This isn’t always the case. A few years ago someone bought a PSA 10 1st Edition Neo Genesis Pichu for almost $600, despite the previous highest sale peaking at $350 or so just a few months beforehand, and $250 or so just a few months before that. Ever since then these Pichus tend to sit on eBay for months and months at a similar price before someone else comes along and spends that much on one.
As a Pichu collector who only targets PSA 10 versions of mass-produced cards and doesn’t currently have one, I have watched 7 different PSA 10 copies of this card sell in the past 2 years for around the same price, but all of them take around 4-6 months to attract a buyer. The only one which didn’t match this trend was a PWCC auction entry which sold for $400; in my mind a much more reasonable price for this card.
The 30th of July marked the first time since December 2017 a PSA 10 1st Edition Neo Genesis Pichu hasn’t been readily available on eBay, yet the price hasn’t budged in all this time.
I think this is a case where there’s both demand and availability, but the availability is priced high above what the vast majority of people are willing to pay.
of course isn’t always the case but I was thinking to the most sought after cards. Moreover you are a PSA 10 collector, you don’t go for 9s, so my reasoning doesn’t apply to you.
That’s not really true. I have apple shares from 12 years ago that are worth 1000%+ more than my purchase price. Just because I haven’t sold doesn’t mean it’s not an investment
To those saying I shouldn’t view cards as investments…
I’m not peddling that story. But these cards wouldn’t be selling for higher than the S&P500 if that wasn’t the widespread belief. I posted saying that everyone buying 9s and lower in the hopes of seeing returns even remotely comparable with 10s is in for a huge disappointment.
Part of my concern was, how much of the Elway supply real, or merely resubmissions leading to inaccurate populations? Don’t have to only look at Elway; there are many other examples as well.
Say if hundreds of 1st Ed. Base holo owners feel it is worth it to resubmit their PSA 9s multiple times over the next decade. Would that not screw up the perceived supply?
Are you long or short on SPY? I’m speculating it bottomed out on Friday, there might be another dip buy opportunity for me tomorrow. Still very bullish
This is one of the main fallacies in this thread. “Perceived supply” doesn’t really influence price. As @zap2 has mentioned, it’s about actual availability and demand/popularity
Disclaimer. I read the OP but not all follow up posts.
PSA 10s go for way more money because there are a few buyers with deep pockets who personally value a 10 much higher than a 9 and they are willing to keep bidding each other up to high amounts to get the grade.
This is true for all collectibles.
Ex. I was just at a rare car auction in Pepple Beach for Monterey Car Week. There were only 3-4 people bidding on the rare Ferrari. But they kept bidding each other up to $10-15MM dollars.
Same thing happens for expensive Pokémon cards. A few buyers will bid each other up for the rare cards.
(An interesting caveat for PSA rarity is the human subjectivity of a 9 vs 10, which I personally believe is somewhat of artificially rarity. BUT as long as the buyers believe that the 10 is substantially more “rare” than the 9, the 10s growth will far exceed that of the 9 because high end collectors want the rarest of the rare)
I feel like i just wasted 5 mins of my life reading all that…
Edit: My brother is 11 and loves Pikachu; even my girlfriend loves Eevee and eevelutions now and has her favorite card; and is actually looking for Hidden Fates Eeveelutions… Pokemon is not Sports, Pokemon is life
1.) I don’t think anyone buying 9s and lower thinks they are on par with 10s as far as returns go;
2.) You are making the assumption that everyone can afford 10s. The whole reason why people buy 9s is because they’re a MUCH lower buy-in and come with less risk for that reason.
You also seem to be presenting your opinion as fact, which not even the most experienced people in this hobby do.
That’s a good way of putting it. After things like that happen, the story spreads. People say, “Did you hear how much [insert collectable] is worth now?” Then people jump on the bandwagon, chasing that kind of run-up when they’re not even in the same league.
It is incredible to me that PSA 9s and 10s are in leagues of their own, despite their marginal differences. But that’s how it is.
