is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Al Crisafulli</b><p>"5 to 1, a graded card is NOT more valuable."<br /><br />Wait, wait, wait, wait! I'm the 1! Can I restate my position?<br /><br />SHOULD the graded card be more valuable? Of course not! I agree with everyone's position here, that the card is the card.<br /><br />However, that unfortunately almost never seems to be the case. Graded cards, as someone pointed out, cost more. That's because the market is willing to accept a higher price for the third-party evaluation of authenticity and condition. And if the market is willing to accept a higher price, wouldn't that mean that "the graded card is more valuable?"<br /><br />I don't like it. I don't like that, for example, I bought a particular card for a set I was building (which will remain nameless) raw from an Ebay seller for $32. I had it graded by PSA and it came back an 8. I turned around and sold it for $600, then bought another raw one for $20. I was blown away by that, until the guy who bought it from me consigned it to an auction house, where it sold for $1600. What's the card worth? $1600? $600? $32?<br /><br />I think it's worth $32. Someone else thinks it's worth $1600. I don't like that disparity. But it is what it is.<br /><br />-Al

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>Al,<br /><br />He is apparently not counting my vote.<br /><br />Those who think a nrmt-mt ungraded card has equal or greater value than a psa 8 don't follow transaction prices very closely...or maybe they are assuming that their nrmt-mt card could be put in a PSA 8 holder. <br /><br />If value means monetary value it is a silly debate--graded cards are more valuable hands down.

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Cobby33</b><p>Valuable: "having great material or monetary value ["an amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return. especially for use or exchange"]."<br /><br />Worth: "The quality that renders something desirable, useful, or valuable."<br /><br />So...in our analysis...don't we need clarification as to whether the question posed refers to the "graded card" being the card itself versus the card slabbed, with a sticker on it? If it were the card itself, the inquiry ends there, as the card itself is "worth" the same as an ungraded card.<br /><br />But...Isn't a slabbed card with a grade on it "worth" more or has more "value" as eBay and auctions continually demonstrate? And isn't there more "value" knowing that the slabbed card is viewed, at least, as AUTHENTIC when graded? Certainly there's value there, no, as opposed to a raw card which may or may not be real?

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>drc</b><p>Anyone who buys raw cards on eBay will tell you that 8 out of 10 eBay sellers couldn't grade correctly if their butts were on fire. So it shouldn't take a genius to figure why PSA 10 Gem Mint cards sells for more than the average eBay seller who claims is a 10. Even if PSA isn't your favorite grader, you know their grading is more accurate than the average beanie babie seller.<br /><br />For the bidder the issue isn't whether the the exact same cards are worth the same, but whether the cards are the exact same. After all the eBay purchaser won't be able check the grading in person until after the auction is finished and the money is paid. Until then he has to go by the information provided by a seller 500 miles away. With a PSA graded card the bidder will have confidence in what he will receive in the mail. With the Joe Blow raw card seller, there won't be the same confidence. And for bidders, more confidence translates to higher bidding.<br /><br />The reason that the Mike Gutierrez auction sold more both times is because the bidder calculated that they were more likely to receive an authentic Babe Ruth signed ball in their mail. When you place a thousands dollar bid you aren't concerned with theoritical price comparisons on virtual autographs, you are concerned about what you will phyically receive in return for your check.

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Al Crisafulli</b><p>Of course, Jim, we've all seen examples of people's "mint" cards being shipped off to grading and having them come back 7s. The response, then, is typically either "Wow, I guess I haven't been grading my cards properly," or "Those grading companies have no idea what they're talking about." When I first got interested in graded cards, my reaction was the former of the two above.<br /><br />At the end of the day, as a buyer I prefer the third-party analysis, particularly when I can't hold the card in my hand first - even if this means I have to pay more money.<br /><br />However, let's take a relatively innoccuous card - say, a 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle in an SGC 98 holder. Put it on Ebay and it will fetch thousands of dollars. Take that EXACT SAME CARD, pull it out of the holder, and put it back on Ebay? Hundreds of dollars.<br /><br />I think the lower grade or more common the card, the less this rings true. However, as you move up the scale of either condition or scarcity, the third-party assessment becomes more of a factor because those cards often attract a different kind of buyer.<br /><br />I do think there is tremendous value in mid-grade, raw cards. Even today, 75% of what I collect is in raw form. But even people on this board who prefer not to COLLECT graded cards have admitted that when they want to sell cards, they get 'em graded. <br /><br />-Al

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>JimCrandell</b><p>Al,<br /><br />I agree with every word you say--as usual--smart analysis.

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Frank Wakefield</b><p>OK.... hanging chads, and a recount:<br /><br />Voting YES<br /><br /><br /><br />and voting NO<br /><br />Al C<br />Warshawlaw<br />me<br />DRC<br />Julie<br />Andy B<br /><br />6 to 0, a graded card is NOT more valuable.<br /><br />And you guys still don't understand, possibly because of an inability to comprehend...<br /><br />A graded card is not more valuable than an identical ungraded card. Period. The graded card may well more readily sell, and sell for more, but it is not worth more. Look at it the other way... the ungraded card could be graded and then sell for a similar high price, that didn't change the card itself, just what it is in. It is kinda like getting a pig out of a half dried up pond, washing the pig off, trimming the snout hairs, finding some nice clothes that fit... it is still a pig. And an identical mudhole pig would be worth the same.<br /><br />But you guys keep buying entombed cards only. Thank you for not buying the others.<br /><br />Hmmm. If I ever need to remarry, I think I'll find a matchmaker, don't want to trust my opinion on anything. Might accept a PSA 9.0, no need to hold out for a 9.5.

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Cobby33</b><p>Another thread bites the dust.

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Al Crisafulli</b><p>I did not retract my position, I restated it.<br /><br />"The graded card may well more readily sell, and sell for more, but it is not worth more."<br /><br />Frank, with all due respect, are you aware of the contradiction in this sentence?<br /><br />* The card is easier to sell.<br />* People will pay more money for it in a "plastic tomb"<br /><br />but<br /><br />* It is not worth more.<br /><br />It SHOULDN'T be worth more, but it is. I don't like it, as I've stated above, but it is reality. The higher the grade of the card, the more this is the case. <br /><br />I'm sorry. This doesn't make your collection any better or any worse than it would be if grading did not exist. Your collection is worth whatever it's worth to you. For many of us, the monetary value of our collection is virtually irrelevant in comparison to the sentimental value. But in the "open market", as it were, graded cards generally bring higher prices. Which means that, in some circles, they are "worth more".<br /><br />-Al

is a graded card more valuable ?
 

Posted By: <b>Cobby</b><p>Well said.