For those of you who have experience vending at shows or selling regularly, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this:
Is it actually better to crack PSA 9s and sell the cards raw?
(Of course, I’m strictly talking about modern sets, not vintage. I’d never crack vintage PSA9 slabs )
It seems like the general sentiment these days is that PSA 9s are essentially valued the same as raw cards among collectors. I’ve also heard from quite a few vendors that PSA 9s are harder to move, while raw singles tend to sell more quickly and with less resistance.
So I’m wondering, does it actually make more sense from a liquidity standpoint to crack a modern PSA 9 and list it raw, especially at in-person events or card shows?
Would love to hear your experiences and perspectives on this. Thanks in advance!
Depends on your margins for the card. If you got it under raw, sure. If you need to move it, then whatever will sell.
Most 9s are going to sell raw or better so there not really a reason to do the work unless you are trying to appeal to those who think they can spot 10s and you want them to think your cards can pass as 10s.
You are correct about pricing in a lot of instances. With many modern cards it’s essentially 10 or bust if you want to add value via grading. As @lyleberr mentioned, selling the card raw could theoretically increase liquidity via enticing buyers with a ‘potential’ 10.
Why not have the best of both worlds though?
I use a strategy I call “The Wizard of Oz.” I set a curtain up behind my booth and put a note on every PSA9 modern card that reads “ask me about my NM raw copy”. If the buyer wants the raw copy I respond “ok let me pull it out of my inventory”, I go behind the curtain, crack it out of the slab, then sell the card to them raw. Boom
In my experience as a buyer at these events, vendors prefer the raw cards. People prefer to buy raw over 9s and they would rather allocate the same funds for raw instead of spending the time and taking the risk of cracking it themselves.
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