Welcome! I think the answer breaks down to WHY are you buying the card? If it's to simply own a card of a favorite player or put together a team set then I don't think grade is important. Heck I'd just buy the card raw as long as it looks good to you. A graded card is going to have an increased price that, to me, isn't necessary because I buy just to look at the card and the card will look good regardless if it's slabbed or not. Ron Santo rookie cards are a fantastic example of this.
If you are buying as an investment I'd save the money and go after the higher grades if your intent is to sell down the road.
My story, last year I was determined to get an Ernie Banks rookie and price was no object. I could have bought a slabbed 9 for a grand or an unslabbed card that would probably get a 7 for 200.00. The 9 grade didn't mean a thing to me, but owning the card did so I saved myself some bucks.
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