Downgrade & replace - a good strategy to self-fund your collection?
 

I'm wondering how many here have taken a strategy of occasionally downgrading cards in their collections in order to help fund new card additions?

I don't have a ton of cards like this but I did buy a few nicer ones (1953 Paige, T206 Matty and T205 Speaker) that are 4's or 5's that I could probably enjoy almost as much at 2 or 2.5 and it might create a nice pool of funds to fill my collection holes.

I'd love to hear others' experiences with this as a "Downgrade & Replace" strategy with your collection.

Thoughts/Advice? Tips or lessons learned?

Thanks all -

Jeff

I'll do this pretty much every chance I get. I'd rather have three cards I like in fair to good than one in Ex.

Downgrading in terms of condition is definitely a good strategy, it all depends what you are willing to live with in terms of defects or issues with a card. There are plenty of PSA 1s out there with slight paper loss along the edge or back of the card, where the rest of the card presents as a 5 or 6. If you can live with that, the difference in price is massive.

If you are putting together a binder set, you can also find trimmed/altered versions of cards that present like a 4-5 mid grade card, but they might be 1/16 of an inch short. If its going in a binder and you aren't concerned about it being trimmed, you can save $$$ of money.

There have been lots of posts here in the last year of cards that are graded between a 1 and 3 that have excellent eye appeal. You can be discerning and find great deals. I always secure the new card (in the lower condition) before I sell my existing card, but your mileage may vary on how important that is to you.

I've heard this from other hobby friends too... pick up the replacement first. It does become a bit of a cash float issue but maybe only to start

It all depends on your objective. If your objective is to enjoy the cards, spend as little as you can for one you will enjoy enough. If your objective is to build value, it usually makes sense to own the highest grade of a card you can reasonably afford.

It also depends how rare the card is you are talking about. If you are talking about downgrading, say, a 1960 Topps Mantle, then you probably don't have to worry about supply, you will be able to find one in a lower grade and it shouldn't be an issue because the card isn't rare. If you are talking about a T206 card in an off back, where the total population for the card is less than 20, then you might not see another copy of that front/back combo for 6 months or longer. If you are okay waiting, then there is no harm in selling first. If you are worried you might not see the card again for a long time, and that matters to you, I'd secure the lower grade copy first before selling.

I get as much joy out of a card that is in fair shape as the same card in EX-MT. I collect a lot of sets that are rare to see, so I can't be picky about condition when one I need crops up. If I own an EX and see a F, I buy the F and trade away the EX for something else on my want list. A sharper corner makes little difference to me, but it makes a lot of $$$ difference.

Really can't be said any better than this!

To take from Pete

"If your objective is to build value, it usually makes sense to own the highest grade of a card you can reasonably afford."

This is the tried & true method, but not the only way. Low grade cards with high eye appeal & a bit of rarity also have a way of building value.

While I agree with your assessment I am not really in that camp. My go to strategy, if you will, is to acquire the best looking example I can, regardless of grade. But I have to agree with you on the highest graded one you can get, might be the better investment. Everyone wants the best .... (show picture of E90-1 Young) LOL....
.

If what you like is high demand/low supply than you can have it both ways. But I agree that in most scenarios the high grade card will do better than 3 lower grades.

It's always nice to have three or four than one , right?

I happily get rid of slabs and replace them with lower grade raw cards.

None of the sets I build could be construed as rare, but I have increasingly come around to this view of things. It's a hobby for me and nothing more.

Rare stuff is the only way I ever end up with an EX type card to downgrade :D. My Topps and Bowman stuff starts out low grade and stay there. My Mickey's and Willie's all have creases, but I love them anyways. Pretty much the only things I try and avoid are paper loss over the back write up (because I read them), and anything sticky on the card (because I store mine without any sleeves, touching the adjacent cards). Creases, round corners, a missing corner, a kid writing his name in the back border, these are features not defects that let me buy more cards to enjoy than I could if I did them minty fresh. I'm 95%+ done with my 1952-1973 Topps run; if I did them NM-MT I could have maybe a single set, probably not even that, for the same money. I find it more personally fun to have many more sets with creases instead of sharp corners to take out of the safe and flip through, variation hunt, and sort.

We very well could be related. :D

Bring your cards to the next family reunion!

I pretty much only care about eye appeal, so I often find myself "downgrading" in terms of the number on the slab while upgrading the actual cards encased by them.

Here is my Hank Aaron RC "downgrade"... (and yes, I recognize that some collectors would prefer the card on the left, but for how I define "eye-appeal", the card on the right is worth at least 3x the one on the left to me, and honestly, probably 5x or more).