Friday Marketwatch - October 15

As of October 15th, the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Highest Single Card Sale: 2001 Tony Banks, $51.01
Highest Multi-Card Sale: 2006 Mickey Mantle Set, $400
Highest Graded Sale: 2008 Chris Johnson, BGS 9.5, $70
Highest Non-Graded Autograph Sale: 2007 Phil Hughes, $99.99
Highest Graded Autograph Sale: None

Other best sellers:

* 2008 Presidential Candidates Allen & Ginter Barack Obama
* 2001 Alex Rodriguez
* 2009 World Baseball Classic Japan Patch Card
* Yankee Stadium Tribute Patch Card

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well: 2001 Terrell Davis, 17 bids

Listings with false print-runs included in title: 0
Number of sellers listing false print-runs: N/A

Autograph Offering: 2009 Neftali Feliz

One of the things that goes through your mind when trying to think of a name for your first born in case you have a son is how the name sounds when one day you will be calling your son home for dinner: "Neftali! Hey, Neftali! Time for dinner!!"

I wonder if Mr. and Mrs. Feliz were thinking about this when they decided to give this name to their gifted son.

Another strange thing that occurred to me with this card was the signature. It looks like three little stick figures holding hands sandwiched between a dinosaur and stepped-on timepiece you would keep in a vest pocket.

I suppose I'm writing all of this because it boils down to: why did etopps pick this card now? Easy: the Rangers won their first playoff series (and) because they can make more money selling a signed Neftali than a Rangers event card for this historic moment for the ball club.

It's too bad etopps hasn't shifted over to football for autographs. I don't recall etopps going this far into the playoffs and sticking with baseball autos. In the past once the first weekend of games were done, we'd see football begin.

So the question you want to ask, are 98 of these autographed Neftali cards worth it at $29.99 each tomorrow at 5pm EST? I doubt it. He's a closer, not a starting pitcher. If his name was Mario Rivera I would consider this a bargain. Though Neftali could be the first Ranger to win the rookie of the year award. And this is a Restricted Rookie Offering card. But the secondary market doesn't have many listings (for better or for worse) and fewer have sold.

I would buy it if I was a Rangers fan who had high hopes for my team and for Neftali. What a name.

Autograph Offering: 2009 Trevor Cahill

Up for grabs tomorrow at 4pm EST you can buy 1 of 96 Trevor Cahill autographed etopps in-hand cards for just $29.99. If you like cheap etopps autos or if you're an A's fan, you probably had a few goosebumps on your arm when you saw the offering announced on the etopps homepage. Otherwise, it's not worth spending the dollars when you can go deeper into the football IPO season by passing on this.

Sure, Cahill is having a great year. He may come close to 20 wins (along with 5 other pitchers in the A.L.) but he's not getting the Cy Young over CC Sabathia who has 20 wins already.

I'm surprised etopps decided to offer this when the shift is to football. You would think they would have waited to offer baseball in April and start offering football autographs by now. They've done it this way for a few years. Hopefully the next autograph will be a football one...and someone who is compelling. I use this word because I think the baseball auto season (if you can call it this) has been anything but.

Over on ebay, sales of his auto will make you yawn if you're not going after this offering tomorrow and be disappointed if you are.

If you do plan to get one, you may want to go the extra step: get it graded by BGS to further its value and with a teeny-weeny graded population you may get what you're asking on ebay if you time you listing right.

Autograph Offering: 2006 Josh Johnson

As a Mets fan, I envy what the Marlins ownership are doing with their team: getting more for less. With their ace pitcher Josh Johnson and shortstop Hanley Ramirez, they are a pesky team who have quality players who are underpaid starting from Josh Beckett to Miguel Cabrera.

Up for autograph tomorrow at 3PM EST is the Marlins' Josh Johnson.

94 of these autographs will be offered tomorrow, 54 too many in this blogger's estimation.

