Buying cards raw or graded

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Fred

Do you collect only graded or raw cards?

Kind of hard to believe anybody is in either camp, 100% these days.

What percentage of cards do you purchase raw/graded?

How comfortable are you buying raw cards? I'm comfortable with it, especially when in person. On my part, there is a little hesitancy to purchase raw on line.

99.99% of my cards are ungraded. That .01% are oddball slabs. Pretty much if I am getting something graded it is to sell.

I don't think percentage wise there is any difference between graded and ungraded cards being altered. Just very few care once they are in a slab.

[G1911]

Everything outside my trade bait box is raw.

A significant number of my purchases are graded cards (50% or so of those over $100), because so many people grade everything. I pay a small percentage less for a graded card than I do the same card raw. It’s then cracked out and the slip thrown in the garbage.

[bmattioli]

Total Raw and no card store case..

[butchie_t]

99% ungraded and maybe 1% graded.

If the price is right I will by graded and set them free to roam wildly raw and unencumbered.

Butch

[perezfan]

95% raw / 5% graded. I have bought a few "already graded" cards just because they were nicer or cost less than their comparable raw counterparts at the time.

[jingram058]

100% ungraded. I have cracked out all graded cards I have ever had. I don't give a damn about some stupid BS opinion of my cards. I don't sell cards, I don't care what someone thinks my cards are worth, I don't care if they're valuable or worthless. I don't care if they are trimmed or any of that stupid, anal retentive BS. Hell, I don't even care if someone thinks they're fake! All that grading crap has ruined the hobby. All that's left are cardboard speculators and stockbrokers. You can have all of that garbage.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Probably 80/20 graded vs. non-graded. I don't have a rule against buying raw cards online, although I'd prefer to do that from someone who isn't completely unknown to me.

[terjung]

It totally depends on what I'm buying, but most of what I collect has already found its way into a slab. I'm comfortable buying raw because I know what I'm looking at, but I'm not exclusive either way. All things considered, I think I'd prefer them slabbed to guard against accidental damage.

Most of my collection is in the low technical grade ranges. So with the grade being mostly immaterial, it is more about protection than anything. I suppose having cards in slabs could potentially help with the eventual resale, but that isn't a huge motivating factor.