Want to get your guys opinion on whether or not you would get modern cards graded or not. In particular secret golden Rares and rainbow Rares.
Assuming the cards are pack fresh which I presume would mostly be 10 10s and some 9s for modern stuff.
Is the price differential worth it in your opinion?
If you are grading with the goal of turning a profit. I believe grading anything thats a 9 or 10 in modern is 100% worth it depending on the card/pokemon/initial purchase price. Cracking modern product and getting it graded in this current market has been almost guaranteed profit.
Its a great idea especially with hidden fates.
buuuuut, spending that money on buying a psa 8 vintage card is likely safer.
Your question doesn’t mention anything about selling, but I’m assuming that’s what you’re asking about? Whether or not it’s worth getting the card(s) professionally graded before selling? If so, just look up the price of PSA 10, PSA 9, and raw versions of the card in question and decide for yourself whether or not the premium is worth it (and take into account turnaround times and the likely price trajectory of the card, too).
Do you like the card enough that you would be upset if it were to be damaged? Getting the card graded protects the card very well. Of course, you can safely keep it in a binder, but the casing feels a bit safer to me. I think this is a good question to ask yourself as well as if you want to sell it in the future.
The full arts are definitely something you should grade sooner rather than later, more surface area running the risk of scratching.
Don’t think pack fresh means a 9 much less a ten.
Centering is a total crapshoot lol
Thanks for sharing guys, Great to hear everyone’s input.
I hear you on the centering. It seems to me that pack fresh generally speaking for modern is pretty flawless from my experience except centering.
Only thing that turns me off right now is the crazy turn around. Though I think I will give it a go. Maybe even try bgs and hopefully get then back a little quicker.
Turnaround time is also just as long of a wait at Beckett at the moment, even at the faster service levels.
Ya man. I noticed when I went on their site. Now I am thinking CGC. I know they are relatively new. Anyone got any recent experience with them?
There’s a CGC megathread – you’ll be able to find tons of discussion about them there.
100% worth it if you have the capital and some patience.
Personally, I started collecting modern with SWSH era sets and it has been a lot of fun for me. My goal is grade all of the full art pokemon in PSA 10 myself and maybe all of the vmax and rainbow vmax cards as well. It has presented a bit of challenge finding strong cards with good centering to send in but not that hard with some patience. Here are my feelings and reasons I enjoy modern grading quite a bit.
I’d suggest it cause cards are easier graders as well, satisfying to get an order of all 9s and 10s in. I’d recommend developing a strategy that fits with a goal you want to collect (like all the Full Arts for example) or with the selling strategy you want to have. Done correctly it is a lot of fun and can be profitable. The biggest things are time (grading takes forever) and initial capital to cover the costs of grading and card purchases.
What’s your end goal?
Not directed at you, but just a general topical sentiment I have about the time it takes to grade: Yeah, it takes 6-9 months if you want the cheaper tiers. But if you’re not planning on being in the market in 6-9 months, literally why are you grading anyway? lol
And if you’re doing it for your collection, the longer time will probably just extend the longevity of the hobby experience.
I don’t think longer turnarounds are preferable, but it seems to me that people overreact a LOT when it comes to turnarounds. Impatient collectors are the absolute worst in every way. Haha
I would probably sell the ones that are graded. The ones I will be keeping will be raw. Personally, I am not into modern slabs.
All I have heard about them is nothing but praise over on Instagram and a bit of praise in the CGC thread. I personally haven’t used the grading service. From what I have heard and seen the turnaround time is fast.
I usually use a middleman service for PSA & Beckett for grading.
CGC seems pricey with the shipping part of it for where I am in the world. I don’t have access to Fed Ex and I am not overly comfortable sending via Auspost internationally at the moment.
It would be awesome to try them out one day though. I do like the look of the cases and the labels.
Might be a good idea to check out the CGC thread like Zorloth suggested,
I’m sure you deal with the impatient collectors/flippers waaayyyy more than anyone else but for me personally, the wait times being frustrating is not about a lack of patience or needing to flip quick, it is more of an excitement thing like waiting for Christmas or your birthday to come when you were a little kid. My hope is to send in a sub every month and then eventually I should hopefully be getting one back each month so I can that needed shot of excitement haha.
Thanks for the valuable insights as always and I agree it does add to the longevity of the hobby and personal experience. The best things in life are worth waiting for but that is tough when most collectors come from the age of instant gratification 
That’s exactly what I recommend to people. If you send once a month, on average, you’re getting stuff back once a month. It’s also going to stagger the costs. And the enjoyment of getting things back on average once a month is worth the couple dollars extra 1000 times over from a fun perspective.
And yeah, between Ludkins, CGC, and owning Virbank, I have a really strong macro view of the hobby. I see a LOT of absolute nastiness and bitching over turnaround times. So my perspective is colored by that and you’re totally right.
I think that’s another reason I feel so strongly about modern being a good thing. If you can find a way to enjoy the regular events in Pokemon, your experience overall will be better. Focusing on NOTHING but vintage can be a real drag and lead to burn out a lot faster.