[ngnichols]

I REALLY don't like buying a card raw unless I can inspect it in-person. There are just too many characteristics that just don't translate well over a cell-phone picture or sometimes even a scan. That's why I like to buy/sell graded so the amount of ambiguity is mostly negated. That's not to say there can't be an issue buying a graded card, but it really lowers the chances down.