[Joe_G.]

I do prefer to grade my cards. I collect a narrow subset and at this point I'm lucky to add more than one card a year so grading isn't a big issue for me. I do prefer SGC over PSA when it comes to OJs.

I have tracked the OJ population reports for quite some time and notice that more and more people select SGC over PSA. Going back ten years (9/2005), SGC was approaching a 2:1 advantage on cards graded (2396 for SGC vs 1259 for PSA => 1.9:1) while today SGC is at 3.0:1 (8643 graded for SGC vs 2901).

editing last two paragraphs for clarity

When it comes to OJs, the major PSA turn-offs for me include grading many cards Authentic due to not understanding card size. For example, many of the 1887 Brooklyn cards are graded authentic by PSA due to narrow borders giving appearance of being trimmed but these are larger cards and were often cut with narrow borders when issued. PSA also assigns number grades when they should be authentic (burned by this more than once). You also have the silly pose descriptions that appear to be made up on the spot. PSA just doesn't seem to understand the issue and OJs deserve something more aesthetically pleasing than a PSA slab. SGC makes mistakes as well but not nearly at the frequency of PSA when it comes to OJs. While a PSA graded T206 will command a premium over SGC, this is greatly reduced when it comes to OJs. However, as Jay stated, their may be a small advantage to grade with PSA when selling although I personally will pay more for SGC.

While I happily collect cards with back damage, there is something special about a card that is "like new" in all respects such as many of John's cards. I once owned the SGC86 Mays and have others just like it; they are special cards whether raw or slabbed.