Question: why not buy authentic over low grades?

[kmac32]

Originally Posted by Pythonfactory

Hi all. So if you don't care about registries, want to display your cards, and can't afford highly graded ones, why not just buy ones graded authentic? As I am researching what cards I want, I am finding that authentic cards can be substantially cheaper and better looking than ones graded 1-3 (obviously this isn't true for all cases) or somewhere thereabouts. Why can they be so much cheaper? Why not buy authentic in these situations? Does the fact that the card is trimmed really reduce the aesthetic and sentimentality for people? Am I missing something?

Happy holidays and thanks for your insights.

Sometimes I do buy authentic over low grade cards especially when looking at high dollar cards

[GasHouseGang]

Like most people, I've bought some "authentic" cards because I can't afford the regular graded version and often times the card has much better eye appeal. I'm especially willing to get 19th century material that way as most of the items have been altered either by paper loss or trimming.

[ls7plus]

I've got a Diamond Stars Foxx that I bought prior to TPG as NMT, which turned out to have pressed and trimmed, something I would now be able to determine from examining the card myself, but not then. Had PSA slab it as "Authentic; trimmed," and it really has never bothered me (Foxx is a favorite) to the point that I would even think of selling/replacing it. As time goes by, it's become something of a memorial to the era immediately preceeding third party grading, which was not unlike the days of the wild, wild west--condition had become extremely important, and ethics far less so. From that perspective, TPG HAS done a lot of good!

Happy holidays to all,

Larry