-Graded Autograph Sale: 2001 Ladainian Tomlinson, $130
Highest Graded Autograph Sale: None

Other best sellers:

* 2001 Brett Favre
* 2007 Albert Pujols
* 2006 Brett Favre
* 2008 Chris Volstad

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well: 2005 LeBron James - 10 bids

Friday Marketwatch - April 10

As of today, April 10 the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 179
Sell-Through: 59.78%
Average starting price: $1.65
Average final price: $10.55

Highest Single Card Sale: 2003 LeBron James, $31.57
Highest Mult-Card Sale: 2008 A & G Yankee Stadium Tribute Set, $115.05
Highest Graded Sale: 2008 A & G Barack Obama, BGS 9.5, $185
Highest Non-Graded Autograph Sale: 2006 Brett Favre, $155.28
Highest Graded Autograph Sale: None

Other best sellers:

* 2008 Brett Favre
* 2001 Brett Favre
* 2003 Dwyane Wade
* 2001 Ichiro Suzuki

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well: 2004 Ben Roethlisberger - 11 bids

Delay of in-hands

Etopps added this announcement to its updates page:

Due to production issues beyond our control, etopps is experiencing delays on delivery of the following cards:

2008 eTopps Football

43: Pittsburgh Steelers Team Card 2008
44: Arizona Cardinals Team Card 2008
53: Colt Brennan 2008
54: John David Booty 2008

2009 eTopps Allen & Ginter Super Bowl Champions

7: Brett Favre SB
8: Tom Landry SB
9: Emmitt Smith SB
10: Walter Payton SB
11: Jerry Rice SB
12: Peyton Manning SB
13: Roger Staubach SB
14: Tony Dorsett SB
15: Lawrence Taylor SB

2009 eTopps Event Cards

6: Steelers Win Record Sixth Super Bowl
44P: Barack Obama

2008-09 eTopps Basketball

1: Chris Paul 2009
2: Eric Gordon 2009
3: Michael Beasley 2009

We expect to have these cards available for delivery the week of May 11th. Please continue to check eTopps Updates for additional information.

Sincerely,

etopps Team

Friday Marketwatch - April 3

As of today, April 3 the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 213
Sell-Through: 52.11%
Average starting price: $2.28
Average final price: $7.31

Highest Single Card Sale: 2001 Albert Pujols, $38
Highest Mult-Card Sale: 2008 A & G Yankee Stadium Tribute Set, $116.75
Highest Graded Sale: (tie) 2008 Chris Davis, BGS 9.5 $36
Highest Non-Graded Autograph Sale: 2006 Prince Fielder, $67.98
Highest Graded Autograph Sale: 2006 Leinart Bush National Promo Dual Auto /16, PSA 10, $85.10

Other best sellers:

* 2008 Joey Votto
* 2008 Taylor Teagarden
* 2008 Brett Favre
* 2001 C.C. Sabathia

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well: 2001 Albert Pujols - 15 bids