Am I crazy for selling 10s and buying 9s?

I am only now getting my PSA subs from 2020 back, and a bunch of my EX-era cards are getting 10s. The prices of 10s are often 3-5x that of a 9, so I am strongly considering selling my 10s and buying back 9s of equivalent cards.

9s and 10s have almost identical eye appeal except under a microscope, so my thought process is I would rather have a larger collection of 9s than a smaller collection of 10s. Does anyone else do a similar thing? Is this an unpopular opinion on here?

I am planning on keeping these cards in my PC for years, but maybe as I start a family, I sell some (thatā€™s a ways away for me), so I am also curious what you think about the trajectories of 1 10, or a handful of 9s that may currently add up to the value of that 10.

Thanks!

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Iā€™m happy with 9ā€™s for my PC. Like you said pretty much the same as eye appeal, cheaper = more cards.

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waiting for all the unpopular opinion people to come out of the woods to support you

Hmmm I think for personal collection 9 is great.
10 is great for stonking especially for chase cards.

Like you said, 9s and 10s have similar eye appeal, both are fantastic conditions. Sometimes it is really difficult to tell a 9 and a 10 apart as there are strong 9s and weak 10s around.

The only crazy part would be caring about what other people think of your collection.
If you prefer 9s then sell those 10s to collect 9s my man.

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Problem is after sales fees and shipping etc is it really going to be worth it?

For low value cards this isnt going to be worth it, for high value yes.

I regularly sell my 10s to get multiple new additions to my collection. Sometimes I even buy 2-3 more copies of that same card raw and get another 10! :grin:

Picking up a 9 in a few Years seems by far more easier than a 10 for rare/niche Card

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Iā€™d say sell 10ā€™s that are not low pop i guess. I donā€™t collect many slabs, but seems like a good idea

unless it is a card i have a strong connection to and the 10 is actually flawless to the naked eye, i would 100% trade it out for a 9 that is also in mint condition. then again, iā€™m not someone who cares if there is a tiny white dot on one of the corners.

as for future stonk potential, no clue. probably depends on how difficult it is to get a 10 for the card. the question i always ask myself when factoring investment potential is ā€œis the money gained over time worth the wait? is it significant enough to overshadow something i would earn by just working my day job for a day or two, or even a week? would i rather have the experiences possible by using the money now in other ways?ā€

Certainly not crazy. If youā€™re looking for the best card condition to price ratio for your personal collection, you canā€™t get much better than 9s. 9s were pretty expensive during the 2021 hype period, but I feel like a lot of 9s have come down to more reasonable prices now.

If youā€™re looking at the future price of cards, 10s will always be the gold standard and many of the most significant rises will likely occur in the 10 grade. Thatā€™s not to say 9s wonā€™t go up, but in terms of sheer value increase the 10 has historically blown the 9 out of the water. However, since 10s are the market standard, you can also lose a lot of money by buying 10s at peak periods.

For my own collection, I always go for 10s until I feel Iā€™ve hit a wall in terms of progress and price, then I go for 9s. This may not be the best approach depending on what youā€™re collecting and whether itā€™s feasible to buy raw copies and grade yourself for progress, or whether you just need to buy already graded. There will never be a perfect answer though, so the best advice here is just to do what you feel comfortable with and not overthink it too much.

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Without knowing what cards are in your collection and what your particular attachment is to them, itā€™s hard to say. If thereā€™s cards you donā€™t mind parting with to purchase a bunch of other cards that you would like to own, itā€™s definitely not a bad call.

My advice would be to look at previous sales and population reports of some of your 10s and then ask yourself whether you need the money now or can afford to sit on them. Some of the low pop 10s of popular Pokemon are becoming harder to find as more people are safeguarding them in their collections. Basically, even if your goal is to eventually liquidate them to expand your collection, it may not be a bad idea to wait a few years and see where they go.

I think it really depends on the exact cards you are wanting in a given grade and your collecting goals. Some people only want 10s, 9s or 8s in their collection, while others donā€™t mind a mix of grades. Some people are happy with 9s and donā€™t see the point of buying 10s. A whole multitude of reasons can play into this process when collecting cards.

I try to buy 10s if possible, but sometimes the 10 is either completely unavailable or so expensive compared to the 9 that I just donā€™t always feel fully comfortable putting the money down. In these cases Iā€™ll even look at 8s pretty closely as well because they can prove to be a real value play for just getting the card in my collection and not worrying so much about the grade. At times the differences in an 8 and 9 can be very minor, much like the differences between a 9 and 10 can be quite minor so I tend to look at 8s closer than I used to if I canā€™t get the 10 for a given card.

I think overall a 10 should hold a special part in your collection and if you really love a certain card and want a virtually perfect example, a 10 fits the bill. 10s also seem to be the ā€˜investor gradeā€™ for most cards, so if that matters it may be worth factoring in as well to your decision-making also. Consider also that once you have the 10, you wonā€™t ever be itching to get something higher grade if you do buy a lower grade as a compromise.

Collect 9s for your personal collection. Invest in sealed vintage

That has been my play for the past 8 years and now I am going further selling most my slabs for raw NM copies on most cards. Real big brain play is to sell all 10ā€™s but then scrutinize further the 9ā€™s you keep as many of them will look better than the 10s you sell. Keep those 9ā€™s and feel free to sell the others to acquire more raw to grade and then repeat as much as possible.

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I guess itā€™s the collectors decision to decide between a 9 and a 10. But if I were to sell a PSA 10, x3-5 the PSA 9 is a healthy ratio as a buyer or seller of PSA 10.

10s will fund a lot more 9s. Dont worry what we think. Some will agree some will disagree. Mint 9 is a mint collection which is awesome. Can always keep some 10s of ones that are more special. Best of both worlds then.

Mint is Mint IMHCollection.
But as always, the answer is ā€œIt depends.ā€ I do like the cost-value proposition of 9s as well, because theyā€™re cheaper, yet growth and decline often follows a similar curve, especially for set cards. Not always though, so it depends what cards youā€™re looking at, and why youā€™re buying.

Sell your 10s and instead of getting (5x) 9s, get (10x) NM/Mint binder copies!

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9 is literally mint. Iā€™ve slowly come around to accepting 9s as being an adequate part of my collection.