Other than Marlin and Josh Johnson and etopps auto fans, I'm really not sure who will buy these.

Considering etoppers' wallets are getting a little thin after so many weeks of baseball IPOs and right before football IPOs begin, I'll be surprised these sell-out.

A recent 2006 auto of Josh Johnson with a quantity of 50 went for $27.
While this one, quantity of 75, went for $42 and this one for $26

I don't think it's the best investment at this high quantity but the price may be the most attractive thing about this offering.

Autograph Offering: Andrew Bailey

Tomorrow at 3PM EST, etopps will be offering an autograph for sale for $29.99. Nice, right?

A total of 37 only. And it's an etopps rookie card.

And here's the let-down - it's a closer ... from Oakland. (Sorry, Oakland fans)

Another let-down: the player is currently on the DL.

The only saver worth buying an auto is that Mariano guy in the Bronx who's headed for Cooperstown.

So now I've offended Closer and Oakland fans.

The best Andrew Bailey autograph you can get is probably in person during an Oakland batting practice by calling him over if you have your child next to you if he or she is under 12.

The only way I can see getting this autograph is if:

• you like etopps autographs
• you like the Oakland A's
• you like the maximum number that will be sold
• you like the price
• you want to prove me wrong
• you know someone who will pay more than $29.99 for his autograph and will pocket a few dollars for re-selling this
• you're from Bailey's hometown of Voorhees, NJ.
  

Autograph Offering: 2009 Pablo Sandoval

It's tough to be excited about a burger if you can have steak just as it is tough to be excited about an autograph offering for Pablo Sandoval tomorrow afternoon while etopps is offering the IPO for Steve Strasburg this week. Let's face it, Pablo is so last season when he proved what he did during his rookie season was no fluke. The only thing that hurts this offering is it's not his "etopps rookie card." In his third season, he's kinda struggling compared to 2009.

Besides all this, how do the buyers of his autograph feel about his current stats compared to last year? Not so great. His auto probably sold better before the end of last season. Looking at the completed listings on ebay, a signed bat just sold for $50 and a signed baseball a little over $10 more than what etopps is offering for his autograph (96 total at $29.99 each).

If you are looking at this as investment to sell some day, hold onto it and see how he does. You can always have a great selling point: etopps autographs are signed right on the card rather than a sticker.

Otherwise, save your money and buy more Strasburg next week after it gets allocated for the same amount as this auto (if you can) and then you'll have an easier chance making more money later.

Autograph Offering: 2009 Rick Porcello

Tomorrow etopps will sell an autograph of a 2009 RRO Rick Porcello, an up-and-coming pitcher for the Detroit Tigers at $29.99 each. 99 will be offered tomorrow starting at the usual time of 3PM. The unusualness in the offering is it's a Tuesday. I can't remember the last time etopps offered an autograph on a Tuesday.

You would think etopps would offer something tastier than a Porcello if they started promoting the auto on the homepage before the weekend.

If etopps will be providing a limited number of autographs this baseball season, either they are not doing right by offering them so quickly; but if they have a lot more to go, they're mixing the quality of players up.

I do like how this player signs this card. His signature reminds me of the manufactured autos on all of my Topps baseball cards in the late Seventies and early Eighties.

So is this auto worth it? According to ebay completed transactions, you're not likely to make a good flip on this unless Porcello does something unusual. This is the best listing in the last two weeks. Not very encouraging, considering anything asked higher than this auction didn't have any bids and this one only had 1 bid.

Buy it for your collection, if you're a Tigers fan, like the idea of taking risk for $30, have intentions to have it graded for its auto or have the same last name as this pitcher.

Autograph Offering: T-206 Cal Ripken Jr

With 50 that will be taken out of port for this bargain of an autograph, it's pretty obvious that later today (3PM EST) the T-206 Cal Ripken card will be the short print of the commemorative (and successful) 2009 T-206 reprint set.

