I’d like to start a discussion regarding how collectors source mint cards.
I know the obvious avenues such as opening packs but I must admit i’m somewhat surprised as to how many ‘mint’ wotc holos continue to be sent into PSA.
I spend a lot if time scouring ebay for newly listed cards and my observation is that there really aren’t that many that show up (well at least not to the extent that supports the amount of mint or better wotc holos i see continuously graded).
I theorise about the possibility that a lot of collectors and big youtube names crack and resubmit in hopes of better grades. Could this be rampant?
Alternatively, are cards being purchased from troll n toad or tcg player any decent in condition? It seems to me the general consensus is their nm/mint stuff is psa 7 on average.
Collected/gathered them over a period of years until the person wants to send in to grade.
Hours of raking eBay listings for mint singles.
Buying and sorting through collections.
Decided to open old packs that they’d gathered over a period of time if it’s now worth opening because of 1. What they originally paid for the packs, or 2. developments in the set’s EV.
There’s no oasis of mint cards anymore, if you want them you’ll most likely have to put in a bit of effort.
I can see how it looks that way, but the impression will be skewed as it’s the people who are doing/have done the things I said in my last response who are making those videos. I mean sure there’s possibly some lucky collectors who stumble on a hive of mint cards every now and again, but it’s a lot less likely now compared with say 2014
I think it’s worth noting many people won’t bother sending in cards that aren’t going to get a mint grade. So they have probably pregraded them all and any which don’t have a shot at a 9 or higher they either sell raw or keep for binders as they may not be worth grading
The graded supply you’re seeing largely reflects cards purchased as raw prior to meteoric rise of third-party grading in the hobby. Basically, the graded supply doesn’t reflect the current raw supply – it reflects past raw supply. That’s the source of the mismatch.
This is new for me. I can imagine getting a sudden wave of upcharge fees and not having the necessary funds. How long can you store your cards with the graders in this case?
Booster packs no but actually though, buying packs is a scam but it’s the best way to get an actually mint card in a lot of ways.
I do find gems on eBay and TCGPlayer sometimes. You often have to pay 5-10% premium for an actually mint raw card, and sometimes you have to just take a chance on a listing without a picture.
Best way is to think from the seller’s perspective. A big store or a “super seller” is probably going to know about grading and probably send their actual mint cards there, selling you the slightly off center or slightly scratched cards, though still NM/Mint. On the other hand, I found a MTG card I was looking for on TCGPlayer, seller had low feedback, listing had an image and a note saying “selling this to fund my next commander deck”. I figured this person probably just got a super great hit from a pack and wanted to cash in, and I was right as I graded that card a 10.
Yea, I just graded some NM WotC holos, but I spent like ~2 years sourcing them while PSA was closed. Most of the time, I ended up paying FMV for them as well. In my experience, eBay isn’t the greatest place to do that. There isn’t really a great place in general to be honest. There probably is people cracking and resubbing, but I don’t think that’s what you’re seeing. Also, yea, I’m not sure it’s tcg player or troll and toad either lmao.
I think they’re just difficult to find. Collectors that have large amounts of them have probably spent a lot of time sourcing them from eBay, collection purchases, stores, etc. Especially if they’ve been in the hobby a while; I understand things are very different now. Pre-2020, it’s my understanding that most cards weren’t worth grading in sub-PSA10 condition and definitely sub-9. So, it’s possible that many collectors who have been here for a few years naturally picked up NM WotC holos when they were cheap and are grading them now because it’s worth. Which is potentially what could happen with cards today. There’s plenty of cards that are available in pack-fresh condition today, but they just aren’t super valuable; without the hindsight of knowing which cards will increase, it’s less clear where that value is because it hasn’t been realized yet. Perhaps one day, some collectors will be wondering how we got our cards in mint condition!
Personally, I don’t find it that hard to get Mint WOTC cards. In my case it is a mix of two things already mentioned above.
Number one, I mostly buy collections and number two, I pick the cards that I believe have a shot at PSA 9-10.
My submissions are usually in the hundreds of cards, so if I were to make a youtube video, it would seem that I got lucky obtaining those cards.
What happens behind the curtains in fact is that I need to procure, purchase, sort and pre-grade thousands of cards before having enough for each submission.
Youtube tends to skew people’s perception on things, as we are fed the end product without being made aware of what went into making it.
If you enjoy and are willing to put in the hours, the easiest way is to buy collections, keep whatever cards you need, and sell the rest either as singles or bundles. After 10-20 collections you should have acumulated a few dozen cards worth sending for grading.
This is the sort of insight i was after, thanks.
I myself have graded over 5,000 cards since 2013, and with every submission, i dont end up having much left over stock. In my time i have been very good at procuring quality cards with a minimal ‘crap quality’ ratio.
Youtube skewed my perception to think others were still being able to do this, but the reality is that for the 50 cards they sent, they likely chewed through 500.
I shouldn’t say this. It’s dangerous. Big Money Tony may be dead but his goons still run this town. But there’s a warehouse, you see. There’s a whole network of warehouses. They bring in these boxes in cargo ships, cross country from Seattle, break em out and deal em to different cells around the state. It’s not like they’re standing at street corners and whispering down alleys, either. They’ve got clients. Rich clients. It’s all high falutin’ and hotel hoppin’. People keep quiet because they tip in Charizards. It’s a good business to be in, but being around it ain’t bad either.
These guys got whole municipalities in their pocket — the cops, the cabbies, the judges and the mayor, everyone’s in on it and everyone gets a little cut. A rising tide lifts all ships, you see. But none more than Big Money Tony. Or, well, what’s left of his family after that power grab on the south side. There’s a vacuum now. People vying for control. It’s a bad time to be in business, and maybe a worse time to be around it. They could kill me if they saw me posting about this. You should just get out of town, it’s not worth it, there’s a hundred better ways to die, and ways to make money that don’t end up that way.
And you DIDN’T hear it from me. You don’t even KNOW me. Forget this face.
no but actually though, buying packs is a scam but it’s the best way to get an actually mint card in a lot of ways.
