Posted By:
runscottI said the other night in the Chat Room that I NEVER buy graded NM-MT graded cards except to re-sell, or to crack out of the holder and keep. I am certain that many cards have "become" high-grade due to trimming, and now reside in plastic holders. I personally do not care to own any of them, and since in most cases I can't tell by looking through the plastic whether or not a card has been altered, and since I also don't care to pay the premium associated with minor improvements in the edge of the cardboard (even if natural) that in no way affect the beauty of the actual image, I don't care to purchase these plastic prisoners with questionable histories.
Many (perhaps most) who buy PSA 8 and above cards are buying the holder, not the cardboard. Once the label has been inserted into the plastic, the true condition of the card within is almost irrelevant. On the rare ocassions when I have purchased high-grade PSA cards, I never had any intention of doing anything other than turning them around to make a few bucks to support my habit. If, on the other hand, I could tell that the card had been trimmed, or knew things about the history of the card that made me think it had been trimmed, I certainly WOULD NOT re-sell it without describing my thoughts to the potential customers.