@azulryu Why does this make you angry?
Being aware of the population report is obviously crucial when it comes to trying to collect complete sets within a certain condition. People want their sets *complete* within a certain condition both for collecting purposes and value/sales purposes.
@hyruleguardian, I know itâs more of a personal thing. I get why POP numbers are important to people who care about graded cards, but I canât help but hear a small tiny voice in the back of my head that goes, âBut there are so many more not graded that are probably worth a 10. Why pay such a ridiculous price?â
Or just buy a PSA 9 one for cheaper and resubmit it until you get a 10. XD
As a Binder card collector, talking about âPOPâ, it sounds super Posh to me, like someoneâs holding their pinky whenever they talk about it, but like I said, thatâs my own bias and background. I recognize itâs not as bad as my tiny voice makes it out to be.
As much as I hate to sound âposhâ I canât help what I like. I want the best of the best. And it makes for most profit when selling years down the line. Just my two cents for why I like rare things
Fair enough point. I think the idea that there are many more ungraded cards out there that could hit a 10 is a very important thing to consider with all sets. But you have to look at the POP (I know you cringed a little) of the 9 vs the 10 as well as how much $$ is sealed product and how rare is sealed product.
If a card has 200 PSA 9 and only 20 PSA10 then itâs a safe bet that card is difficult to grade as a 10. So even if there were a lot of ungraded cards out there, low % chance for the market to flood with 10s. Also consider that if a box costs 5,000+ and are very scarce, itâs not likely people will start cracking open boxes and sending in pack fresh cards, there just arenât that many and the value of sealed is better than the low % of getting a 10 on a few cards.
Thatâs how I see it with discussions of POP for graded collectors but yeah, doesnât matter much for binder guys. To each their own, that is the beauty of the collecting hobby.
@firebirder31 and @chavycat, absolutely. And in no way would I discourage you to not pay for that if you feel comfortable doing so. Admittedly, I very well might do the same if I cared for graded collections or made the money some people in this community seem to be able to make. Definitely to each their own. Like I said, I recognize my bias is an internal bias and in no way should you guys feel like youâre doing something wrong by paying those prices. So donât take me too seriously, especially when I say âposhâ.
Iâm sure there are people who would call me posh for even dropping $50 or $100 on a piece of cardboard featuring a kidâs cartoon character. 
@azulryu I understand where youâre coming from, thanks for sharing.
Obviously, binder collecting and collecting graded cards are two different beasts and I donât need to get into a whole thing about the advantages and disadvantages of each.
But going back to âpop,â you have to understand that the vast majority of people who collect graded sets want every card in the set to be of the same graded condition. Some people collect 10s, others collect 9s, a small number might collect 8s and some might be okay mixing grades. But I would say that the *majority* of people who are collecting graded sets are collecting either 9s or 10s and they want every card in the set to be of that same grade. For these people, they have no choice but to pay attention to population reports.
$638 for a single PSA 10, own 1.7% of the 10 market
$638 for 24 PSA 9 copies, own 11% of the 9 market
@psa10onlycollectors, keep sleeping zzzzzzz
Iâd rather own 1.7% of a $100 bill than 11% of a $10 bill.
it was confirmed on instagram that one guy in particular shilled the auction âjust to waste peoples moneyâ
not sure how much truth there is to this, but it sounds logical.
Would you rather own one house in a good neighborhood worth 600k or 10 houses in a bad neighborhood worth 60k each? A lot easier to liquidate 1 thing instead of 10. Especially when thereâs higher demand for that one thing with a clientele that has a larger bankroll.
SighâŚ
Sure that guyâs a prick but there were 2 people bidding over $600 so surely both people werenât just shilling? Either way I donât care. If people from the outside see that a Beedrill thatâs a set card can sell for $600 then that just generates more interest for the hobby which is good for all of us lol
Wait is pokeman or charizard king the one who did the bad deed?
That is true, but Iâm still under the assumption that at least one of those $600 bids was genuine
for all we know the idiot who got screenshotted in the instagram conversation just string bidded the auction up to $400 and then two actual paying customers bid $600 against each other
Hmm, thank you for giving me a different perspective on this. I guess the best thing in the end would be for the seller to relist it and to block the idiot who was shill bidding to prevent this from happening again
i bought mine for less than U$S250 a couple months ago, couldnt believe when i saw this price. To be honest, i dont think its worth that muchâŚ
Edit: Just saw some people were shill bidding it⌠sucks 
What sets are you talking about? Because Jungle and Fossil 9s are certainly not between $25-35 (some of them are well over $100 now), and most Neo 9s are well above that price, as well (especially in the case of Neo Destiny, where most of them push over $100).
The only set where I see this rather commonly is Rocket (and some Gym set cards, but even those are becoming fewer and further between).
WOTC era stuff. A lot of them in the neo sets. The more popular pokemon like the eeveelutions or legendary dogs will always grab a bit of a premium. But Iâve scored a lot of 1st ed holos psa 9âs for $20. After tax and shipping the cost is around $25ish.
And youâre talking recently? Because outside of the Rocket set (and some Gym cards), I have not seen many PSA 9 1st Edition holos going for $35 or less this year. Not saying it doesnât happen, because sometimes people list things for cheaper, and once in a while people snipe cards on auction, but generally, even cards like Jungle Vileplume are typically going for $50 and up now. The 9s have increased quite a bit.
Just a quick look, half of.neo gen and neo disc have had 9âs sold between the 25-35 mark. Again just a quick look at two sets. I know the original three sets will always grab a premium as well as big hitters like zards and lugias