For you, what grade is usually the ‘sweet spot’ of knowing you’re getting a card in visually appealing condition for a binder, without paying a premium for details of diminishing return?
And what’s your advice for someone new to slab shopping, who doesn’t care about PSA 10 condition but is weary from card shops up-conditioning their raw cards? I’m here to learn!
I’m new to the world of slabs (haven’t bought one yet) but am intrigued at the idea of being able to use grades as a more reliable condition guide for buying online.
For example, I’m completing my childhood Gym Heroes binder and need Sabrina’s Gengar 14. “Lightly played” raw runs the gamut from $70-130 on TCGPlayer. Or I can get a PSA 7 for $100, which seems like a good value proposition, right?
It’s PSA 8: you can usually buy these for less than “near mint” raw on all but the most expensive vintage cards. For super modern stuff or anything you’re happy to pay NM raw price for, PSA 9.
There was actually a pretty good discussion including a poll done on a similar topic.
Besides this, I will chime in with my personal opinion. I am a binder collector and I collect raw cards only. My personal belief is that the premium that I have to pay for a graded card, I might as well use that money as funds for more purchases. I have only ever purchased 2 slabs. My first one was because I was not able to find any raw copies and the graded copy ended up being cheaper than the raw copy because the card just flew under the radar during the auction. It was a PSA 9 and I cracked it immediately. The current slab that I have is a PSA 8 and I got it only because the seller negotiated to a price which was lower than some raw copies of the same condition.
I think when it comes to graded slabs, it gives you a security in terms of card condition. A seller mentioning “Lightly Played” on a raw card is still subjective which might differ from your standards. However, a card graded 7, you can more or less know the condition with high confidence because it is supposed to adhere to the company grading standard.
I am very forgiving with the card condition for my binders, so I would always choose to stretch my money as much as possible and buy raw. So I will personally go for the 70 USD deal on the raw card and save 30 USD on the graded copy (in your example). But I know a lot of others who are happy to pay the 100 and get an assured conditioned card. Sorry for not directly answering your questions but I guess it depends on your priorities regarding card condition.
I think you are spot on with the PSA 7 grade of the card you mentioned. I’m not convinced there is a one size fits all grade that always hits the sweet spot for value/condition. It can fluctuate depending on the card, current market conditions, and you’re own preference. Right now I’m cracking anything between PSA 6-8 for some of my WOTC binders and the value/condition is really nice for what I want.
The market for raw WOTC cards right now is pretty tough IMO. So many cards have been graded in the last few years that the listings for raw cards are often in very bad condition or completely destroyed in addition to being overpriced. Many times I’m able to find a 7 or 8 for the same price as raw but in significantly better condition. Additionally, as others have pointed out, buying a graded card can narrow down the potential variation in condition.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and that thread! I appreciate it—I did some searching before posting but didn’t hit the right phrasing of this question to find that thread.
Yeah, I have been slightly surprised at the volume of raw WOTC in somewhat delinquent condition, especially at my local card shops. They’ll say “moderately played” and it’ll look like someone took a Brillo pad to the holo.
Thanks for making (and mentioning) that previous thread! Exactly the type of insight I was looking for.
I’d like to echo the sentiment of 6-8 being great value for binders, especially PSA 6 cards that have tiny indents that’s you’ll likely never notice. I also think certain PSA 4 and 5 cards can have visually appealing fronts and even limited holo scratching just with noticeably used backs. But if you’re putting them in a binder the backs won’t likely see the light of day, and these cards can be significantly cheaper than 6/7s.
Well if you crack open a slab and send the label back to the grading company, it will help them fix their pop report since you have basically cracked open a card. They also deactivate the cert number I believe. Not sure how well it is followed.l though.