The reason to get the higher grades is that as more and more cards are graded, your card will continue to stand up as one of the higher graded cards. For example, if there are 3 cards graded in the pop report of a particular card (for a prewar set that's known to be relatively rare), and a PSA 2 is the highest graded of those 3 cards, it's unlikely that card will be the highest graded card in the future or even one of the higher graded cards. There's a pretty good chance that PSA 3's, 4's and up will eventually get graded. However, if there are 3 cards graded in the pop report, and you have a PSA 6, that card has a much better chance of being one of the higher graded cards even in the future. There may be some 7's and higher that come along later, but still probably not as many. This is why for important cards that you collect, if you are trying to retain value, the common saying is to try to buy the highest graded card that you can afford. Again, if you are collecting for fun, you don't need to worry about this. However, if you are looking for your collection to also have some investment value, this is what some collectors keep in mind.
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