Is there a website that can track the real time value of a baseball
card collection?  I want to create a 'my portfolio' on a website which
will then let me organize my collection of baseball cards and give me
as close to realtime pricing/value on each card and the total
portfolio as possible.

Hello Joyinrep!

Thanks for asking your question.  I have a basement full of baseball
cards so I'm interested in learning how much money I might be sitting
on :).

You asked us to find a site where you could track your baseball card
values in realtime similar to the stock market.  You want to be able
to put your cards in a portfolio for easy reference.

I believe I have found two sites that should fit the bill.  One is an
active online market, the other is from Beckett.

Beckett's site looks like it will work the best for you, although it
does come with a monthly charge.  It's hard to find the exact charge
on the site, but it looks like approximately 3-4 dollars a month.  To
get started, log into:

[ http://www.beckett.com/ ] 

And head over to the 'my beckett' section.  Register a username and
password, and then proceed to the 'my collection' section.  It will
allow you to register 5,000 cards per collection (I believe you can
list multiple collections) and it will list pricing from the latest
Beckett price guide as the values change.

Thepit.com is the online, stock market-like marketplace with realtime
pricing based on the market's demand.  It is free of charge, although
there are fees for trading cards through the site.  You can find the
pit at:

[ http://www.thepit.com/ ] 

The site says they're a subsidiary of Topps, but all brands of cards
are traded on the site.  It functions just like a stock market with
clever ticker symbol names for cards, and value determined in realtime
according to supply, demand, and the listed value price.

I logged into the site, registered my name, and found that the
'portfolio' section requires you to participate in the trading.  There
is, however, a 'watch' list that will allow you enter in as many cards
as you'd like with no obligation to trade.  You can follow their value
in real-time.

To find the watch list, click on the 'my account' button (after you
register, of course), then click 'watch list' to register your cards. 
The pricing on the watch list will be updated in realtime when the
market is active.

I hope one of the two above sites will work for you!  I think the
Beckett site will have a more comprehensive database of card values
(they're the people who have been publishing values for years).  Best
of luck!  I'm about to register and spend a weekend tracking my card
values now :).

-Nishka-Ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by joyinrep-ga on 19 Sep 2003 14:42 PDT

Hi Nishka,

This was a while back, but did you ever try out beckett.com or
thepit.com, and if so, which one worked better for you?

Thanks for your help.

Excellent answer and fast response time.  Thanks!

Hi! The best Baseball Card Collection Software available right now
appears to be "C2PRO 2.0" by LK2 Software.  The new 2.1 Beta is very
close to what you want.

Quoted from the 2.1 Beta Page of their website:

..."Track and Report card value statistics on any individual card and
your entire collection! Historical value tracking keeps you ahead of
the trend!

Just enter the price and C2PRO does the rest. Every time you change a
price C2PRO tracks the value change and over time you can see upward
or downward trends in your card's value.

Multiple Card Price Setting and Updating - Set and update multiple
card prices with C2PRO's Multiple Price Change feature.  Update high,
low, purchase and sale prices on all cards shown in the card gird. 
Used in combination with the Quick Filters feature will allow you to
update prices on entire sets or collections in minutes..."

It appears they have an "Auto Update Wizard" where the company: LK2
updates with new card values frequently and as a licensed owner of
their software you simply use this feature as you do tpoupdate virus
definitions, only it updates the value of your baseball
cards/collection..."

Here is the link:
http://www.lk2.com/

I hope this helps you with your project!

The best two sites for tracking real-time pricing are thepit.com and
eBay.  Although thepit.com specializes in just sports cards, the
trading volume for sports cards is much lower than on eBay.  Thus,
prices tend to be more volatile on thepit.com resulting in many users
transferring cards to and from eBay to take advantage of price
inequities.  However, due to Topps' recent investment in thepit.com, I
expect the upcoming marketing efforts will dramatically increase
trading on thepit.

** I believe the Card Management Tool at www.RealLegends.com is
exactly what you're looking for.  It keeps track of most every regular
issue and insert ever produced with prices from the latest closed eBay
auction.

Another site you might look into is eTopps.  eTopps (www.eTopps.com)
is the ultimate internet-age card portfolio.  Of course, it only works
with the eTopps cards but they are quickly attracting a following
because of the novel IPO concept and the ease with which you can
liquidate your shares (er, cards) directly on eBay without any
shipping involved.  Many collectors have had great success "investing"
in eTopps cards.  This could be the future of sports card collecting. 
It will be interesting to watch as it unfolds.