Grading Bringing Down the Value of a Card?

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Posted By: FYS

I agree with Vargha, it is more of a post war phenomenon. Particularly with 60's cards from my experience. The people that post on this board are in the minority, understanding of condition, when it comes to collecting. Because of this, on low grade star cards from the 50's and 60's, I can sell them for more raw then graded. The people that understand grading are going to pay the same amount whether it is graded or not. The majority of people, will pay more because they simply do not understand. Once a card is graded, then the misinformed majority will pay less because they are now informed.

I stopped by a local show in my area about two weeks ago and picked up some Cyle backs (350) from an old timer. He had several low condition star cards and I spoke to him about grading. He told me he is done with grading after one go round. He sent in his best batch of T206's and they came back as EX. He thought they should have been NM/MT and so did several of his collector/dealer friends that he spoke with. He then sold them on eBay and they only slightly sold for more than the Beckett high book value. I think that mentally and understanding is the majority of the typical collectors.