Posted By:
Al CrisafulliI guess I've probably done 25-30, perhaps a few more. Not a ton, but like I said, I'm speaking from my personal experience and not making rules for every collector.
That said, I couldn't make a statement one way or another as to whether this is profitable or not. I just don't collect that way. I also don't collect in particularly high grade. Basically, I decide what set I want to collect, then I decide HOW I want to collect it (graded/raw, how to display, what type of companion pieces, etc.), and then I dig in. I don't buy and sell cards for a profit. I do sell cards, but only stuff I don't need or have upgraded, and only to get money to buy more cards.
I do know of one dealer that buys Global and SGC cards and submits them to PSA prior to selling. He calls it "stealing". I also know of two dealers that say that the trend toward SGC is growing to the point where they're making more money on SGC cards than on PSA.
I tend to think that for the casual eBayer, the PSA registry makes the PSA cards more liquid. For the serious dealer, their grader of choice (or if they choose to sell raw) is driven by their key customers. I think that - except for registry-driven cards - the concept that one grading company makes a card more valuable than another's is a ludicrous one.
But I just hijacked this thread, so that's all I'll say on this.
-Al