About the big shops of stickers and albums

[edison]

Hello again!, Edison from Colombia!

I do not know if there is any Publication dedicated to this topic, (If there is one, please, send me the Link).

I understand that for example: Some child or young man who in 1974 or 1986 kept his album in good condition or avoided the temptation to stick the stickers on his album, open a Packet or Display box and keep them in excellent condition and sell it for a lot of money in Ebay today.

I understand that maybe years ago every time a World Cup ended, someone said: "The World Cup ended! This will cost a lot in a few years. I will buy many empty albums, Stickers Packets, Display box, store them and in 30 years Will I sell them at very high prices."

But...

¿ Where do they buy the big shops of stickers and albums to get and sell so many items ?, (especially from collections so old of the World Cups like Munchen 74, España 82, Mexico 86 etc.)

Do the big stores have an alliance with some Secret Society that operates from a secret basement at the Panini Headquarters in Modena, Italy?

¿ How do those Distribution Channels work that ends up in such high consumer prices ?

https://ebay.to/2DwfW8e
https://ebay.to/2RJmR6R
https://ebay.to/2FTv6pO




Thanks!

@Pavle @Makhno @Kacper13 @dantzig @LeicesterRob @Caniggia @SubZero

 

[LeicesterRob]

Hi @edison

You pose some very good questions on the subject and I'm not sure any of us have a definitive answer but collectively we probably do!

My take on the question is ultimately it comes down to supply and demand. The greatest prices are for the items with the least stock available where people are willing to bid high prices.

Panini Euro 84 is one such example where it's close to being impossible to collect it now - there are literally more collectors than stickers which pushes up the market prices.

But for a complete opposite view on price is Panini Football 17 (UK home nations album) where no one was really that bothered by it and you can pick up full collections very cheap that it would not be worth opening packets to build the collection now. Even in years to come I expect stock levels will be great that prices won't shift

My theory is that once Panini stop stocking a collection then the market prices start to rise as supply shortens. I notice this with Calciatori as Panini UK stocks 2006 onwards so eBay prices aren't that high for these collections. However the albums pre-2006 tend to be much higher in price (even the less appealing 90s editions demand £300-400 on eBay (rightly or wrongly)

I also believe the 70s/80s/90s high prices you see on eBay is partly down to people re-living their youth (you could include me as I love the 80s editions but not the 70s ones as that wasn't my time growing up).

I'm not totally sure the prices will always remain like this as it needs collectors willing to spend high values. Today's new generations don't have the same interest in stickers so in my mind this bubble will burst eventually when people aren't interested anymore.

My final take is enjoy collecting, don't over spend and take your time on it as we rush too much these days!

 

[edison]

Hi @edison

You pose some very good questions on the subject and I'm not sure any of us have a definitive answer but collectively we probably do!

My take on the question is ultimately it comes down to supply and demand. The greatest prices are for the items with the least stock available where people are willing to bid high prices.

Panini Euro 84 is one such example where it's close to being impossible to collect it now - there are literally more collectors than stickers which pushes up the market prices.

But for a complete opposite view on price is Panini Football 17 (UK home nations album) where no one was really that bothered by it and you can pick up full collections very cheap that it would not be worth opening packets to build the collection now. Even in years to come I expect stock levels will be great that prices won't shift

My theory is that once Panini stop stocking a collection then the market prices start to rise as supply shortens. I notice this with Calciatori as Panini UK stocks 2006 onwards so eBay prices aren't that high for these collections. However the albums pre-2006 tend to be much higher in price (even the less appealing 90s editions demand £300-400 on eBay (rightly or wrongly)

I also believe the 70s/80s/90s high prices you see on eBay is partly down to people re-living their youth (you could include me as I love the 80s editions but not the 70s ones as that wasn't my time growing up).

I'm not totally sure the prices will always remain like this as it needs collectors willing to spend high values. Today's new generations don't have the same interest in stickers so in my mind this bubble will burst eventually when people aren't interested anymore.

My final take is enjoy collecting, don't over spend and take your time on it as we rush too much these days!

 

[edison]

Thank you for your timely and very detailed response.

Honestly, it took me some time to organize this question as soon as possible.

There were so many details on this subject that I did not include in the question and now I even find them funny. I know it seems exaggerated or maybe it sounds stupid, but for example:

How would it be 30 years ago to live near the Panini Factory in Modena ?.

Perhaps many years ago, many of its inhabitants would use the pages of an Argentina 78 or a Spain 82 to protect the floors of their houses while painting the walls or wrapping vegetables or spices. Oh! My God, what a sacrilege!

Some time later someone would ask, "Oh, many tourists are asking about these old albums and stickers, my friend Pietro's dad works in the Panini (When industrial security was not very strict) and he often gets hidden many albums and stickers, and Pietro does not even like football. The owner of the tobacco store had until recently a large pile of old albums. My friend Vincenzo is receiving training to operate a Panini gullotina. And the cellar watchman is my cousin. Maybe I can make some money "

Can you imagine how many stories will be behind each old Album or Packet of stickers before reaching our hands?

