Economics of Grading

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Posted By: David Smith

I have the same question except it is about 1972 Topps cards.

One of my College Professors that I keep in contact with is seriously thinking about selling his baseball cards that he collected as a kid. He was an only child and kept EVERYTHING in REALLY nice condition. With the exception of his Detroit Tigers cards (he lived in Detroit at that time) ALL of his cards look like 8's, at least. He said that when he bought the cards, he would look at them, put them in numerical order and that was about it. No flipping, trading or putting them in the bicycle spokes for him.

Now, he knows about grading and thinks it is a good idea for the star cards and High Numbers but what about the low number commons?? His concern is that some of his cards might be 9's or higher and that if he doesn't get them graded, then he might leave some money on the table, just in case they DO grade that high and a couple of Set Registry people need or want them.
On the other hand, he is also worried about spending money to get the cards graded and having them come back not as high as he/I think because of maybe a small ding to a corner, tiny surface crease or being too off centered.

Just wanting to know,

David

Edited to correct typos.