You're right... it did spike around that time. Not sure why, though. When eBay first came around, card prices in general were low. In 2000-2001, though, you didn't see that many graded cards. Maybe 1 in 5 cards were graded at that time, or less.
Now, 1 in 5 or less are ungraded, particularly with pre-WW2 cards. Even though no PSA 2 ever looks alike, all of a sudden, it's worth so much more because of a number, a slab and a bar code.
I think the spike has to do with the popularity of the grading system.
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