Am I the only one who buys a card without the forethought of getting it graded?

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Posted By: Brian Van Horn

No, my name is not Rube.

Guys (and ladies), let's be serious. I know there is a lot chicanery and fraud, but if your first thought is grading aren't you kind of jading yourself and the collecting experience in general?

I would like to know if I am the only member on this board who has never had a card graded. I have bought them, but have never had one graded.

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Posted By: E, Daniel

Oh Boy. Not a'bloody-gain.


Daniel

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I'm almost there with you.

Cards that I buy to keep I don't get graded. If I buy a graded card to keep, I break him out.

Once in a while I sell a card I've bought, usually because it was in a lot. Some of the cards I've sold I have gotten graded, probably 10% of them, just because they would sell better.

You hang in there, I think you're collecting in a fine, respectable manner.

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Posted By: Marc S.

Although I do collect some cards in high grades, I have myriad cards in low to mid grade.

I am a klutz. I have young children. If I kept all/many of my cards raw -- I would absolutely damage many of them, albeit inadvertently. Grading helps protect my cards and doesn't hurt for things like resale value if/when I change some of my collecting priorities.

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Posted By: leon

I like most of my more valuable cards to be inspected by SGC if I can. That way I know another set of eyes (maybe not perfect) has deemed the card untainted. I almost bought a 20k card one time, raw, sent it to SGC and they found some glue on a small tear...which would decrease the value somewhat. I like the protection and look of their holders too. With all of that being said there is nothing like the smell of old cardboard in the morning !! I do have quite a few cards that are naked and they will remain that way for a long time. There is no better way to get to know characteristics of cards than handling them, imho......regards

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Posted By: Brian Van Horn

The closest I get to grading is simply putting the card in a toploader/top loader. This shows how much I care about grading. I can't even figure out the spelling on the item the next level down from grading. I will admit all of my cards before WWII are in a protective plastic, albeit not a grading case in most instances.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Brian- as long as you generally buy mid-grade cards, say around VG to EX, you will do fine buying them raw. I wouldn't recommend buying NR MT/MT cards raw and paying big premiums.

You've been around the hobby a very long time and I am sure you know what you are doing.

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Posted By: James Feagin

I grade everything, and I do so for different reasons.

1.) They are permanently protected from my 15 month old daughter

2.) I know they aren't altered

3.) If something should happen to me, my wife would have no problems selling them.

James

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Posted By: peter chao

Brian,

I buy ungraded cards from dealers I know and trust. I don't buy to sell, but in my head I do say this card looks like a PSA 6 but may only be a PSA 5.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Danny Grimes

This is how i collect,

A) Anything 1948 and later i buy raw, and i don't bother getting anything graded, i think its just me but i think pre-war cards look better graded than newer ones mainly because of size(s).

B) Pre-1948 I'll buy raw and graded. if i put the cards in my personal collection i grade them or buy them graded. raw lower-graded cards i keep not graded because i like looking at them more and im not afraid of taking them out of their holders to get a closer look.

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Posted By: Jimmy

Many of my good customers like ungraded cards, but I provide both and collect both myself

Jimmy

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Posted By: Bob Pomilla

Have had nary a one, graded. Have bought them as such and then cracked them out. Have never sold cards, but if I were to, I'd think myself a fool if I were not to have them "professionally" graded first.

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Posted By: Alan Elefson

Hi-
I do not now, nor do I believe I ever have owned, purchased, or sold a graded card. I have also never had a card graded. Nor do I intend to do so in the future. I will never seek to purchase gradedcards because I do not enjoy paying an additional amount of money for a card (even if it is nominal) simply because a third party service placed it in a holder and applied a numerical grade to it. I can do both of these things myself for free.
While I very much dislike grading personally, I do not begrudge other collectors their preferences. I completely understand feelings of security with third party graders both in terms of protecting cards and (at least in the case of SGC) money back guarantees. And, while I do not understand (nor could I tell the difference) between an 8, a 9, and a 10, if that is the way some one likes to collect then that is a good thing. To each his own.
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Fred C

Alan,.

It's really easy to tell the difference between an 8, 9 and 10. Look at the price tag. Without the price tag I couldn't tell the difference either. I'm just very happy that there are third party grading monkey's that can dictate the market prices. It's so odd. There are kids out there grading our cards that actually influence this market... and the really stupid part is that there are collectors out there that buy into this non-sense.

