And with that, I am out of the grading game.

[BioCRN]

I have a slew of personal collection cards that would be a financial loss to grade them at $10, much less $30, but besides that none of them are post-1996.

I have a PSA collection of HOF/stars from 50s-2001 and another PSA collection of Cubs rookies/notables.

It's not "worth it" to grade a Kevin Tapani non-rookie in a Cubs uniform even at the oldschool bulk rate sub-$10, and it's far from that now. Nonetheless, I'm out there looking one.

There a lot of people like me out there with similar and totally different PSA collections that now have holes which are not easily filled. It has me wondering about the future of "rare" slabs which are not rare cards, but cards which haven't been graded much. I've seen unusual bidding for niche desired cards which haven't been graded much, but as set builders with holes in their collection start to compete for limited slabs, things could get silly.

[Tyruscobb]

The Covid shutdowns brought new collectors into (and back into) the hobby. These new hobbyists increased grading demand, which obviously caused higher grading fees. They also had “free” stimulus money to spend, and they did, further adding to the fire.

Covid shutdowns are now over, and some people have left the hobby. Those that stayed don’t spend as much on the hobby, because other entertainment forms are viable again. This was the first shoe to drop.

The second shoe is that we have across the board inflation that is reducing disposable income. Moreover, investment portfolio values are dropping. I don’t care what that Net54 poll indicated, psychology shows that people fee richer and spend more when their portfolios are up.

We are headed into a recession, and possibly are already in one. All these factors will decrease the grading demand, and the grading fees will eventually follow. Card collecting/grading is a hobby - not a necessity. Something will give. I predict grading and card budgets are where people will make cuts.

I don’t know when the grading fees will normalize, but I don’t think we are there yet. Just sit tight and the fees will eventually become reasonable again.

[sb1]

Despite all the gloom and doom posts, card shows are more attended than ever and lots and lots of dollars are being spent by old and new collectors alike. Ditto with online auctions. These are collectors spending small amounts to large amounts and everywhere in between.

In times when the stock market declines people often take expendable money and put it to work into various hard assets and collectables: art, coins, etc and now higher ticket cards.

[Johnny630]

In tough economic times I don’t want hard assets I want something that is stable with easy liquidity. It’s my view that cards aren’t as easily liquidated as some may think.

It’s in my opinion that the past several years of QT and zero interest rates is what brought many investors to put a portion of their monies for investments into high grade vintage stars.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

In tough economic times I don’t want hard assets I want something that is stable with easy liquidity. It’s my view that cards aren’t as easily liquidated as some may think.

The right cards are very liquid...
.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by Leon

The right cards are very liquid...
.

The right ones are but the right ones are the hardest ones to let go !!!!

[insidethewrapper]

I can't believe someone hasn't produced packs with the cards already slabbed and graded when you open the pack .

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I can't believe someone hasn't produced packs with the cards already slabbed and graded when you open the pack .

That was done around 2000 for football cards

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I can't believe someone hasn't produced packs with the cards already slabbed and graded when you open the pack .

They have in the past. Topps and Leaf have both released boxes containing already graded cards. It's not very common, but it probably will come back stronger under Fanatics owning Topps.
Plus, Fanatics is going to move a lot more of their product by breakers who will submit your cards to CSG automatically to be stored in a vault or auctioned off once graded.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by sb1

Despite all the gloom and doom posts, card shows are more attended than ever and lots and lots of dollars are being spent by old and new collectors alike. Ditto with online auctions. These are collectors spending small amounts to large amounts and everywhere in between.

In times when the stock market declines people often take expendable money and put it to work into various hard assets and collectables: art, coins, etc and now higher ticket cards.

My 100% unverified, unscientific take after going through several business cycles as a collector is that the card market lags the overall economy by 9-12 months. I expect the National will be a zoo and auctions will go strong until at least the end of the year. Meanwhile, we've already had a 'soft landing' on a wide variety of cards. Vintage baseball just happens to be in the tumbler right now.