# Auto VS Grade **URL:** \ **Category:** Market\ **Created:** [January 29, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431 "2018-01-29T21:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maverick75](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/maverick75/32/674_2.png) [@maverick75](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/maverick75)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/1 "2018-01-29T21:12:02Z")
Can’t stand the guy at all, but I was a bit jealous when PSA retweeted this ---
**Author:** ![ecruteak](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/ecruteak/32/2624_2.png) [@ecruteak](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/ecruteak)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/2 "2018-01-31T01:12:39Z")
> [@maverick75](#): > > Can’t stand the guy at all, but I was a bit jealous when PSA retweeted this Why in the world would you have the slab signed? Is this common? ---
**Author:** ![pierce](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/pierce/32/767_2.png) [@pierce](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/pierce)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/3 "2018-01-31T01:20:44Z")
> [@ecruteak](#): > > > [@maverick75](#): > > > > Can’t stand the guy at all, but I was a bit jealous when PSA retweeted this > > Why in the world would you have the slab signed? Is this common? It’s pretty common in MTG dunno about pokemon … people don’t want their card inked and get the case signed instead ---
**Author:** ![missingno](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/missingno/32/434_2.png) [@missingno](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/missingno)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:27am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/4 "2018-01-31T02:27:27Z")
> [@ecruteak](#): > > > [@maverick75](#): > > > > Can’t stand the guy at all, but I was a bit jealous when PSA retweeted this > > Why in the world would you have the slab signed? Is this common? Actually a better question is “Why in the world would you get the actual card written on???”. He took the best route, still signed and the card is still clean. ---
**Author:** ![teraz](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/teraz/32/32704_2.png) [@teraz](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/teraz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/5 "2018-01-31T02:30:52Z")
> [@missingno](#): > > > [@ecruteak](#): > > > > Why in the world would you have the slab signed? Is this common? > > Actually a better question is “Why in the world would you get the actual card written on???”. He took the best route, still signed and the card is still clean. completely agree with this. Signed PSA case is way better (unless you have to reholder, then lose the signature). I also think signed cards are not attractive so that’s my bias. Ruins the card imo. ---
**Author:** ![ecruteak](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/ecruteak/32/2624_2.png) [@ecruteak](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/ecruteak)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/6 "2018-01-31T03:14:53Z")
I wasn’t saying signing the card itself was a better option. I’d say how about not signing it period given how valuable it is? Doesn’t the signature take away at all? ---
**Author:** ![peacock](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/peacock/32/721_2.png) [@peacock](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/peacock)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/7 "2018-01-31T03:19:37Z")
> [@ecruteak](#): > > I wasn’t saying signing the card itself was a better option. I’d say how about not signing it period given how valuable it is? Doesn’t the signature take away at all? A signature on the case takes no value away whatsoever. The value is in the card, not the acrylic case. Arita a legendary artist and this is his most (the most) iconic artwork in the hobby. If anything I’d gander to say this tacks on a significant premium for some collectors. And if you don’t care for signatures then it doesn’t matter because you can always have the card reholdered. ---
**Author:** ![acebren](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/acebren/32/400_2.png) [@acebren](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/acebren)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/8 "2018-01-31T03:30:16Z")
> [@ecruteak](#): > > I wasn’t saying signing the card itself was a better option. I’d say how about not signing it period given how valuable it is? Doesn’t the signature take away at all? worst case scenario he pays a small fee to get it reholdered ---
