I echo the sentiments of many on here. Personally I have changed the way I collect in the last 10 years and I buy a lot more raw cards usually <$3-400 than i desire for my binders. Most likely these cards will never get graded and I am not so concerned about their grade or whether they might have minor alterations. That comes into consideration when I decide my price.
Then I have my collection of Babe Ruth, Ty cobb, and other higher value cards. Most of these are graded... some are not due to inability of the third-party graders to offer the service. But I have been in the hobby for over 40 years and I feel I can judge authentic cards 98% of the time. Additionally Ebay will always favor the buyer and you can always return some thing in a reasonable amount of time.
Sometimes it might be worth it to have to overnight a card to a third-party greater to authenticate just to get back in the window of return on eBay you just never know?
On a slightly different note Ebay is a lot different now than it was 15 years ago as has been said. There is like 100 times more scammers on there now and the quality of material does not compare.
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