This is the second time etopps is offering an autograph for a Cal Ripken Jr. card. The last one was in September of 2005 for $129 (total quantity 99).

Similar to when etopps offers an IPO of a hot player that doubles or even triples in value a day or two after allocation, this is a gift to etopps members.

Even if Ripken is not your favorite, there are not many reasons not to have a Ripken autograph in your collection.

At $89, it's a great investment of a great player that's great to pass down to your children when they can understand the value of autographs and the value that Ripken brought to the game before steroids plagued it.

Autograph Offering: Colby Rasmus

It's been awhile since there was a baseball autograph offering on etopps. The last time I posted about one was June 3rd of last year for Justin Masterson. Just as the last one, this Rasmus is being offered at $29.99 with a maximum purchase of 1 per account.

A lot has happened with the economy between Masterson and tomorrow's offering at 3PM EST. One thing though remains clear: disposable income is not the way it used to be whether on ebay or not.

If you're getting this autograph as part of your collection or because it's a Restricted Rookie Offered card or because you like the Cardinals or Colby Rasmus, go for it. The price is reasonable and these cards, as you probably know, are one of the nicest-looking products in the hobby.

If you're looking to flip the card on ebay, you're taking a chance. The early bird gets the worm obviously but unless Rasmus has an amazing year, you may be better off waiting. If the Cardinals get into the playoffs and Rasmus stands out, then holding onto this autographed card could pay off.

From the looks of all of the ebay completed listings I review each week for this blog, newness pays off for an autograph but then the sales decline once the market gets oversaturated.

It's not even worth looking at how current Rasmus autograph listings have done since it's hard to compare etopps with traditional cardboard that are sticker autographs.

If it's worth the flip, the risk and the possibility of making some money off this card, go for it but you may be better off waiting. On the other hand if you're buying this as a part of your collection, etopps has started this year's baseball autograph season (if this is the start) with a nice choice.

Autograph Offering: Troy Aikman Allen & Ginter Super Bowl Champs

If the Super Bowl has become a ritual in America's culture, so has the preparations we make to see it on television each year.

In the media, we're already hearing about ads that are too controversial or are supposed to have the most buzz. The Who will perform during halftime. People are planning how they'll see the game and how they'll be entertaining at home.

The coolest preparation I've ever heard of for the Super Bowl came from an ebay buyer. More than 2 years ago, I sold a single-pack hobby box to a guy. When I shipped the box to him, I said in my email I wished him good luck in whatever he pulls.

To my surprise, he replied to my email. He told me throughout the year he buys packs and boxes of football cards and waits until the Super Bowl to open them, one at a time, throughout the game.

While the Super Bowl hype builds around us, etopps is offering its customers 25 chances to snag a coveted Troy Aikman Allen & Ginter Super Bowl autographed card tomorrow at 3PM EST for a mere $79.99.

Since Aikman is a recent Hall-of-Famer and lauded by fans of "American's Team," it will not be a surprise if this offering sells out within a minute or two after it becomes available.

Considering the 2007 IPOs of this set have all gone up in price and supply has dried up (the last in-port Aikman was listed a month ago, btw), there's an especially high demand for this, autographed or not.

And the autograph is a nice one. It's not "TA" with his jersey number and it's not squeezed on the card or smudged. It's done well if the scan that I placed in this post is any indication of what 25 lucky so-and-so's will be getting by mail.

Kudos first of all goes to etopps for offering this treat and the timing couldn't be better for Dallas, Super Bowl, Aikman, football or etopps autograph collecting fans.

I don't see this card having a problem selling on the secondary market if any of the 25 decide to sell it. Allen & Ginter cards are known for baseball so for regular cardboard collecting auto buyers, this could be a worthwhile investment.

A couple of things I saw on ebay. His auto holds more value when the card has something added to it whether it's a swatch of his jersey or there's another auto on the card. Both sell well on ebay. If I had a price, I would guess the auto could easily sell for $200 on ebay but I've been wrong plenty of times and I hate predicting.