**Author:** ![oldskoolpokemon](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/oldskoolpokemon/32/321_2.png) [@oldskoolpokemon](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/oldskoolpokemon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/9 "2018-01-31T03:33:20Z")
> [@peacock](#): > > > [@ecruteak](#): > > > > I wasn’t saying signing the card itself was a better option. I’d say how about not signing it period given how valuable it is? Doesn’t the signature take away at all? > > A signature on the case takes no value away whatsoever. The value is in the card, not the acrylic case. Arita a legendary artist and this is his most (the most) iconic artwork in the hobby. If anything I’d gander to say this tacks on a significant premium for some collectors. And if you don’t care for signatures then it doesn’t matter because you can always have the card reholdered. I Disagree… It really depends upon the individual collector; however, I would personally value this card less now that its signed - although not much less (as it is possible to get this re-holdered). Not that I am in a position to purchase one of these cards; however, if I were, and there were two listed for-sale - I’d be willing to pay a couple hundred extra to purchase the copy without the signature. ---
**Author:** ![maverick75](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/maverick75/32/674_2.png) [@maverick75](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/maverick75)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/10 "2018-01-31T03:35:39Z")
You don’t have to pay to get it re-cased, easily can wipe off the signature with a solvent. ---
**Author:** ![ecruteak](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/ecruteak/32/2624_2.png) [@ecruteak](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/ecruteak)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/11 "2018-01-31T03:37:38Z")
> [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > [@peacock](#): > > > > A signature on the case takes no value away whatsoever. The value is in the card, not the acrylic case. Arita a legendary artist and this is his most (the most) iconic artwork in the hobby. If anything I’d gander to say this tacks on a significant premium for some collectors. And if you don’t care for signatures then it doesn’t matter because you can always have the card reholdered. > > I Disagree… > > It really depends upon the individual collector; however, I would personally value this card less now that its signed - although not much less (as it is possible to get this re-holdered). Not that I am in a position to purchase one of these cards; however, if I were, and there were two listed for-sale - I’d be willing to pay a couple hundred extra to purchase the copy without the signature. This is how I feel as well. ---
**Author:** ![peacock](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/peacock/32/721_2.png) [@peacock](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/peacock)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/12 "2018-01-31T03:43:20Z")
> [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > [@peacock](#): > > > > A signature on the case takes no value away whatsoever. The value is in the card, not the acrylic case. Arita a legendary artist and this is his most (the most) iconic artwork in the hobby. If anything I’d gander to say this tacks on a significant premium for some collectors. And if you don’t care for signatures then it doesn’t matter because you can always have the card reholdered. > > I Disagree… > > It really depends upon the individual collector; however, I would personally value this card less now that its signed - although not much less (as it is possible to get this re-holdered). Not that I am in a position to purchase one of these cards; however, if I were, and there were two listed for-sale - I’d be willing to pay a couple hundred extra to purchase the copy without the signature. you would not have the option to pay anything less than market price for it, whereas some people would pay more, but why would you pay a couple hundred bucks for a different copy of the card when a re-holder fee would cost $35? Also a couple hundred dollars difference is not really significant when considering a 5 figure card that can vary by thousands of dollars per sale. edit: this may be a better topic for a different thread. I’m not really even sure what this thread is supposed to be about at this point. ---
**Author:** ![teraz](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/teraz/32/32704_2.png) [@teraz](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/teraz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:45am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/13 "2018-01-31T03:45:32Z")
> [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > [@peacock](#): > > > > A signature on the case takes no value away whatsoever. The value is in the card, not the acrylic case. Arita a legendary artist and this is his most (the most) iconic artwork in the hobby. If anything I’d gander to say this tacks on a significant premium for some collectors. And if you don’t care for signatures then it doesn’t matter because you can always have the card reholdered. > > I Disagree… > > It really depends upon the individual collector; however, I would personally value this card less now that its signed - although not much less (as it is possible to get this re-holdered). Not that I am in a position to purchase one of these cards; however, if I were, and there were two listed for-sale - I’d be willing to pay a couple hundred extra to purchase the copy without the signature. The most amount of money you should logically devalue this card by, while noting that you, “personally value this card less now that its signed”, is $25. That is the total cost to reholder 1 card with PSA. Obviously that might matter to you on a $50 graded card. The card above though is a PSA 10 1st edition base charizard. $25 might as well be $.01 ---
