Are graded cards the future of vintage?

[homerunhitter]

Isn’t PSA like $100 a card to get graded? I’ve never sent in a card to get graded before. Right now there are so many great deals on eBay that some cards I think are cheaper to buy already graded on eBay versus sending them in.

[Fwoodford_34]

Personally for the vintage I collect I feel that grading is a way of preserving the card and safe keeping. I try and grade all of my older cards so they will last for another 70+ years.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Isn’t PSA like $100 a card to get graded? I’ve never sent in a card to get graded before. Right now there are so many great deals on eBay that some cards I think are cheaper to buy already graded on eBay versus sending them in.

There are other TPGs you can use. Plus, my understanding is the grading fees are dropping as the pandemic backlog is being caught up.

And if the grading fees are so high, don't you think those costs are kind of being added into the prices of graded cards being sold already? So if that is the case, and you find graded cards that look like real deals on Ebay, isn't it possible those graded cards are actually not much in demand, so their prices are going to be low, graded or not.

And the inflation we're experiencing could be what is driving down card prices, graded or raw, as well. So going to sell your raw cards now may get you even lower prices than expected. Maybe just wait to see how low the grading fees drop before giving up on getting your raw cards graded.

And for the record, PSA's website shows a special of only $18 to grade cards valued up to $199, and $30 to grade cards valued up to $499. Their regular economy service is $50 a card, for cards valued up to $999. And they do have a current regular service for cards at $100, but that is for cards valued at $1,000 to $1,499. So unless you're talking about cards valued at $1,000 or more, the grading fees are nowhere near $100 a card anymore.