First Buzz: 2025 Topps Chrome baseball cards

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by Americards

If you just joined the hobby today, You wouldn't know any better.
Right Premium?

Its true. But this is no different than what Blowout or other big retailers do. As their products get purchased, price goes up. I saw 3 different high end cases I was looking at go up on Blowouts site today alone. Supply goes down, price goes up. That's kind of the how it works. Also, as a side note, it also says they have been selling it. They aren't jumping the price 20% on something that isn't moving at the old price. I'm definitely not buying at those prices, but plenty still will.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by premium1981

Its true. But this is no different than what Blowout or other big retailers do.

Other retailers are not monopolies.....in any other situation, if seller A raises their prices too high, consumers migrate to seller B....but in the sports card industry, there is no seller B.

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by MSU Bulldogs

My average blasters purchased of Topps Chrome for the year, over the last six years will remain at less than one.
2025 - 1
2024 - 1
2023 - 3
2022 - 0
2021 - 0
2020 - 0

Thanks for the info.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Other retailers are not monopolies.....in any other situation, if seller A raises their prices too high, consumers migrate to seller B....but in the sports card industry, there is no seller B.

Please tell me you aren't serious. Do you think sports cards are a necessity? If Fanatics charges too much for their product, nobody is forced to buy it.

[DarcyWinston]

Originally Posted by MSU Bulldogs

My average blasters purchased of Topps Chrome for the year, over the last six years will remain at less than one.
2025 - 1
2024 - 1
2023 - 3
2022 - 0
2021 - 0
2020 - 0

This shocks our community. Very sad.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Please tell me you aren't serious. Do you think sports cards are a necessity? If Fanatics charges too much for their product, nobody is forced to buy it.

Whether or not someone is "forced to buy something" has nothing to do with whether or not something is a monopoly.

A monopoly is any situation where a single company dominates a market to the point that they can control distribution prices...doesn't make a difference if the good in question is a necessity or not.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monopoly.asp

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Other retailers are not monopolies.....in any other situation, if seller A raises their prices too high, consumers migrate to seller B....but in the sports card industry, there is no seller B.

This latest increase being discussed was a public facing price increase on a product that is already out. You can literally go to another seller and purchase if you don't like the Fanatic's price. Its not a presell anymore. Its everywhere. Not only is there a seller B, but there is a C, a D, F, G, H, I, J, K, elimenopee, etc.

[Americards]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Please tell me you aren't serious. Do you think sports cards are a necessity? If Fanatics charges too much for their product, nobody is forced to buy it.

Except if you are a direct account and they say if you don't buy what they are offering, you are not supporting them and they will help the accounts that are supporting them.


2024 Heritage High was sold (by Fanatics) at the last wave at $180 to direct accounts.
They were selling on ebay at that same time for $165, Who was selling it for $165? The ones who bought boxes on Topps.com at $100 (on release day), were the ones selling on ebay for a $50 a box profit!
4 months later, Boxes are selling for $140 to $150...


Yes, store customers are not forced to buy it, but LCS are forced and are the ones holding the bag if they can't move them..
This is the other reason why the charge more for better products, to make up for the losses on the overcharged products

[Cardsareus84]

Saw this on another site. That is brutally bad.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Whether or not someone is "forced to buy something" has nothing to do with whether or not something is a monopoly.

A monopoly is any situation where a single company dominates a market to the point that they can control distribution prices...doesn't make a difference if the good in question is a necessity or not.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/monopoly.asp

Um, I didn't say they weren't a monopoly.

That wasn't my point at all. My point is that they are free to raise their prices, and we are free to not buy their products. Your whole point about them being a monopoly is completely irrelevant to the point you used it to argue against.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Americards

Except if you are a direct account and they say if you don't buy what they are offering, you are not supporting them and they will help the accounts that are supporting them.


2024 Heritage High was sold (by Fanatics) at the last wave at $180 to direct accounts.
They were selling on ebay at that same time for $165, Who was selling it for $165? The ones who bought boxes on Topps.com at $100 (on release day), were the ones selling on ebay for a $50 a box profit!
4 months later, Boxes are selling for $140 to $150...


Yes, store customers are not forced to buy it, but LCS are forced and are the ones holding the bag if they can't move them..
This is the other reason why the charge more for better products, to make up for the losses on the overcharged products

No one is forcing a store to buy them either. Fanatics is clearly trying to cut out the middlemen. If stores stocking wax are no longer necessary, then maybe that shouldn't be their business model. :shrug:

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by Americards

Except if you are a direct account and they say if you don't buy what they are offering, you are not supporting them and they will help the accounts that are supporting them.


2024 Heritage High was sold (by Fanatics) at the last wave at $180 to direct accounts.
They were selling on ebay at that same time for $165, Who was selling it for $165? The ones who bought boxes on Topps.com at $100 (on release day), were the ones selling on ebay for a $50 a box profit!
4 months later, Boxes are selling for $140 to $150...


Yes, store customers are not forced to buy it, but LCS are forced and are the ones holding the bag if they can't move them..
This is the other reason why the charge more for better products, to make up for the losses on the overcharged products

Now, you have shown where the store HAS to buy $10-$20 over market. Ok. Let's visit the products that you get at a fraction of market value shall we? As a card shop, care to share those experiences? INCLUDING the very product we are discussing in previous waves. Those are always conveniently left out of these topics of discussion. As a succesful card shop, I would assume you got a case of Topps Dynasty? I bet it was less than the $12k price tag that they sell for. But let's ignore that and keep talking about the $10.