**Author:** ![oldskoolpokemon](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/oldskoolpokemon/32/321_2.png) [@oldskoolpokemon](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/oldskoolpokemon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/14 "2018-01-31T03:55:31Z")
> [@peacock](#): > > > [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > > I Disagree… > > > > It really depends upon the individual collector; however, I would personally value this card less now that its signed - although not much less (as it is possible to get this re-holdered). Not that I am in a position to purchase one of these cards; however, if I were, and there were two listed for-sale - I’d be willing to pay a couple hundred extra to purchase the copy without the signature. > > you would not have the option to pay anything less than market price for it, whereas some people would pay more, but why would you pay a couple hundred bucks for a different copy of the card when a re-holder fee would cost $35? Also a couple hundred dollars difference is not really significant when considering a 5 figure card that varies by thousands of dollars with every sale. I’m not saying this card should belong in the clearance-bin of Wal-Mart! Haha Seriously Though, I understand that some people would add a premium onto this card because of the signature; however, there are also people that would deduct $X from this card because of that same signature. Assuming this card is strictly an “investment” (which in this case was not the biggest intention); why would you want to limit the number of potential people that are interested in purchasing this card? And you kind of answered the second-part of your question already… A couple hundred is nothing when you take into consideration the actual value of this card. If I’m going to be dropping $20,000.00+ on a card, I would want that card exactly the way I collect / want it! I’d be more than willing to pay the premium to get it! ---
**Author:** ![oldskoolpokemon](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/oldskoolpokemon/32/321_2.png) [@oldskoolpokemon](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/oldskoolpokemon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/15 "2018-01-31T04:02:52Z")
> [@teraz](#): > > > [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > > I Disagree… > > > > It really depends upon the individual collector; however, I would personally value this card less now that its signed - although not much less (as it is possible to get this re-holdered). Not that I am in a position to purchase one of these cards; however, if I were, and there were two listed for-sale - I’d be willing to pay a couple hundred extra to purchase the copy without the signature. > > The most amount of money you should logically devalue this card by, while noting that you, “personally value this card less now that its signed”, is $25. That is the total cost to reholder 1 card with PSA. Obviously that might matter to you on a $50 graded card. > > The card above though is a PSA 10 1st edition base charizard. $25 might as well be $.01 Forgot to address this in my response to @peacock as well… It’s not just the cost of re-holdering. Sure, you could get this card re-holdered for less an $100.00. However, you also have to factor-in many other issues… It’s going to take TIME to get this card re-holdered (time to submit, time to properly package, time to ship, time for grading, time for return shipping…). Do you really want a card that you just dropped $20K+ to be gone for 2-3 Weeks? Additionally, I would be super paranoid shipping this card to and from PSA! I’d be constantly worrying that the USPS would loose / damage this card during shipment. Taking into account all of that time and frustration is well-worth an extra couple hundred bucks to just get what I want in the first place. Honestly, what’s another $500.00 (or however much) when you’re already talking $20K+ ---
**Author:** ![teraz](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/teraz/32/32704_2.png) [@teraz](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/teraz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/16 "2018-01-31T04:08:39Z")
> [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > [@teraz](#): > > > > The most amount of money you should logically devalue this card by, while noting that you, “personally value this card less now that its signed”, is $25. That is the total cost to reholder 1 card with PSA. Obviously that might matter to you on a $50 graded card. > > > > The card above though is a PSA 10 1st edition base charizard. $25 might as well be $.01 > > Forgot to address this in my response to @peacock as well… > > It’s not just the cost of re-holdering. Sure, you could get this card re-holdered for less an $100.00. However, you also have to factor-in many other issues… It’s going to take TIME to get this card re-holdered (time to submit, time to properly package, time to ship, time for grading, time