For pre-war and post-war cards up to 1980, I strongly prefer SGC. I feel they do a better and more consistent job with the grading and I like their cases. For 1980 to present, I prefer PSA.
PSA tends to have the highest resale value, but SGC is probably the most popular among pre-war collectors and is quickly catching up/matching PSA prices.
I don't mind buying BVG/Beckett slabbed cards as in many cases they don't cost as much. But I don't submit cards to Beckett to be graded.
And keeping them raw isn't that bad of an idea either.
