Thoughts on Graded cards.

[Scottish Punk]

School me in the realm of Graded cards. Ever since I got back into collecting a couple of years ago, I have stayed away from graded cards. My biggest gripe with graded cards is he premium involved on by a card which is near-mint. I regularly see $2-3 cards selling for like $10 for 9.5 and $20 for gem mint. I am now rethinking this and am wondering if it is worth it to send cards away to be graded. Here are my questions.

1. What is the scale for grade to full book price, generally. If a card is graded 8.0, does this equate to full book? 9.0 means a 10% over? etc.?

2. Aren't all newer cards generally near mint. I can't see paying a premium for a card made in the last 10 years when you can find 100's of them in great condition ungraded.

3. Does it matter which service is being used? Beckett or PSA?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to a good discussion on this?

[BCUS28]

I think BGS 8.5 is "full book", but book vaule is a whole other topic :)

As far as price increase for a higher grade, in general there is but it's not neccessarily linear in proportion, meaning there is no real definative formula to determine their value for BGS 9, 9.5, or 10.

It's really what people are willing to pay that particular day, that particular card.

Also, I think BGS is better than PSA (just my opinion) because they have strickter criteria for grading cards, hence BGS 9.5, in general, will outsell the same card graded in PSA 10.

Just my 2cents.

[Chuck-17]

I like BGS for modern cards but PSA for vintage. I think it is worth the premium on the vintage cards but for the modern cards I don't usually buy the graded cards.

[Covet]

Aren't all newer cards generally near mint. I can't see paying a premium for a card made in the last 10 years when you can find 100's of them in great condition ungraded.

My sentiments exactly.

[BCUS28]

Yeah good heads up... it does matter if we're talking vintage or modern cards. For vintage "full book" could be 300% of so called "hi book". May my previous post be free of bias in retrospect:)

[booyahlaw]

Yeah good heads up... it does matter if we're talking vintage or modern cards. For vintage "full book" could be 300% of so called "hi book". May my previous post be free of bias in retrospect:)

Yeah, don't jump into serious vintage graded collecting until you understand the market--beckett or any other modern price guide is not going to help you much with the price discrepancies. Personally, I would suggest either PSA or SCG for the vintage stuff. SCG does a nice job and its customer service is top notch.

Most of the modern 1980's and up I have used PSA. To get an accurate idea of price for graded cards, I would buy yourself a price guide that specializes in graded cards and watch ebay completed listings.

For post 2000 cards, in my opinion, if it isn't a strong 9 or a 10, it probably is not worth grading. Also, I wouldn't grade any cards numbered below 500 or so and I wouldn't worry about grading a card worth less than $100.

As a final point, if you are not considering selling a card, I wouldn't suggest grading it. A penny sleeve and toploader can offer the safe protection for your personal collection.

[Scottish Punk]

Sorry to dig up my one thread, but I think I am going to take the plunge and start grading my collection. I am going to start with rookies from the 1970's and work my way forward. I decided to go with Beckett for two reasons. One, there slab looks better and seems more secure than PSA. Two, I already have an account on the beckett website to view my collection online and I don't really have the desire to pay for membership at PSA. SGC just looked second rate compared to those two. Being OCD about my collection, I want them all in the same slab I see PSA and BVG as the mainstays. All others will probably die off or remain niche.

[sportzking]

If it's for your pc it doesn't matter what service you use. If you want to sell them than anything before 1990 should be PSA and BGS after. Also if you want to send cards to get graded you should invest in a loop and a good ruler. This way you won't get too much low grades.
Take the time to look at certain cards from different years. Some gem mints go for an absurdly high amount and some are only a bit higher. Also take into consideration of what players to send in. Players like Mcgwire and Bonds are not worth grading due to their allegations. Hope this helps.