Buy the card not the grade

Grading
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I’ve heard the term “Buy the card not the grade” thousands of times since I got back into collecting few years ago. Does everyone have the understanding that it only applies to PSA cards?

All of this is hypothetical and just use this as an example.
Example: 1st ed Charizard PSA 10 but has a very minuscule white dot on the corner but everything else is clean. Vs. 1st ed Charizard PSA 9 where everything is clean but the card is off centered. (Reason it got a 9). The PSA 9 is in better condition than the 10 but 99.8% of people would take the 10 all day even though the 9 is a better copy.

Does the term apply to specific cards or just PSA cards? I have some CGC 10 Wotc holos that are cleaner then some PSA 10s. I have some PSA 10s that are cleaner than CGC 10s. I had a guy at my local card shop that told me he’d rather a PSA 9 that has a defect then a CGC 10 even if the CGC 10 was a better example. Is it because of the company that graded the card the reason people would defer to PSA for a card in worse condition, even if it’s more expensive than a CGC 10? I’ve seen PSA 8s in better condition than 10s.(Not often but I’ve seen it). If it’s “Buy the card not the grade” shouldn’t someone just buy the 8 instead of the 10? I know CGC gets plenty of hate since they switched their grading scale last year and BGS is just horrible with anything below a 9.
The condition seems to not matter to a lot of people as long as there a 10 on the label(unless it’s CGC).

Just want people’s thoughts on their mind set when they go about making a purchase on a higher tier card or any card for that matter. When it comes to modern I buy the grade most of the time. The difference between a 10-9 on modern price wise when buying is so negligible imo that I’d pay 10-20% more for the 10.

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For collecting, buy the card that you prefer.

For selling, choose the company that maximizes your profit.

“Buy the card, not the grade” applies to all companies. Stores prefer PSA > CGC because the margins are better when selling.

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Well thanks for saying it so well that I deleted what I was writing. :rage:

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Thank you for answering this the way I hoped someone would. I tried to explain this to him and it wasn’t clicking. He tried to make an argument that a Charizard in better condition but graded lower than a 10 with a tiny defect was somehow worth more, because the physical condition is better.

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I think the term is just a reminder that the actual collectable is the card. So many people get fixated on grades that they end up losing focus on the point of collecting cards

What “buy the card not the grade” is going to mean different things to different people but it is universally good advice because it highlights the point that ultimately we are just buying cards

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You know I have never seen a single post/comment by you that wasn’t helpful or informative. Thank you for that!

Also, at the end of the day it is the cards we are collecting and there’s nothing I can do or say that would make others believe that they are more than just dollar signs. My LCS argues all the time about this topic

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I crack slabs so I can take the label out and put it in a binder. I throw the plastic and the card away.

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Most people who say “buy the card not the grade” do the complete opposite.

They are happy to pay 150k+ on a ragged older cert PSA 10 1st ed base zard but not pay 50k on a cleaner cgc 10.

It’s why CLEAN CGC 10s are a good buy right now.

I don’t own any CGC cards so I’m being objective.

1/3 the price of a PSA 10 but the same quality (arguably).

In 10 years new collectors wont care and CGC 10 price go up (unless they do something to completely mess it up, which CGC is totally capable of doing).

Same principle for bgs 9.5 however sadly people just want 10s on labels so BGS is losing more market share.

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You know it’s ok to just be subjective and admit you are being subjective, right?

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Agreed. There is a lot of label buying in Pokemon (and sports too) which makes the market pretty inefficient but also great for collectors. I don’t like BGS as I mentioned in other post, but I would DEFINITELY take a clean strong bgs 9.5 for a 70% discount to a PSA 10, which is what they seem to sell for.

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I also think that the saying can apply to the condition of the card in a slab. We’ve all seen cards get a 10 that clearly are not, so “buy the card, not the grade” can also apply with the lens of you yourself examining if the card is of a quality you’re happy with regardless of grade.

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Yeah I would too. Once you get into the BGS 9.5-10 and PSA 10 and even CGC pristine the quality of the cards are negligible

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To me this phrase was typically used in the context of the value of a slab. Depending on the card, a PSA 10 can be as much as 3x or more the price of a PSA 9 or a BGS Black Label can be 10x more than a PSA 10 or CGC 10. It means being ok buying a worse condition card and not hyper focusing on conditional rarity.