[EBCollectibles]

This product is a absolute Blood Bath!! Keep opening!!

[johnlocke36]

Originally Posted by Americards

Yes, store customers are not forced to buy it, but LCS are forced and are the ones holding the bag if they can't move them..
This is the other reason why the charge more for better products, to make up for the losses on the overcharged products

BUT LCS are not forced to exist or even operate at a profit. They can switch business models or they can just close shop.

Its pretty similar to all the corner bookstores that charge 300% markup on amazon books that they expect people to pay to "help a local business"

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by premium1981

This latest increase being discussed was a public facing price increase on a product that is already out. You can literally go to another seller and purchase if you don't like the Fanatic's price. Its not a presell anymore. Its everywhere. Not only is there a seller B, but there is a C, a D, F, G, H, I, J, K, elimenopee, etc.

Except that they cannot sell at a price below that of seller A, since they have all gotten their product from seller A, and seller A controls whether or not they can get access to future products.

The only time prices drop below the initial Fanatics release price is long after release or when a product is unpopular.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Except that they cannot sell at a price below that of seller A, since they have all gotten their product from seller A, and seller A controls whether or not they can get access to future products.

The only time prices drop below the initial Fanatics release price is long after release or when a product is unpopular.

Sure they can. They may still have wave 1 or wave 2 pricing. Or, as most business minded people realize, sometimes you average out your sales to make your product an overall win. It isn't about the last few boxes you had to buy at $10 over when you made $100 a box on the first ones. They can take the full allocation at higher prices and still be just fine.

Or, maybe TC isn't a money maker for them. Everything in Costco isn't sold at a profit either. I swear I don't know how some people keep their businesses open with the way they think. Oh yes I do. Its those other products that we continue to not talk about. Stuff like Dynasty, Marvel Chrome, Transcendent, etc that make them thousands of dollars.

[kyle1707]

Was at lcs and saw 5 hobby boxes opened

Omg that is bad

Fanatics is at the point. They know people will buy anything at any price

[CKB]

Back in stock at Fanatics. $550 for jumbo box. LOL

[majestik101]

$550 is a bargain compared to my LCS which has shelf price of $675 for a sealed box of Jumbo.

Out the door, after taxes, around $735

What's more shocking is while I was there, they sold 3 boxes at that price in the span of about an hour

People be crazy

[BayAreaChris]

Premium and OhioLawyer,

I respect your opinions on the board but I am surprised both of you are that comfortable with the manufacturer changing prices quickly and substantially based on demand especially to the general public. Ignore the wholesale business.

It obviously makes business sense as others are doing it, but there was a rule of decorum traditionally that manufacturers do not change pricing based on demand. It’s a bad precedent and a bad look for the company.

What’s next? Fanatics / Topps only releases half the inventory in the release year and holds the rest as an investment til 5 years later?

Couldn’t Nike do that for shoes, any collectible company do that for toys, comics, etc?

[BayAreaChris]

One more comment. Fanatics obviously knows it’s a bad look. They are not doing this on Topps as once it sells out it’s gone and never changes price after release date.

Fanatics is a different site but its semantics.

Another unrelated retailer should always be able to do what they want once they get the product, not the manufacturer of the product.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by BayAreaChris

Premium and OhioLawyer,

I respect your opinions on the board but I am surprised both of you are that comfortable with the manufacturer changing prices quickly and substantially based on demand.

It obviously makes business sense as others are doing it, but there was a rule of decorum traditionally that manufacturers do not change pricing based on demand. It’s a bad precedent and a bad look for the company.

What’s next? Fanatics / Topps only releases half the inventory in the release year and holds the rest as an investment til 5 years later?

Couldn’t Nike do that for shoes, any collectible company do that for toys, comics, etc?

They can do anything they want.

Their customers don’t seem to mind the price increases, so why should they?

The only thing that will get their attention is when they can’t move product at their price - hasn’t happened yet.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by BayAreaChris

Premium and OhioLawyer,

I respect your opinions on the board but I am surprised both of you are that comfortable with the manufacturer changing prices quickly and substantially based on demand especially to the general public. Ignore the wholesale business.

It obviously makes business sense as others are doing it, but there was a rule of decorum traditionally that manufacturers do not change pricing based on demand. It’s a bad precedent and a bad look for the company.

What’s next? Fanatics / Topps only releases half the inventory in the release year and holds the rest as an investment til 5 years later?

Couldn’t Nike do that for shoes, any collectible company do that for toys, comics, etc?

You are confusing my stating that Fanatics has every right to do something (or that I would expect them to), as my belief that they should, or that's it's the right thing to do. Those are different things. Don't make my argument something it isn't. My argument is that as long as people keep paying, they'll keep doing it. I've said it in all caps- stop giving them money if you want it to change.

[timber63401]

Originally Posted by majestik101

$550 is a bargain compared to my LCS which has shelf price of $675 for a sealed box of Jumbo.

Out the door, after taxes, around $735

What's more shocking is while I was there, they sold 3 boxes at that price in the span of about an hour

People be crazy

Tons of those boxes will have $20 worth of Autos in them. Everyone who buys one gets exactly what they deserve.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by BayAreaChris

What’s next? Fanatics / Topps only releases half the inventory in the release year and holds the rest as an investment til 5 years later?

I would not be shocked at all to find out that they are ALREADY doing this....and selling the inventory they have held back via a third-party.