Card Grading Costs - what am I missing

[Huck]

If I purchase a collection of graded cards, there is zero cost (to me) in the grading of said cards. The value is found in a handful of cards and the rest can be sold at what the market bears to recoup costs and hopefully turn a profit if that is the goal. As other members noted, there was a time when PSA graded cards for $6-$7 a throw.

On another note, mid grade collections (50's-60's cards) purchased in the 80's of are higher value today and in my opinion some cards are worth grading. Not every collector is after a PSA 8, 9 or 10's.


Go read the the 1959 Mantle raw thread and then ask yourself why would you drop good money on a raw card. This is coming from a collector who for a long time was on the fence about the grading of cards.

[glchen]

I think there a few reasons, some of which have already been mentioned:

1. The card was graded a few years ago in the past when the grading fees were much lower.
2. The submitter expected a much higher grade for the card, which would have made the grading fees worthwhile. (e.g., expected a 10, but got a 5) This happens a lot for new submitters as folks usually always think their card deserves a better grade than it gets.
3. The submitter knows he will lose money grading the card, but sends it anyway because he wants the card graded to be added to his registry set or some similar reason. Card collectors are notoriously particular about the cards in their collection whether it's the centering or some other reason. They often like their sets to look nice an uniform. Rather than waiting for the graded card to come up for sale, they just send the card they like to get graded. Collectors are also notorious for "changing focus" regularly, so after a while, they decide to just sell off that set when they lose interest.
4. Some dealers (e.g., 4 sharp corners) get good grading deals when they send in thousands of cards, so they submit a huge volume even if a lot of them end up selling for a loss.