Also agree that it’s often used in the context of buying a high-graded card that should have been a lower grade likely due to the nature of grading being subjective and/or inconsistent. In this case “buy the card not the grade” means judging the card’s condition regardless of the number on the slab.

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I guess it really depends on what you’re after. I’ve bought many lower grade PSA cards for binder sets mainly in which I thought were under graded by my own opinion & discernment. With 9s vs 10s, even if a flaw is apparent on a 10, the market still pays a premium for the 10 regardless of what apparent flaw it may have in my experience. If this premium is still worth it over buying a PSA 9 is entirely up to the buyer/collector to decide. If I’m buying a 10, I definitely want it to be as close to perfect as I can get.

Buying the card vs buying the grade has saved me a lot over the years, and I think it’s a very viable approach to collecting and completing sets. I think some people underestimate the fact that even a PSA 5 or 6 in some cases can be a pretty nice card relative to what you may have had in a childhood collection, especially if it’s something with a minor dent that brought the grade down, but instead it may have very minimal holo scratches or whitening (PSA grades harshly on dents typically).

I’ve shared this one a few times on here now, but it was a perfect example of buying the card vs buying the grade for me. 10% of the cost of a PSA 9 and it looks beautiful in my binder set:

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People who say “buy the card not the grade” aren’t the ones buying 1st Ed PSA 10 zards, and DEFINITELY aren’t paying 50k for a CGC 10.

They are buying CLEAN PSA 8s and 9s

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Most people don’t buy clean 8s and 9s. Most people just buy the label. I do, generally cross to BGS for 9-9.5 bumps.

I am saying that if people actually lived by that rule then they would be buying clean CGC 10s as the price point is so very attractive.

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Don’t overlook the fact “buy the card, not the grade” is supposed to be an answer to a question. It is not a universal instruction.

Scenario 1: You are browsing eBay for a hard to find card and you have been seeking a PSA 8. You have been having trouble finding it, but a PSA 7 of the card you’re looking for was just listed. The card looks good to you. It’s well centered, there’s no conspicuous edgewear, were it not for the label its exactly the card you’re looking for in condition you were expecting.

Answer: Buy the card, not the grade.

Scenario 2: You are trying to make the most cost-effective decision on a pricy card and your watch list is full of options. You’ve narrowed it down to a PSA 9 and a PSA 8. Both cards look good to you, but the PSA 9 costs 3x as much. You really want a nice copy of this card, but the PSA 9 really kills your finances. Should you buy the more expensive card for the higher grade?

Answer: Buy the card, not the grade.

Scenario 3: You are torn between purchasing a CGC 8.5 and a PSA 8. The PSA 8 is the “better label” and costs a little bit more, but you’ve never really been the sort of person who cares about that. Still, you feel some pressure to get the PSA 8 because you know that’s more reputable, but you might crack this for your binder anyway. Should you pay more for the label?

Answer: Buy the card, not the grade.

Scenario 4: You’re buying an old Japanese promo card, most of which are infamously off-center with inconsistent borders. You usually buy PSA 8s as a baseline, but every PSA 8 you can find is heavily off-center. Out of curiosity’s sake, you broaden your search and see a really well-centered PSA 6. It has a little more edgewear on the back but it’s still a nice card. Most importantly, you really want a well-centered card and this is the only one you can find.

Answer: Buy the card, not the grade.

So whenever considering an axiom like this, consider what question you’re trying to answer. This is an answer to lots of questions, but not all of them.

To someone like me, the only appeal of a graded card in the first place is a high grade. I’ve said before that I don’t need someone with a magnifying glass and a micrometer to tell me a card isn’t perfect. I can do that on my own and I don’t usually value anything less than 10. Unless its an extremely rare card where lower grades represent a feat in and of themselves, I do not collect sub-10 slabs. I crack them for my binder.

So in some ways, I am always buying the card and not the grade. The card is coming out of the slab and the grade becomes meaningless. But if I am buying a slab, it’s a card I want in a grade I want. I am buying that 10 specifically.

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Perfect example of people wasting thousands of dollars for the low pop label when the card has PSA 7 corner whitening.

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I was looking at that earlier and was trying to find why it was at 4.2k. I thought there had to be something special about it.