Poker Chips on Ebay -- price inflation?! (1 Viewer)

[MacGrad]

When looking for info re: my custom ASM design files on Big Blue, I ran across a reminder that I had once sold 620 Mardi Gras Queen chips for about $400... out of curiosity, I looked on eBay to see what the current prices are, and I'm aghast that the $1 chips are selling for about $4 each!

While I had to sell these at the time, I'm now wondering: did poker chip prices (from defunct casinos) really increase in value that much over the past decade?

 

[rowlin]

Welcome back!

Paulson left the home market and bought BCC, removing them from the picture too, so prices have spiked in the past couple years due to scarcity and/or reduction in new inventory.

The good news is that Jim Blanchard and David Spragg revived ASM (now called CPC).

But yeah, some of the chip prices are a bit silly these days.

 

[MacGrad]

Thanks for the info / update!

I read a bit about Jim's first retirement from ASM, and some of the drama surrounding the purchase, but I'm glad to see that he's still involved and that ASM / CPC is in good hands once again. I looked at the website yesterday, and it's nice to see that it's added some useful touches (and plaques!) to their offerings. I'm just happy that I purchased my chips "back in the day" -- looking at the prices for the edgespot combos, there's no way I'd be able to afford my custom set at today's prices! (Not a bad thing -- just an observation.)

Was this price increase an across-the-board thing for all real (defunct) chips? Or did it just happen to be for certain casinos / types of chips? In other words, is it just Chipco ceramics that suffered the increase, or did all ceramics? Actually, are ceramics still in use in casinos -- in Ontario (my area), the casinos just use Paulsons.

 

[rowlin]

Chipco folded and some of its peeps started a company called Game On, but I don't know much about ceramics, myself.

For a while during the downturn when casinos were closing en masse, Jim from The Chip Room was selling sets from closed casinos, so there are probably more used casino chips around than you will remember.

I haven't been very active buying and selling recently, so others may be able to analyze the new pricing environment better than me, but Paulsons seem to be selling for a lot in general, even the newer home lines. There are still reasonable listings out there, but they are far less frequent now and are typically people who bought the chips when they were closer to the buck-a-chip range.

 

[dennis63]

You're also seeing a price trend on E-Bay. More and more, I'm finding E-Bay prices to be not only retail, but high retail.

When E-Bay first started, it portrayed itself as the place to buy slightly used stuff and new items people got but didn't want for less than retail price.

With the fees charged by E-Bay and Paypal, and Paypal also taking a cut of the shipping charge, and "buyer protection" placing all the risk on the seller, sellers have little choice but to demand higher prices.

Just my opinion, but I think the only people making any money at all selling on E-Bay must be selling stuff they either inherited (at no cost to them), or stole.

 

[DJ Mack]

I've been saying the only people making any money at all selling on E-Bay must be selling stuff they either inherited (at no cost to them), or stole.

That last part there has kept me away from Fleabay for anything in any kind of demand, particularly electronics. Counterfeit goods are also rampant. In the early days I made a decent side buck selling legitimate water coolers on behalf of a manufacturer where the owner (a family friend) wanted to sell unbranded versions of their branded product to the consumer market. Nothing major but I had a couple hundred positive transactions. Then the fees got to where we couldn't break even compared to our normal distribution channels so we stopped doing that.

When they got hacked I never got around to changing my password as required and sooner or later they deleted my account. There's just too much risk involved for the privilege of paying near-retail pricing. As I've gotten older I've moved beyond driving 10 miles to save a buck on a gallon of gas. I value a good bargain as much as anyone else but I've learned that my time isn't free and there's a dollar value to risk.

 

[DrStrange]

Most of the jump in prices happened in the last six to twelve months. I was able to make huge progress on building several sets in the fall of 2015 at roughly a buck a chip. Those same chips would likely cost $1.50+ each now, if they could be found at all. Lack of supply is the key thing right now.

The classified ads are the best place to find chips at the moment.

DrStrange

 

[maxim_666666]

it is all due to the lack of new chips, and the stupidity of some sellers ..
they see the value of 1 chip for collectibles. for example, $ 3.5 / chip and multiplied by the number of the entire set ... absolutely do not understand the essence of things.

prices really crossed the $ 1 / chip

but I personally think that they can not exceed the price of chips from the CPC ...
simply because it's stupid to pay more, if for the same money, you can get the perfect set .... PERFECT ...
Of course here we are talking about a large set. (Minimum 300 units)
but for the rare pieces, singles or supplements (about 20 chips), it is possible to give $ 2 +

of course, Paulson has a lot of advantages (for example, different degrees of protection, the memories of favorite casinos and the like things), but they are easily thwarted, such as the shortcomings of colors transfer and the softness ... especially soft ..
paying a premium price of $ 2 + for a new set, after a few games you get a completely different price for it.

The classified ads are the best place to find chips at the moment.

DrStrange

+1
this is true ..

 

[DrStrange]

I don't know, I was thrilled to get a nice set of 1970's Tropicana chips for about $3/each. And thought I was getting a bargain at that price.

 

[maxim_666666]

Here is a simple example..
the seller is asking for 357 chips 1328$ + $ 50 shipping ..
and does not even include racks ...
Note that the chip is already used ..
what can I say ...
He will sell it a few years ...

100 x $100
100 x $500
45 x $1000
12 x $5000

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-PAULSON...003552?hash=item3d23f106e0:g:SPYAAOSwawpXv1tf

 

[maxim_666666]

I don't know, I was thrilled to get a nice set of 1970's Tropicana chips for about $3/each. And thought I was getting a bargain at that price.

agree that in this case, the price probably did not matter to you personally ...
someone else would have simply passed him ...

 

[DJ Mack]

agree that in this case, the price probably did not matter to you personally ...
someone else would have simply passed him ...

Most sellers I've seen really have no idea about the item they are selling or the market for it. If this guy unloads a set of 40 year old Tropicanas for $3/chip he'll probably launch his next auction for 2015 Horseshoe Cleveland chips at $4 each (or $9.95 http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/131924910017?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true), because hey, someone paid $3 for his last batch. Therefore it stands to reason that chips, in general, must be worth more than that.

Everybody hates SPAM email. But why does it continue to proliferate? Because somebody out there buys what they're selling.

 

[mummel]

The great poker chip bubble if 2016.

 

[Momek]

Here is a simple example..
the seller is asking for 357 chips 1328$ + $ 50 shipping ..
and does not even include racks ...
Note that the chip is already used ..
what can I say ...
He will sell it a few years ...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-PAULSON...003552?hash=item3d23f106e0:g:SPYAAOSwawpXv1tf

You can find exactly the same set for a bit cheaper just here

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/set-paulson-wthc-tournament-357-chips.14178/

and the stupidity of some sellers ..
they see the value of 1 chip for collectibles. for example, $ 3.5 / chip and multiplied by the number of the entire set ... absolutely do not understand the essence of things.

:::

 

[maxim_666666]

oh yes , I see ... Good luck with the sale