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

The most expensive card in the history of the hobby is a PSA 10 that was formerly a PSA 9. Get those 9s and dream big, baby.

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Yeah youā€™re crazy, no one should be doing this period.

10s are the only way to collect, donā€™t let anyone else tell you otherwise

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I think selling 10s and replacing them with 9s + still having some extra money in the pocket after the 10 sales is very ideal. The difference between 10s and 9s isnā€™t that huge most of the time anyway. So no, I donā€™t think you are crazy at all. You are smart :grin:

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I think it is really dependent on what the cards are and what kinda capital youā€™re working with. Imo, a lot of PSA 9 cards are undervalued, relative to their PSA 10 counterparts. It doesnā€™t make sense to me to spend over $5K on 1st edition WotC holos PSA 10, when their PSA 9 counterparts are <$1000, for example. For broke bois like myself, Iā€™d much rather grab a 9 and use the extra money on one of the other 100+ things that I want/ are ā€œbetter buys.ā€

This is exactly the play Iā€™ve been doing and plan to do, itā€™s nice to grade multiples of the same card in good condition to be able to hope to keep one that doesnā€™t hit a 10. :stuck_out_tongue:

Iā€™m glad I didnā€™t settle for 9s all these years. If you can afford to keep the 10s, hang on to them. Some day youā€™ll be glad you did;)

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I think another thing worth mentioning is that if youā€™re buying WOTC-era holos that are PSA 8 or 9 they are actually generally really nice cards compared to what you will likely ever find raw at this point (unless you get really lucky). In fact, I still think a lot of them are underappreciated at times (especially 1st Edition Base & Shadowless holos). Obviously, 10s are where the big money will go long-term, but from a strict collecting/enjoyment perspective the value in 8s and 9s compared to a 10 is pretty unmatched. With more modern cards though, I think a 10 should always be what you go for unless you simply donā€™t value a 10 higher than a 9 in your collection for a given card.

dump your 10s

to me

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To give you an answer I ask you first, are you financially okay? If not I would do this.
For modern cards 10 is a must, with some small exception, for example Special Delivery Pikachu, 12% to get PSA 10, something like that.

For vintage 9 itā€™s ok when the 10 is it at least 3 times the 9 price.

The only other exception should be your dream card a 10 is must, will make you feel better haha.

1x PSA 10 1st Edition Slowking or 50x PSA 8 1st Edition Slowkings?

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Honestly, PSA 7 + is Near Mint and should reflect pack fresh openings, however thereā€™s been some mystery PSA 6ā€™s that have been pack fresh as well.

Opt for PSA 7+ if you can afford, but thereā€™s nothing wrong with PSA 4ā€™s. Right?

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Wasnā€™t the last PSA 10 sale $30K so like 100x PSA 8? LOL

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9s are cool since i canā€™t afford the 10s XD

Second place PSA 9 is the first loser

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PSA 10 + PSA 7 is an underrated combo, seriously. Well, maybe not underrated, I guess this is precisely what some of the PSA 10 + binder combo dudes are doing. Good 7ā€™s are still clean enough to where the condition doesnā€™t suck all the fun out of looking at the card, and then you do 10ā€™s for the favorites/stonks whenever feasible.

Donā€™t have much more to add, much good advice from both sides have been given already.

Maybe one thing; @mrmilk , did you make this thread after going through it in your head, making sense of one option in every way imaginable, but you still canā€™t shake the feeling that the other option is ultimately the right thing for you to do? If so, my vague advice would be to trust your gut feeling.

Yeah I was leaning towards the selling 10s for 9s option but since most people I see are upgrading their cards to the higher grade when possible, I thought it would be interesting to see what some other perspectives had to say.

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Iā€™m very happy with my 9s. Most of the time the 10 is not worth the premium for me.

Never understood the appeal in 10ā€™s, I can never tell them apart from 8-9.

Lots of awful 7s and 8s. 9s and 10s can be really tricky to differentiate. Sometimes Iā€™ll buy an 8 if itā€™s just factory lines or manufacture issue with the cut. To me, that is a card as manufactured. 8s with wear derived from play or postproduction mishandling make me an unhappy camper, however.

I buy many 8s and 9s. Have a few 10s, too. Seldom touch a holdered 7, thatā€™s a binder card. Not paying graded premiums for something I can see with photos. Exception for rarities.

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From cracking out 8s for binder sets, I can say that very, very few have been anywhere close to ā€œpack fresh.ā€ The only ones that come to mind were a 1st Ed holo Dark Arbok with very prominent print lines and an extremely off-center Wailord ex, but those were 2 out probably close to 100. The vast majority of 8s (again, in my experience) are clearly not pack fresh. Nothing wrong with PSA 8-quality condition, but itā€™s not the ideal grade for people wanting pack-fresh cards. Itā€™s a great choice for collectors who just want a card with a front that looks nice at a glance, though.

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