What explains this?

[nolemmings]

I agree with most of what has been said, but I still fail to understand how this seller's ungraded cards from the 1960s, beautiful as they may appear, go for more than 8s on a regular basis and sometimes 9s. That is, unless the buyers expect the value of those 8's and 9s to increase generally, so that even if they submit and it comes back lower the cards still will appreciate.

For me, I was trying to assemble some nice raw sets from the 60's in the solid nm or better range. A slabbed set would take up far too much space and is cumbersome to store and/or enjoy, plus I hate the registry mentality. That being said, I often found it better to just pay for a nice 7 or 8 slabbed and crack it open than to engage in this insanity. Less worry about a hard to see wrinkle or surface flaw, although GM's scans are high quality.

[joshleon]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

I agree with most of what has been said, but I still fail to understand how this seller's ungraded cards from the 1960s, beautiful as they may appear, go for more than 8s on a regular basis and sometimes 9s. That is, unless the buyers expect the value of those 8's and 9s to increase generally, so that even if they submit and it comes back lower the cards still will appreciate.

That makes zero sense though...why not just buy a slabbed card? Or are you saying that if they pay more than the slabbed 8, they have a shot at a ten and don't worry about paying too much because at least they got a "shot" at a ten?

And yes, his scans are A+

[nolemmings]

I agree it makes little sense, but yes, they may figure they will pay more than a slabbed 8 because they are only out grading fees if it comes back an 8, and they have a chance at a better grade and thus a possible payday.

His scans are top notch, but I have a pretty good eye for grading, at least to my satisfaction, and I generally see slight corner touches, edge wear or other slight issues that make me shake my head when I see his sold prices and think someone believes they had a good shot at a 9 (or even 8 oftentimes).

[savedfrommyspokes]

My theory has always been in situations such as this that the winner (and underbidders) are regular winners and subsequent submitters. In other words, through experience they have confidence this card will grade high enough to yield a profit as they have repeatably completed this process successfully.

Personally, I don't feel the card will come back as a 9, certainly not a 10. A 9 would yield a few hundred dollars in profit though.

[JollyElm]

It doesn't matter how much we theorize about the possible motivations behind overpaying so much for that card, because in the end we are always left with the same simple conclusion. No one has a frickin' clue why anybody does anything.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

It doesn't matter how much we theorize about the possible motivations behind overpaying so much for that card, because in the end we are always left with the same simple conclusion. No one has a frickin' clue why anybody does anything.

Unless they say so. In law school I took a class on appellate law with former CA Supreme Court Justice Sullivan. The hands-down best aspect of the class was that he would tell us exactly what the thinking was behind the scenes at the time when the opinions we studied were written. He'd often answer questions about an opinion from his tenure on the court with: "when Chief Justice Traynor and I were discussing the case..."

But I digress...

There are a lot of buyers who bake a grading premium into a raw card price even though the chance of getting that grade are slim.

[joshleon]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Unless they say so. In law school I took a class on appellate law with former CA Supreme Court Justice Sullivan. The hands-down best aspect of the class was that he would tell us exactly what the thinking was behind the scenes at the time when the opinions we studied were written. He'd often answer questions about an opinion from his tenure on the court with: "when Chief Justice Traynor and I were discussing the case..."

But I digress...

There are a lot of buyers who bake a grading premium into a raw card price even though the chance of getting that grade are slim.

And I would often wonder when studying the "attractive nuisance" cases whether Justice Traynor was related to Pie Traynor.

...kind of explains my class standing...and also why I am on these boards

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by joshleon

And I would often wonder when studying the "attractive nuisance" cases whether Justice Traynor was related to Pie Traynor.

...kind of explains my class standing...and also why I am on these boards

And we had a beautiful Annette Traynor in my law class--she was attractive and I was a nuisance.

[nwobhm]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

There are a lot of buyers who bake a grading premium into a raw card price even though the chance of getting that grade are slim.

....or a grader is buying it and already has committed to it being encapsulated. GM has a generous return policy so if it doesn't make the "grade" it gets returned for a full refund.

[Republicaninmass]

Crack out some nice 7s and consign. Note your results

[timzcardz]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

I agree it makes little sense, but yes, they may figure they will pay more than a slabbed 8 because they are only out grading fees if it comes back an 8, and they have a chance at a better grade and thus a possible payday.

His scans are top notch, but I have a pretty good eye for grading, at least to my satisfaction, and I generally see slight corner touches, edge wear or other slight issues that make me shake my head when I see his sold prices and think someone believes they had a good shot at a 9 (or even 8 oftentimes).

Well there are some that will correct those issues.