Here’s the trade for a PSA 9 1st edition Charizard .
I’m giving all in PSA 9 :
Gold star Rayquaza
Gold star Charizard
Gold Star Mewtwo
Gold star Torchic
Gold star mudkip
Gold star Treecko
Plus 6k CAD
Should I depart with these cards and some cash for this particular slab ?
Oh and the middle man on this will be sending this off to PSA so it can be placed into a newer updated PSA slab.
If you do agree to the trade, I would have them reslab it first before you send off your items just in case the card gets damaged during the reslabbing process. Make sure the card is in similar condition after reslabbing.
I second what @knotchi said. Make sure that the re-slab process is done before the transfer is made. There is a high possibility nothing will happen but for such high value items, its better to be safe than sorry.
Cheers!
Definitely what @knotchi said. Recently saw some terrible reslabbing done and PSA giving the run around on cards worth way less than this.
I’m assuming the value is the same but I’d personally keep the gold stars. It sounds like the trade is in good order so of course it’s up to you!
Charizard looks mint!
Curious what valuation you guys agreed upon for the gold stars, and the 1st Ed Zard? Also if the seller hasn’t already, I would make sure to get high res scans of the front and back of the Zard before and after it comes back from reholdering.
I think it’s a bad deal on your end, but I’m also not a big fan of Charizard. Those gold stars are worth keeping. If it were me, I’d just wait a bit longer, save up some cash, and purchase the Charizard outright. Then you’ll have your gold stars and Charizard.
I think this is a mostly fair trade, but also a tough one to decide on. Not really “good” or “bad” as I think it really comes down to personal preference and your collecting goals. Do you REALLY like Base Set Charizard more than all of those Gold Stars? I know for myself personally I would want the Charizard more than any single Gold Star. But if I had more of an attachment to Gen 3 and the Gold Stars, it’d be a tougher trade for me to make, and especially parting with so many of them in one go.
Another way to look at it is that $6K is a pretty good down payment on a PSA 8 or even PSA 9 Charizard if you get on the right side of an auction. So with this in mind, you could keep saving and keep the Gold Star’s and then eventually score a Charizard.
I like this take the most. Personally, that is a good trade, but I would rather keep the cards and hustle my way to getting the Zard with the “downpayment”
| Trade Component | Approx USD |
|---|---|
| PSA 9 GS Rayquaza | 8500 |
| PSA 9 GS Charizard | 3500 |
| PSA 9 GS Mewtwo | 1800 |
| PSA 9 GS Torchic | 2300 |
| PSA 9 GS Mudkip | 1500 |
| PSA 9 GS Treecko | 1500 |
| 6k CAD | 4350 |
| Total Trade Side #1 | 23450 |
| PSA 9 1st Ed Base Charizard | ~20000 |
| Total Trade Side #2 | ~20000 |
Not as many data points I’d like for the 1st ed Charizard – all of the prices for the gold stars are recent-ish, February or later, but most of the recent 1st ed Charizard sales are from October November, so I discounted those sales by about 10% since 
.
I think the motivations matter here a bit. If you are initiating this trade with the goal of obtaining a grail card, this is a pretty good trade. You would be “trading up” into a single high-value card, which is infinitely more stomachable than paying 30k CAD cash out of pocket. The trade values are a little mismatched, so there may be some wiggle room on the cash amount, but overall it’s not too terrible of a trade for your side.
If, on the other hand, the trade was initiated by the owner of the Charizard (looking to split up equity, chase different collecting goals, etc.), from your perspective I’d be wanting to drop the cash amount quite a bit or do additional cards + less cash on your side since the totals are not currently in your favor.
In either case, like the other commenters have said, the reholdering process should be completed by the middleman BEFORE the trade is executed. IMO it’s not just a question of the card being damaged by the reholdering, those old slabs have security issues that make them easier to tamper/fake. I’d be especially adamant about this if this trade was initiated by the 1st ed Charizard side.
Good luck with the trade!
Wow thank you for that and I am using a middle man his instagram is :
Pokemon_enthusiast97
I have never done dealings with him , he is has a lot of reference posts on there Insta but if anyone has had dealings with them or have concerns please let me know
Why not do it in person? If you’re Canadian do you have a plan on how to get the card to you without paying $5000cad in customs fees?
I may meet up with them in Buffalo for the transaction after everything is all done from reslabbing at PSA and I will be with my friends most likely so we could make a little trip out of it
Now when we cross the border back with this slab I have no idea what to do , will the border ask me how much this slab is worth ? Will they care if I don’t even tell them I have it 
At that point Id just go for a full GS PSA 9 set
I don’t think the “trading up” argument holds any weight here. It’s not like you’re trading a bunch of junk for the Charizard. You’re trading away 6 $1000+ cards that would be trivially easy to convert into cash. So I don’t think there’s any good justification for you to be trading $23k in value for a $20k card. If you want the Charizard more than the gold stars, just sell the gold stars and buy the Charizard.
Best comment on the whole thread.
After selling fees & buying taxes/fees, wouldn’t it be nearly the same as trading? Except it’s much more work?
If anything, I’d just negotiate for less cash. Make the deal more even.
I’m not sure that I’d say it’s “much more work” to put the cards in a box and send them to PWCC/HA. He’d lose ~10% to fees if going that route. If he wanted to put in maybe 30 minutes worth of work into selling them, he could sell them on FB and lose 0% to fees.
I also feel like it would actually be more work to fly to a different country to do an in-person trade (and that’s what OP is contemplating doing).
I’m usually pretty anti-trade but mostly because its hard to set the conditions of the trade. In this case, the work is already done. If the valuation is off, then just alter the cash component.
If the trade is already lined up, why go through the extra risk and work of selling six cards? Buying and selling from Canada also has its own complications, a trade avoids a lot of that
To clarify: I meant that it would be better to sell the cards if OP’s trade partner continued to insist on a “trading down” premium. If OP’s trade partner agreed to equalize the value of each side of the trade, then I think it makes sense to trade rather than sell.
