[MattyC]

I agree that the investment and flipping goal does put a whole different spin on the discussion. If someone is going for investment and selling, I can see them wanting to buy and flip 10s.

If someone wants to buy the best looking card period without regard for the sticker or profit on resale, different story. And if someone wants to build a collection of beautiful cards on a set budget for keeping their entire lifetime, I guess that's also another story.

So I think you make a great point, in that one's goal in buying the card is key to determining the wisdom or folly of the purchase. I personally am not someone looking to buy a beautiful card just to sell it, but I agree an investor may want to do just that with 9s and 10s-- given how some buyers of those grades seem not to mind when certain examples don't merit the assigned grade.

That said, generalizing among the grades can also hide the fact that, percentage-wise, there have been some enormous profits seen on beautiful 8s and 7s, even on 1s and 2s. Granted the size of the take is smaller, but it can add up, if that profit is one's goal.

One can also argue that there are many more buyers for cards in a lower price range, as opposed to needing to find that rarefied buyer who can drop 50k on a card. There is something to be said for a broad and deep buying pool.

My personal focus is always on the card and not the sticker or the profit on sale. And if someone bought that Aaron 9 thinking it was better than all 8s, I would contend they were wrong. If they bought it to sell and turn a profit, I would say they will probably do well, unless more and more collectors begin to do comparative analyses when shopping, and see if the card in GRADE X is truly worthy of the grade, and is not outshined aesthetically by any extant lower grade examples.