Help/Advice buying ungraded vs. graded

[glchen]

If you buy raw, you'll need to factor in a cost of ~$10 per card for grading if it has a declared value of $100 or less. This is factoring in shipping both ways and assuming you send in a submission >= 25 cards. I like the registry. It's a nice checklist so you can quickly see what cards you need and you don't need to be involved in the competition aspect. Another thing in favor of buying cards already graded is that many people over grade their raw cards when they first submit. There are all if these threads on the board about cards that were vastly over graded but that's usually the exception.

[Mountaineer1999]

Great points, thanks for the feedback! After looking through raw cards one by one, each have their issues as stated and will most likely only garner a low grade, even though the seller lists the card as mt or nrmt. With that i am going to concentrate on mostly if not all cards that are already graded.
And as far as the registry goes, I use it mainly as a checklist too, I also like the uniformity of having them all PSA slabbed.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer1999

Great points, thanks for the feedback! After looking through raw cards one by one, each have their issues as stated and will most likely only garner a low grade, even though the seller lists the card as mt or nrmt. With that i am going to concentrate on mostly if not all cards that are already graded.
And as far as the registry goes, I use it mainly as a checklist too, I also like the uniformity of having them all PSA slabbed.

Sounds like a good plan. I agree with you on the registry. I will never be competing for the top overall set in any category. But I like having the list right there of what I have and what I need. It is also nice to have cards in the same case. Looks better, and they're easier to store.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Sounds like a good plan. I agree with you on the registry. I will never be competing for the top overall set in any category. But I like having the list right there of what I have and what I need. It is also nice to have cards in the same case. Looks better, and they're easier to store.

you can easily have the number 1 set in lots of cats...there are plenty of cats that have no sets in them...I have the number 1 1954 topps HOF set..but I also have the only ONE...lol (of course someone will read this and can top me now but you get my point...)

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

you can easily have the number 1 set in lots of cats...there are plenty of cats that have no sets in them...I have the number 1 1954 topps HOF set..but I also have the only ONE...lol (of course someone will read this and can top me now but you get my point...)

Fair enough, I suppose I should have said no major sets. I am tied for the #1 spot in the Ken Griffey, JR rookie set. 5 cards all 10s. Only the upperdeck is worth much so I think I'm tied with a couple of hundred people.

[2dueces]

TRIAPD

The registry is a powerful drug

[1952boyntoncollector]

registry is like a checklist....even in old sets they had checklist cards......registry is card collecting in a sense...