About 1 month ago, there was a true auction for a 1997 1/2 gold panda on ebay that ended for $4050. The sale is not reported in this month's Pricepedia, which still lists the value of a 1997 1/2 at $3,425. As of 2 weeks ago, Robert Mish was buying problem-free 1997 1/2s at $3,800. As of last week, Arif's offer is $3,900 (public info on this forum).
Private sales of 2003 1/2 gold pandas have been in the range of $2,300 to $2500+ for at least 4 weeks now, yet this month's Pricepedia still lists the value of a 2003 1/2 at $1,325. I sold one for $2,500. As of last week, Arif's offer is $2,900 (public info on this forum).
Without much thought, I could list 5 to 10 more examples of buyer/dealer bids that are significantly higher than Pricepedia's reported values.
What I see happening is that Pricepedia's focus is on Chinese auction house results at the exclusion of the main public venue for sales within the USA (eBay). Furthermore, since private transactions are rarely if ever reported/made public, Pricepedia also has no access to that price information UNLESS WE CHOOSE TO PROVIDE THIS INFO to the author. Since most sellers do not give this info to Mr. Anthony, Pricepedia no longer accurately reflects the value of most gold pandas in the US marketplace.
This might benefit some buyers, who will get a great deal from uninformed sellers, however, it may hurts sellers who may have trouble justifying their high "ask" to a prospective buyer for a coin that Pricepedia says is worth much less.
WHAT I PROPOSE:
I am going to create a NEW thread that I propose should be STICKY in which CCF members can choose to publicly disclose completed sales with other forum members (or non-forum members). Sellers will be required to specify the date of the sale (month and year) and the venue (on CCF, private sale with CCF member, etc), but not the identity of the BUYER.
That way, this public information can be used by informed buyers and sellers to properly value gold pandas and other MCC for trades within the US market. Pricepedia's author, also a forum member, will have an easy time vetting this information for accuracy and authenticity, which I believe is why eBay auctions are not currently included within Pricepedia.
Feel free to comment. I hope this post does not offend any forum members nor ruin any business prospects. You may PM me if you feel this idea is horrible and should be stopped.