Graded Baseball Cards

[bucksfan2]

I was checking ebay for the card that initiated this thread. It looks like a PSA of 9-10 almost guarantees you double what the ungraded cards are going for.

I will probably just continue to hold onto my cards right now. I was just thinking about unloading because it seemed like the entire industry was getting a little bubbly.

[JFLegal]

I was checking ebay for the card that initiated this thread. It looks like a PSA of 9-10 almost guarantees you double what the ungraded cards are going for.

I will probably just continue to hold onto my cards right now. I was just thinking about unloading because it seemed like the entire industry was getting a little bubbly.

i'm thinking of selling because i didn't think the "market" would ever recover, compared to when we were kids. and i will not be surprised if it "crashes" once again very soon.

but damn, i don't need the money and these cards have a lot of sentimental value to me. the capitalist in me is like "sell, sell, sell." the kid in me wants to punch the capitalist in the face.

[Bob Sheed]

Market is still booming. PSA has stopped accepting new submissions. They were receiving over 100k per day.

Per day.

Get ready for the bottom to fall out of non-rare PSA slabs.

[REDREAD]

This is all good info. I don't really do sports cards, but I have some MTG cards that I should absolutely grade before selling,

jvs

Yea, I was around when MTG first got started.. Had the black lotus, time walk, some of the moxes, etc
I think I sold the whole lot for about $300, and I thought I was making a "killing" lol
I had some unopened packs of Arabian Nights, the first expansion, I only asked for $7/pack.
Good for you to have the foresight to keep those rare cards. I assumed that the game, even though it was fun, was just a fad.
I had no idea that it would even still be around about 30 years later..

[Redsfaithful]

Market is still booming. PSA has stopped accepting new submissions. They were receiving over 100k per day.

Per day.

Get ready for the bottom to fall out of non-rare PSA slabs.

I've been getting into this this year with my oldest, it's all hard to understand. I think a crash is coming at some point, but might reset at a higher level. A whole lot of new people became interested in the last year.

I can't believe you can't walk into a Wal-Mart or Target and buy some sort of sports card. I don't think that's ever happened in my life. At least that I'm aware of. People are camping out at Targets before restock day.

This is where being a Cincinnati sports fan pays off though. Outside of Joe Burrow pretty much everything modern-Cincinnati is cheap to collect.

[RedTeamGo!]

My dad sold a case of NBA cards, don’t remember the brand, but it was the year with Luka Doncic’s rookie for $38,000 a couple weeks ago. Made about a $35,000 profit.

[Larry Schuler]

I think indoor/collection hobbies have gotten a boost from folks who have weathered the pandemic OK and have the money to burn. I know vinyl record prices have jumped quite a bit in an already heightened secondary market.

[Larkin88]

I've been getting into this this year with my oldest, it's all hard to understand. I think a crash is coming at some point, but might reset at a higher level. A whole lot of new people became interested in the last year.

I can't believe you can't walk into a Wal-Mart or Target and buy some sort of sports card. I don't think that's ever happened in my life. At least that I'm aware of. People are camping out at Targets before restock day.

This is where being a Cincinnati sports fan pays off though. Outside of Joe Burrow pretty much everything modern-Cincinnati is cheap to collect.

Box breaks are cheaper to get into being a Reds fan, as well. If you don't really care about collecting other teams much, that is.

[Bob Sheed]

Box breaks are cheaper to get into being a Reds fan, as well. If you don't really care about collecting other teams much, that is.

This right here. The only stuff in modern packs worth anything are 14/50 or whatever. Scarcity and all that. With box breaks, you pay about what a couple of blasters cost, but you end up with all the Reds special cards that are pulled, plus a bunch of Reds team sets, mailed right to your door.

Make sure you find a reputable one though.

[KeefeCato]

PSA is so inconsistent with grading. If you do gobs of business with them the better the grade you get on cards.
SGC on the other hand is super tough on there grades. If you get a SGC high grade you have a beautiful card. I have saw PSA 7s that look better than 8s or 9s. And have saw PSA 6s that have a crease. Any card with a crease is supposed to be VG 4 or less grade. 5 grade is EX no EX or better grade should ever have a crease.

