I’m mainly talking of sought after items like 1st ed Charizard and such that you see on ebay in the BGS/PSA 3-5 range… Why? They’re usually freshly graded and up for sale immediately so it’s not a matter of card preservation or anything, which you can just send cards in for authentication anyway.
Wouldn’t these cards do way better sold raw at a $0.99 auction?
I’m just wondering what’s the logic for sellers doing this. People aren’t professional graders so it is very tough to tell the difference in between grades lower than 6, I would argue in some cases the seller would get more money for a raw copy.
Then you have the ones that ask a premium because the grade is very low pop… different topic though.
Do you think this is a good business decision? Would you grade a high value card that you know is sub PSA 6?
They grade them for the exact reason you stated. People can not determine grades exactly below a psa 6 so they psa grade them. That way the buyer knows what he is getting and what condition. I do see raw charizards that sell for more than what they would as the PSA grade I believe it would get. As a sellers standpoint I prefer to grade them so my customer knows what he is getting. I’m not trying to hype it up raw and have photos that don’t show off all the flaws to try get more money.
Fair point. I guess reputation is more important than getting extra $. I was just genuinely curious as people overpay ALL the time on raw cards, this is the main reason I was asking.
It’s nice to see some sellers aren’t all about their bottom line.
sometimes people will also grade a damaged card for intrinsic reasons. for example they’re a collector and stumble accross their original venusaur from child hood. although it’s damaged they decide to grade it to preserve that special card thay obtained in their child hood.
Recently I have been buying pokemon boosters during my travels. I plan on grading a card from each city to memorialize the trip. The cards are not all in top condition, but it is a way to keep them in good condition, so I dont really mind the grade it receives.
I’ve got a no stage blastoise that i’ve had since the early 2000’s. Its in pretty rough shape, psa 5-6 at best. But its meaningful to me so I plan on getting it slabbed in an “Authentic” case
Dunno if the same is true for pokemon but sometimes people grade beat up mtg cards that are worth a ton just to make the sale easier, less worry about it being fake if it’s been authenticated by BGS already and it’ll make the buyer feel more at ease spending 1000s.
First rule of collecting is all dealers are scum, so know exactly what your getting. If a card isn’t PSA graded and the seller doesn’t have 100% positive feedback don’t business with them.
Here’s a perfect example… Now I don’t know how bad it is, but the seller clearly mentions 2 creases on the card yet this has already pretty much crossed PSA 7 price. The holo is scratched up as well. Thankfully the seller has a reserve so he might not even sell this thing at top dollar… It’s already at 2x graded value IMO.
You guys are are right, there’s way too many scummy dealers out there. Unfortunately, there are just as many(if not more) uneducated or foolish buyers.
I just spotted it. I waste too much time looking at actual condition of cards… That’s even worse then. Some sucker will pay $1500+ for a PSA 5-6 Shadowless. Smh
Edit: I’m going to contact the seller, but I don’t think they’ll care.
You clearly are missing the big picture poken00b. You are paying for this person’s tuition. This is also the rarest Pokémon card in existence. Ever! When you ignore the crease and scratches, its a near mint card too
The front of the is nearly flawless, with very, very minor IF ANY scratches. There’s two creases in the card which, as I mentioned, does not damage the card in any way! Don’t worry about what the dictionary says about the word damage, I asked the card and it said it was fine. These creases are not visible to the human eye - the seller broke out their scanning electron microscope just to verify they were there! Definitely one of those notorious “factory creases”. I’m not a professional grader though so I don’t know why you just sat though all that.
Also don’t worry about that stamp, I think it falls within what PSA considers acceptable
I died laughing at your post. It was great. I’d give it a BGS Black Label 10 grade.
Edit:
This card was graded by PSA, so i know it is authentic, i think you might be overthinking , although i understand your concern, i would never fall into that trap of having fake 1st edition cards.
addheight
lolol You were spot on @pkmnflyingmaster
I actually believe the guy. It might have came back lower than he wanted… so he’s flipping it raw. PSA really need to step their game up… That stamp is way out of position.
I wavered today because I’m sending Ludkins some of my cards to grade, and I really wanted to grade some from my childhood.
I have two of my favourite neo series cards still, but know they won’t grade anything higher than a 7 on a good day. So I decided to pass. I was THIS close to grading them, but I think I’ll just get nm-m copies instead.