Good luck if want to buy the card tomorrow. There will be plenty of unlucky etoppers tomorrow at 3:05pm. Hopefully you won't be one of them.

Autograph Offering: John Elway Allen & Ginter Super Bowl Champs

It's nice to see another football autograph offering from etopps, and even nicer to have another Allen & Ginter Super Bowl Champions offering from the first set. It wasn't as if this set needed a boost. The value of this set has skyrocketed in the past year. The John Elway card was already at $50 before this offering was posted yesterday on the etopps home page.

This offering would have been a nice belated Christmas present if it had been offered 3 weeks ago, giving us a chance to have it shipped before the upcoming Super Bowl.

The autograph is being offered tomorrow at 3PM EST for $79.99 a pop and only one can be bought per account for a total of 50 being available.

While the last autograph did not sell out immediately due to IT problems on Christmas Eve, this one should not have a problem.

What I also like about autographs of retired players is their value will not diminish unless of course they did something that makes them look bad as we've seen with Tiger Woods and retired baseball players like Clemens. Since Elway is a top-notch person, I don't think you have much to worry about. There are a lot of Elway fans and this card with his autograph should make the die-hards drool at least a bit.

When doing a search on ebay for "Elway auto," I found 100 listings. That's quite a lot considering we're in the middle of the worst recession since World War II and unemployment is at 10% nationwide. There seems to be a lot of Elway fans selling and buying his autograph on cards whether it's on a jersey card, some other kind of auto card or a plain ol' sticker auto. Most of the ones shown in completed listings sell between $100 and $200.

Mostly likely this card will sell in this range on ebay. The first few will probably sell more but most likely you'll make a profit for a long time to come. It's a stead, solid investment and for an Elway fan, it's a solid buy for their collection and for drooling over.

Autograph Offering: 2001 Reggie Wayne

After months of hibernation, the etopps autograph program has returned with an offering of 50 2001 Reggie Wayne cards at $29.99 each tomorrow, Christmas Eve, at 3pm EST.

Yes, it has been quite awhile since an autographed card was offered. More have been offered in the catalog this year than new ones and we all know why. With 10% nationwide unemployment, etopps ain't dumb, realizing that autographed cards just like other collectibles is all about disposable income that's one of the first and last things to be affected by the economy.

Nevertheless it's nice to see a 2001 card being offered and it's a rookie and it's for a player we are familiar with thanks to Peyton Manning. The Colts seem unstoppable so all of these factors help this card's current value.

At a penny shy of $30, it's nicely undervalued. You may be able to double your money if the card arrives in your mailbox if the Colts are in the Super Bowl or if they win the Super Bowl.

Looking at the sales of other autographed 2001 cards of Reggie Wayne, it looks like most of them are in the $60-$70 range except for the graded ones. They fetch a lot higher and you could probably score at least $100 if you wait it out and have BGS inspect the auto. The downside to any grading is the time it takes. Some have the patience for this while others do not.

For the collector, you couldn't ask for a better Christmas present from etopps if you like Reggie Wayne or if you're a Colts fan, a fan of the 2001 etopps Football set or just like etopps autographs. At $30, etopps deserves kudos for this price. They know there are potential buyers of this card who have already spent a lot of saved-up coin for holiday shopping.

What's also nice is how Mr. Wayne signed the card. While others may have just scribbled their initials and jersey number, it's easy to see he wrote his full name. What's also nice is he signed his name in the top left corner without touching the foreground image of his head or his body in the background picture.

Overall it's nice to see more autographs from etopps and nice to review them once again. For the collector, you couldn't ask for a better opportunity and for the seller, patience is the key to make a better profit on this.

The Next Autograph

For the last several Mondays I, like others, have refreshed the homepage of the etopps website around noon, expecting to see the next autograph offering pop up. But each time, the IPOs show up at 1PM instead.