I say slab it and let everyone know it's real and unaltered. Let scrutinizing eyes dictate the pricing (like it used to be). If the card is altered then the slab label should indicate the flaw and again allow collectors to rationalize the pricing of the cards.

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Posted By: Paul S

I started collecting over 40 years ago. Have never had a card graded. This does not mean I wouldn't buy a graded card, just that I don't get them graded. I might, who knows. No need, I guess. I am not against grading at all, and even for it in a lot of instances that have been mentioned many time before here.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Ive bought graded cards before but have never got one i already owned graded. Ive rarely ever,and i can only think of once off the top of my head right now,paid extra just because the card was graded a certain grade. I know for a tough card i needed i paid extra because it was graded but that wasnt me paying for the grade on the holder,that was just me outbidding someone for a card i wanted

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Posted By: Ed Ivey

Whether graded on slabs or grading in our heads, grading is human nature. Everyone wants to know where they stand on grids. Capitalism at its best.

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Posted By: JimCrandell

No--there are still four of you left but give it another 6 months and you may be the only one.

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Posted By: Matthew

Does anyone know what each of these companies would charge to grade a VGish Frank Chance T206 yellow portrait?

Are there any hidden fees (like shipping/insurance) or is it just a flat fee based on the value of the card?


Thanks.

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Posted By: Brett

I've never had a card graded and never will. Theres too many people who are only worried about what the card grades because of how mucn money it would be worth. I'm also sick and tired of reading threads on this forum about people complaining that their $20,000 baseball card should have been graded a PSA 7 and not a PSA 6 ! If you people really love collecting these old cards, then you wouldn't care what the grade of the card is. I also don't think I need to pay someone like $10-$20 to tell me that my creased up is in poor shape or my card with rounded corners is in good shape. I've noticed alot of inconsistencies in the grades of the cards. How do we know that people who go to sportscard shows don't bribe the guy grading the card to grade it higher ? Say if I had a t206 Cobb green port and it should grade a 7, but you give the guy $1000 under the table to grade it a PSA 8 ? Now that Cobb is worth over $30,000 rather than what like half that if it was a 7 ? Same thing with an altered cards. or maybe no bribes at all, maybe you have a good frend who grades cards and bumps your card up a grade. I'm not saying that card graders are doing this stuff, but anything is possible. the rich guys are driving the prices up on all of these cards because some people have more money than brains. People are starving all around the world, and yet someone can spend tens of thousands of dollars all the way up to $2.8 million on a damn baseball card that will be in a bank vault 24 hours a day ? i'm sorry for this rant, but i'm sure i'm not the only person who feels this way. if theres typos, i dont need to hear thanks

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Posted By: barrysloate

It's interesting how many people don't like graded cards.

My feeling is grading has corrected some problems but created new ones. It's a mixed blessing.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I've never had a card graded. I've also never sent in anything for an LOA, which is not to say I never would. For autographs, I wouldn't buy a Jimmie Foxx signed baseball unless it came with reputable LOA and/or from recognized autograph expert seller-- so there would be no need to get an LOA afterwards. If the autograph required an LOA afterwards, I'd not buy it. If I inherited an autograph album that contained a few Babe Ruths and Calvin Coolidge GPCs or cuts I'd send them into PSA/DNA or JSA to be slabbed, but that has yet to happen ... I met a local woman whose dad found an autograph book signed by hundreds Pre-War players including Ruth, Thorpe, Foxx, etc. She showed me the book, so I knew it wasn't a tall tale. She let me Xerox some of the pages so I could compare the signatures later. The thing was obviously genuine, but getting a JSA or PSA LOA would still be prudent and wise for insurance purposes.

As is common, a owner of a local used book store has boxes of old books occasionally left on the sidewalk in front of store. He discovers them when he gets to the store in the morning. One box included Yoko Ono's Grapefruit book signed inside by Ono and John Lennon. He had no idea who left it, so couldn't return it if he wanted (and he didn't want to). At my suggestion, he sent it in into PSA/DNA and got an LOA.

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Posted By: dennis

i have bought them but i have never sent in a card to be graded.

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Posted By: Cobby33

I don't care about the numerical grade. I am concerned with a card's authenticity and/or alterations made to it, which is why I have them graded.

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Posted By: ItsOnlyGil

I have never had a card graded.
I have some graded cards that I haven't cracked out yet. This is chiefly because their destination is not yet complete.
I buy cards as they come.
I rarely sell cards, very rarely.

