How Much More Will You Pay For Great Centering?

[jchcollins]

I'm not a total centering freak, but will admit the prevailing attitude of the hobby on this matter over the last 20 years or so has swayed my opinion at least somewhat over the years. I don't usually mind a card o/c moderately one way - say 70/30. I do not like cards that are miscut or close to appearing miscut - 90/10 in most cases is going to be a non-starter for me, but really it depends on the individual card and the overall presentation.

I once overpaid for a '61 Mantle All-Star PSA 5, because it was nearly perfectly centered. It always seems like the majority of those that I see are close to miscut.

[bnorth]

Beautiful card Leon. Personally I won't pay more for centering. With more expensive old cards not having any problems on the players face is most important to me. I collect lower grade examples though.

[notfast]

I will pay 50% for something centered “perfectly” if its a card I’ve been looking for.

[packs]

I didn't pay extra but I waited extra long to find and buy a centered copy:

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by notfast

I will pay 50% for something centered “perfectly” if its a card I’ve been looking for.

..

..Some of us have been known to sell our blood and then pawn the full-size spare tire from the Park Avenue ULtra to get some centered cardboard...

..

[Touch'EmAll]

At what point going down the centering % scale will you simply not even pay at all? These days, if not 55/45 (absolute worst 60/40) or better I probably don't even consider the purchase. There are exceptions for a notoriously poorly centered issue, but those are few and far between. For instance, the 1941 Ted Williams & the 1952 Bowman Willie Mays are extremely tough to find superb centering.

[jb67]

I here you on the 52 Bowman Mays. I found my copy about 6 years ago and did not hesitate to pull the trigger. It was priced about 20% higher than other 3's at the time.

[MattyC]

If I shop for a card and determine that the overwhelming majority are centered poorly, and that centering is a relatively rare attribute, I will pay up big when I find one centered.