The last one (Masterson) took a bit of time to sell out. Doing a biweekly offering makes sense to keep everyone interested without hurting their wallets but after so many weeks, you would expect them to resume the biweekly schedule since it's now looking more like a monthly schedule.

I think the next autograph will tell us what's going on. Either we're going to be offered something big (as if they wanted to prepare our wallets for this) or the same low priced offering will continue.

I don't think a higher-priced offering will be a problem considering the money being made from this year's baseball offerings so far.

The only other possibility I can think of for the hiatus is the focus on getting signatures for this fall's football season. We don't know whether etopps is so scaled down that Mark is getting the autos himself or someone else is doing this for etopps. It's just a hunch considering the fact that a lot of the autographs come with COAs that show the date of the signature occurred months before the offering.

Autograph Offering: Justin Masterson

Kudos goes to etopps for offering autographs every other week to make it easier for etopps members' wallets. I presented the dilemma of offering high-end autographs vs. low-end autographs at the beginning of the baseball season in light of our economy and the road etopps has chosen seems to be working. IPOs are selling out and so are the autographs so far. As stated in a previous post, the other shoe may drop later in the season, after the all-star break, when wallets are exhausted.

This Thursday, 200 2008 Masterson autos are being offered at $29.99 each and you can buy a maximum of 3 per account.

So is this reasonable? As of this writing, there are only 14 active listings and a bunch of ebay store offerings. Most of the 14 listings are auctions, and so are the completed auctions. $29.99 is about what they're selling for at the close of auctions on average with sticker autos going for $10-$15 on average. For a relief pitching prospect, not bad.

Add another $10 to its value for the etopps "halo effect" (COA, on-the-card auto) and at least another $5 the fact that it's a Red Sox and a rookie card.

I would stop here but there's something else to consider. Trade rumors are flying around already. Big Pappi is falling apart. What if Masterson is on another team by the time you get this autograph in the mail?

Something to think about.

Autograph Offering: Clayton Kershaw

After last night's performance of Chad Billingsley against my Mets, it's too bad etopps isn't offering his 2006 RRO rookie etopps card this week. Instead, they are offering 100 2008 Clayton Kershaw cards signed on Thursday, May 21st for $35 each. Each account can only get one of these so it's likely this will sell out, right?

Let's see what ebay has to say about this. Needless to say his 2006 true rookie cards are most sought after, have the highest asking prices and have the most bids. 2008 is not a pretty year for his autographed cards nor is the quantity of 100 for that year.

But when you factor in the appealing on-the-card signature rather than a sticker, the quality of the card, the encasement, the COA and the etopps following for the autographed cards, this card could sell over $100. Gallardo's auto has not done much as a pre-sell yet (as a pitcher comparison) and it's too bad this player was chosen over Billingsley who is hot right now.

Based on the performance of Kershaw, this card should easily double your money even if you don't sell it before receiving it from etopps because of the large LA market and the factors I listed above.

Autograph Offering: Yovani Gallardo

Other than Zack Greinke, I couldn't think of a better pitcher to offer for an autograph right now. Kudos to etopps for the timing and price of this auto.

At the price offerings for these past three autos, it's a monetary relief that they are doing this now. It'll be interesting what will happen if they offer autographs higher than $50 or at $99.99 or more. I still think they should get the high-end autos out of the way or offer a schedule of who they will be offering even if it's two weeks in advance.

Looking at completed auctions for 2007 Gallardo autos, most of them were sticker autos from Bowman. Ones that were out of 199 sold for $50+. It may be safe to say this auto could be valued well over $100 because Gallardo is hot and the market is saturated with stickers autos.

Not sure why etopps stopped showing what the autograph looks like. Sure it's not good for the pre-sells on ebay but it's not difficult to recall some poor quality signatures, most recently Terry Bradshaw.

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.

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.

Autograph Offering: Allen & Ginter SB Champ Tom Brady

It's Allen and Ginter week on the etopps website between this week's IPOs and this autograph offering of Tom Brady.