[JFLegal]

so with these clowns not being able to keep up with their own business, what is the next best option? beckett?

[Bob Sheed]

so with these clowns not being able to keep up with their own business, what is the next best option? beckett?

I was pretty high on PSA when I initially returned to the hobby last summer. And, at least with baseball cards, they are the most popular.

But they seem kind of shady, honestly, the further down the rabbit hole I go. I have 9's that look way better than 10s. And vice-versa. That's important to note too. There just doesn't seem to be much consistency there. And now they shut down instead of training more people? Plus their prices.

It just seems like a racket. Unless it's a 52 Mantle or whatever, I think I'm better off keeping my stuff ungraded, sell or no sell. Just put them in hard plastic so they are protected.

That being said though, as I mentioned earlier, I expect a huge drop in the price of all slabs, besides the super expensive/rare ones, as these millions of junk slabs hit the market. So I may change my mind once that happens.

[757690]

I was pretty high on PSA when I initially returned to the hobby last summer. And, at least with baseball cards, they are the most popular.

But they seem kind of shady, honestly, the further down the rabbit hole I go. I have 9's that look way better than 10s. And vice-versa. That's important to note too. There just doesn't seem to be much consistency there. And now they shut down instead of training more people? Plus their prices.

It just seems like a racket. Unless it's a 52 Mantle or whatever, I think I'm better off keeping my stuff ungraded, sell or no sell. Just put them in hard plastic so they are protected.

That being said though, as I mentioned earlier, I expect a huge drop in the price of all slabs, besides the super expensive/rare ones, as these millions of junk slabs hit the market. So I may change my mind once that happens.

One personal example about PSA:

I opened a case of 1987 Fleer back when Bonds was breaking records and his card was sky high. I pulled over 15 Bonds rookie cards. All were 100% fresh from a case, and went straight from the opened pack to the best storage case available. 5 had near perfect centering. Of those 5, I received two “8” grades, two “9” grades, and one “10” grade. There was no way anyone could tell the difference between them. I got lucky getting a “10” which I sold for more than I paid for the entire case.

It’s all a racket. But most collectors have bought into it. It’s like Dogecoin, or the stock market, or most financial endeavors. it works as long as you convince enough people to buy into it. And as P.T. Barnum said, there’s one born every minute.

[KeefeCato]

I was pretty high on PSA when I initially returned to the hobby last summer. And, at least with baseball cards, they are the most popular.

But they seem kind of shady, honestly, the further down the rabbit hole I go. I have 9's that look way better than 10s. And vice-versa. That's important to note too. There just doesn't seem to be much consistency there. And now they shut down instead of training more people? Plus their prices.

It just seems like a racket. Unless it's a 52 Mantle or whatever, I think I'm better off keeping my stuff ungraded, sell or no sell. Just put them in hard plastic so they are protected.

That being said though, as I mentioned earlier, I expect a huge drop in the price of all slabs, besides the super expensive/rare ones, as these millions of junk slabs hit the market. So I may change my mind once that happens.

It is because the regular joe who sends in 50 cards gets lower grades on there cards vs. a big card company like Deans who sends in 100k or more cards gets way better grades from PSA.
SGC is by far the best grading company. They are way tougher and don't just hand out high grades at will. I am amazed PSA is still popular. Shady as can be. I wouldn't doubt if they have slapped grades on cards presented them too be real when they are indeed reprints or trimmed cards.
I would go SGC or Beckett if getting cards graded. Having said all that I do own several PSA cards. But they were graded several years ago. Way before all the bad press came out on PSA.

[Bob Sheed]

Great anecdotes, glad I'm not the only one who sees it.

Man I got burned over and over again when I first jumped back in. Trial by fire for sure. PSA was a part of it, no question. Mostly my ignorance though.

Might be fun to trade horror stories, I'll start:

When I first jumped back in, I went straight to where I left off. Mid to late 1980s ungraded "complete sets" on ebay.

Man, the shipping costs alone. Then the condition of the cards. Even the smell, sometimes. (I'm not a smoker). Then I thought it might be fun to spend a bunch of money on binders and plastic sheets to put them in. It gets worse but I'm stopping there.