I think that the hobby places too much emphasis on the opinion of graders, and I think it is going to get worse. I use the term "worse" because I do not buy into much of the criteria, priorities, and methods being employed in grading.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

That cards are resubmitted to get different grades and do, illustrates the margin of error in the grades. If that isn't enough to convince collectors to not take grades too seriously, nothing is. With this plus or minus margin of error in the grades and the prevalence of alterations, it's beyond me why collectors pay so much for Gem Mint 10s-- especially with vintage issues that have no business being in Gem Mint condition ("The reason why your Gem Mint 10 T200 is so rare is because T200s don't come in Gem Mint condition.")

Never pay 100% money for 90% accuracy.

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Posted By: anthony

Matt, typical the grading runs anywhere from $5-$20 each card depending on the service quickness or value of cards sent. although i havent sent off any in awhile, PSA charges a membership fee but get some free submissions, SGC has the best looking and safest holder (tamperproof) in my opinion, GAI is more generous than the others in my opinion.

unfortunately, you'd have to check each site for all of the differences. everyone here has different opinions but all agree (i'm sure) that you should stay away from PRO, no matter what the fees...even if free

when in doubt, keep it!

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I love graded cards.

I love ungraded cards.

Some cards, I buy raw, and get graded.

Some cards, I buy graded, crack out of their holders, and keep them raw.

Some cards, I buy graded, crack out of their holders, and then send them to another grading company.

Does it really matter?

I don't consider it to be jading myself if my first thought is grading. For instance, if I see a really cool raw card for my HOFer collection, the first thought I have is "That's a great card. I wonder if it will grade?" I think this way because my HOF collection is all in SGC holders, and they look great displayed together.

If I see a really cool card in another grading company's holder, I think "I wonder if this card will cross?" Because if it doesn't, then maybe I paid a PSA 7 price for an SGC 6, and I don't like doing that.

Other times, though, I look at a graded card and say "Wow, that's going to look really great when I break this card out of its holder and stick it in a binder with my other raw cards.

It all depends on how I store or display whatever it is I'm buying.

-Al

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Posted By: Paul S

If you read my previous post then you know I have nothing against graded or ungraded -- or those who collect either. I can understand the reasons why a person who spends a great amount of money on a graded card(s) may keep it that way. However, my own feeling is that if you can no longer slip your favorite cards out of a sleeve or toploader and hold them in your naked hand, you are probably missing one of the great joys of BASEBALL CARD collecting. Possibly the same joy that you felt when buying them as a kid (providing in the first place you bought them as a kid.)

*edited for spelling and other crap

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Posted By: RC

Never had one graded as of yet, not really planning too. I guess if I were to have a card that I believed would grade well and I planned on selling it, I would consider having it graded.

I do purchase some graded cards but would not be concerned about cracking them out.
I have a card coming this week that is from the Lionel Carter collection and that one will stay in the slab out of respect to Mr. Carter.

RC

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Posted By: Roland

Being an old time collector, started out in 1939 collecting Playballs, I would never bother with graded cards. This opinion was even more solidified when I attended a show at Ft. Washington a while back. PSA was doing on-site grading. I walked over to the area and all I saw were kids looking at and grading cards. I don't think any were as old as my youngest grandson. And they are going to tell me
how good my cards are ? No way. I'll stick with raw cards and enjoy the hobby like I always have.

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Posted By: Matthew

Anthony, thank you for the response.

I buy both ungraded & graded. It makes me no difference if it fits my budget & is a card I like. I don't buy raw cards with the intent of grading them. I have busted a few out though (Beckett is the most fun) & have had exactly 1 card submitted to PSA. My local card shop charges $15 to send cards with his PSA submissions.

It never fails that any time I sell a few cards, I will get a few questions from potential buyers wondering if the cards will get a numerical grade. So the last time I had to sell, I thought about getting them graded. I looked on the SGC site to see about a submission. In the end, I just could not justify spending 10-50% of the value of the cards (T's & E's valued at anywhere from $30-$200). Now, any time I trade or sell a card to someone who says they will grade the card, I offer a return policy as follows == any card rejected by PSA, SGC, or GAI can be returned for full refund. I have yet to receive a card back. I think I can tell as well as the graders if it is real, fake, trimmed, etc. I occasionally have a buyer just want to know if it will receive an Authentic grade. That does make a lot of sense. I can certainly understand a buyer wanting to make sure he does not receive a fake.

If I had some very expensive cards, I would see no problem in grading it for protection, but grading a card just for sake of a number has always puzzled me.