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David VarghaKnows that the grading cost is not added into the cost of the item. If someone is foolish enough to pay $10 to grade a $5 card, it is still a $5 card. The implicit additional value in the graded card is in the "expert" third party opinion of the authenticity and condition (including lack of alteration) of that card. Therefore, it stands to reason that a PSA 8 or SGC 88 card of Joe DiMaggio that the market prices at $5,000 is going to receive a higher return than a so-called NM/MT version of the same card as judge by Joe Shmoe, the vintage card dealer or the highly suspect grading system of PRO, etc.
That there are poor businessmen who sell baseball cards is not reason enough to avoid cards. Personal preferences, such as collecting sllabbed or raw are just that -- peronal preferences. However, I seriously doubt that one poor business decision on the part of a card dealer is the sole or even the primary reason for you collecting raw cards.