I think etopps did a better job at offering fewer and for less money than previous offerings from this set. Though the offering would have been sweeter if etopps was asking $99 rather than a penny less than $140.

This etopps in-hand seller has the once bitten twice shy attitude about this card. If I can't sell the Allen & Ginter Joe Montana autograph at cost on a 7 day auction, how am I expected to do more than cost on Tom Brady who's been out for the current season?

I don't think people are that willing to open their wallets to pay more than what etopps is asking. Maybe there are a lot of Tom Brady followers out there and we know from the quick sell-out of Wes Welker that there are a lot of Pats fans who buy etopps cards but at $140 this auto would be more of a hold that a sell considering the economy. Hold until the start of next season to see that Brady is back and see if his other cards are selling better. You can hope that the economy will turn a corner by then since the hobby has taken a beating this last quarter.

Joe Torre Signing, Friday Marketwatch - January 9

Earlier today, etopps announced the following:

Due to popular demand we are excited to announce that we will continue the Allen & Ginter Super Bowl Champions collection in ’09! The first six cards were launched in ’08 and have created much demand and excitement in the marketplace and we expect this years additions will perform equally as well. Although Allen & Ginter has been traditionally limited to baseball releases, this series allows collectors to experience the beauty of Allen & Ginter with top NFL Superstars and now coaches as well! To celebrate the Super Bowl we will begin offering cards from this collection on Monday, January 19th at 1PM EST and continue offering additional cards on Monday, January 26th. The collection will include NFL Super Bowl greats including Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Landry, Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Tony Dorsett and Walter Payton.
Similar to last years cards the collection will be beautifully presented and delivered via the classic Allen & Ginter design (even staying true to the original Allen & Ginter size), but brought to life on stunning eTopps technology. Cards will be offered individually, encased and be sequentially numbered* . *While the Allen & Ginter eTopps cards differ in size from regular eTopps cards, they will continue to be encased in our standard sized eTopps tamper-evident, plastic case with eTopps sticker. The cards will be placed into a fitted frame and then fixed inside of the case. Be sure to visit eTopps on Monday, January 19th! Cards go on sale at 1PM EST and be sure to come back on Monday the 26th for additional cards.
As always, please feel free to contact our Customer Service team at 'support@etopps.com' if you ever have any questions, comments or suggestions. A customer service representative will be available to assist you between the hours of 9:00am - 4:30pm (ET), Monday through Friday. Thank you once again for your continued support of eTopps! Sincerely, The eTopps Team http://www.etopps.com/

My only question is: will the discounted shipping be available?

* * *

If you live around the northern New Jersey area, Joe Torre will be signing his new book at the Yogi Berra museum.

The signing will occur on Tuesday, February 3rd from 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

$40 includes the book, tax and the autograph. Joe will only be signing copies of the book. No inscriptions and no photography will be allowed due to time constraints.

Pre-Orders are recommended. Call 973-655-2378 to place your order or visit www.yogiberramuseum.org

***

As of today, January 9 the following are stats covering the last 7 days on ebay for etopps in-hands:

Quantity of etopps in-hands listings: 184
Sell-Through: 54.89%
Average starting price: $3.41
Average final price: $9.65

Highest Single Card Sale: Allen & Ginter Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, $119.99
Highest Mult-Card Sale: 2007 Allen and Ginter Presidents Set, $119.99
Highest Graded Sale: 2001 Albert Pujols, BGS 9.5, $99.99
Highest Non-Graded Autograph Sale: 2006 Bo Jackson Classic Football, $140
Highest Graded Autograph Sale: None

Other best sellers:

* 2001 Albert Pujols
* Classic Baseball Mickey Mantle
* 2005 Barry Bonds Classic Baseball Event
* 2004 Ben Roethlisberger

In-hand listing (not including graded or autographed) that received most bids that sold well: 50 Card Etopps In-Hand Lot: 22 bids