It is incredible how time gives value to many things, which at the time for many went unnoticed.

Again, thank you very much for taking your time answering my question!

P.O.S: Sorry for my Bad Google Traslate English and...

How much do you think it would cost an album Panini of Russia 2018 in 40 years! LOL!

 

[Ceesmk]

I know something about old collection that happened in France.

During the 90s, it was of course possible to make orders for old collections in Modena, but very few people did it. The price of the old collections were in this time very cheap, because Panini didn't care about.

I was a teenager, and I wanted to have new complete sets of the old World Cup. I bought for 35 Euros (less than 250 French Francss)... 380 different stickers of WC München 74 (the last 20 were not available in Modena). I did the same thing for Espana 82 and Mexico 86. Moreover, you could obtain sealed packs. There was a game on the "Minitel" (former Internet service in France) and you could win 100 stickers for example, and you had the possibility to choose the collection. I made the choice "Argentina 78", and I received 20 sealed packs...

Panini Modena started to propose high prices because these important collections were a bit out of stock, but it was still possible to make orders in France with the same prices for a short time. A part of the stocks were until the middle in of the 2000s directly in France and not in Modena, near Nizza. I met on Ebay 10 years ago a guy who was living near Panini France. He had lots of friends in Modena and knew the new politic of the Panini company. He went every day in Panini France to buy all the stocks of München 74, Argentina 78, Europa 80, Espana 82 and French Football 1976 (the 1st for French League). Finally, it was absolutely impossible to buy 1 sticker for these collections if you were in France...

I don't have any news from him since a long time (maybe more than 10 years, but I heard he was sick and wanted to sell everything) but he had between 15 and 20 complete sets for each collection...

 

[edison]

Hi @Ceesmk

I am very impressed with your story. To a large extent, he explains, resolves and confirms many things that he had always asked me

You also highlight a very important point, First, the fact
that this overvaluation of the old collections began much less time than I thought and that you could then acquire those old ones at very low prices.

And second and more interesting, as there are people who at that time really took advantage of both their taste for collecting and a geographical advantage (How to live and have contacts near a Panini in France and Italy and take advantage of the Company's Policies at that time) , to be made to a large number of collections that today are quite scarce and expensive on Ebay.

It could be said that at least in France, that guy you met was a "Pioneer" and maybe something that is offered today on Ebay is part of the collections that he acquired at a low price.

By the way, do you still have part of the collections that you bought ?, I see that you also took advantage of that time very well. If so, congratulations! If I do not wait, you have sold them at a good price.

Thank you very much for your story!


P.O.S: Sorry for my bad Google Traslate English!!

 

[Ceesmk]

I kept every album and collection since my childhood (in absolute perfect state, I was very careful).

So I had the new complete sets of every World Cup (except 1970) and every European Championship since 1974. I bought the WC during the 90s, and I completed them after with swaps or Ebay to find the missing stickers which were out of stock in Panini. Moreover, I have lots of doubles of the WC collections since Italia 90, because I collected them when I was a child and kept the doubles. For example, I was 9 in 1990, I completed my album, a complete set, and I still have more than 400 doubles.
The prices were not so high 10 years ago. For example, I paid a complete set Europa 80 120 Euros in 2007 on Ebay. Now, it's almost 1500. It's due to the boom of Internet.

For the sealed packs, I opened them (I was young!), but that's why I have 250 doubles Argentina 78...while I was born in 1981!

 

[edison]

I kept every album and collection since my childhood (in absolute perfect state, I was very careful).

So I had the new complete sets of every World Cup (except 1970) and every European Championship since 1974. I bought the WC during the 90s, and I completed them after with swaps or Ebay to find the missing stickers which were out of stock in Panini. Moreover, I have lots of doubles of the WC collections since Italia 90, because I collected them when I was a child and kept the doubles. For example, I was 9 in 1990, I completed my album, a complete set, and I still have more than 400 doubles.
The prices were not so high 10 years ago. For example, I paid a complete set Europa 80 120 Euros in 2007 on Ebay. Now, it's almost 1500. It's due to the boom of Internet.

For the sealed packs, I opened them (I was young!), but that's why I have 250 doubles Argentina 78...while I was born in 1981!

@Ceesmk What envy !. I was born in April 1980, it is a shame for me not to have been as aware as you were at that time.
If it is not annoying, you could upload some photos of your collection some day.

Again, My most sincere congratulations!

 

[Ceesmk]

I already uploaded some pictures on my Facebook page @edison

https://www.facebook.com/PaniniFootballClub/

Here for the WC sets

https://www.facebook.com/PaniniFootballClub/posts/1803881056391206