for return shipping…). Do you really want a card that you just dropped $20K+ to be gone for 2-3 Weeks? Additionally, I would be super paranoid shipping this card to and from PSA! I’d be constantly worrying that the USPS would loose / damage this card during shipment. > > Taking into account all of that time and frustration is well-worth an extra couple hundred bucks to just get what I want in the first place. Honestly, what’s another $500.00 (or however much) when you’re already talking $20K+ Valid points. I think at a certain point the scarcity is going to be such that it won’t matter. If there are 20 bidders competing for a PSA 10 1st edition base charizard that only pops up every few months, signature or not, it’s going to sell for as much as a card without a signature. If he wanted to sell now, then I would say the signature could negatively impact his potential bidders (but could also greatly increase), but down the road a few years and I think we are going to see very few PSA 10 zards anymore. ---
**Author:** ![peacock](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/peacock/32/721_2.png) [@peacock](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/peacock)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/17 "2018-01-31T04:10:13Z")
> [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > [@peacock](#): > > > > you would not have the option to pay anything less than market price for it, whereas some people would pay more, but why would you pay a couple hundred bucks for a different copy of the card when a re-holder fee would cost $35? Also a couple hundred dollars difference is not really significant when considering a 5 figure card that varies by thousands of dollars with every sale. > > And you kind of answered the second-part of your question already… A couple hundred is nothing when you take into consideration the actual value of this card. If I’m going to be dropping $20,000.00+ on a card, I would want that card exactly the way I collect / want it! I’d be more than willing to pay the premium to get it! Truu. But as far as value goes I’m just saying I don’t think the signature depreciates the hypothetically selling point of this card if it was ever offered up. But I also didn’t consider the fact @maverick75 said about probably being able to just wipe it off. Which makes me reconsider the whole premise of having the case signed, because that surface would easily be smudgeable. But if I were to have such a card signed I think I’d still take same route just to preserve the card itself because it could never be unsigned. ---
**Author:** ![KingPokemon](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/kingpokemon/32/283_2.png) [@KingPokemon](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/KingPokemon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/18 "2018-01-31T04:28:24Z")
> [@peacock](#): > > > [@oldskoolpokemon](#): > > > > And you kind of answered the second-part of your question already… A couple hundred is nothing when you take into consideration the actual value of this card. If I’m going to be dropping $20,000.00+ on a card, I would want that card exactly the way I collect / want it! I’d be more than willing to pay the premium to get it! > > Truu. But as far as value goes I’m just saying I don’t think the signature depreciates the hypothetically selling point of this card if it was ever offered up. > > But I also didn’t consider the fact @maverick75 said about probably being able to just wipe it off. Which makes me reconsider the whole premise of having the case signed, because that surface would easily be smudgeable. But if I were to have such a card signed I think I’d still take same route just to preserve the card itself because it could never be unsigned. I’m one of the few who buys these and I don’t want it inked up on the front. Plus, I don’t want to risk reholdering for the reasons stated above plus what if the fellow pinches it while reholdering? I would not buy it like this for full price. Take a thousand off then maybe. If it was signed on the back I might but not sure. ---
**Author:** ![benoit489](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/benoit489/32/847_2.png) [@benoit489](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/benoit489)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/19 "2018-01-31T20:16:20Z")
I think this boils down to a collector vs investor mentality, with some extra spice thrown in for autograph preferences. The autograph definitely kills part of the potential market, but from what I understand, this is the only PSA 10 Zard signed by Arita. As a collector, this card holds more value in my eyes than an unsigned copy. While some people wouldn’t touch it unless it’s below market value, I’m willing to bet there are individuals out there willing to pay a premium. The autograph raises value, imo. ---
**Author:** ![missingno](https://efour.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/www.elitefourum.com/missingno/32/434_2.png) [@missingno](https://www.elitefourum.com/u/missingno)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431/20 "2018-01-31T20:52:07Z")
Topic derailed. [Next page](https://www.elitefourum.com/t/auto-vs-grade/19431.md?page=2)