Collecting raw

[JCM2009]

I am a newbie to the Netbaseball forum but here is my 2 cents on this subject. I collect only vintage Cleveland Indians and have built an extensive collection over the past 30 yrs. I find that professional grading is a marketing scam and graded cards are overpriced. I do not need to pay someone to look at my card and deem it as "Very Good". I believe I have enough intelligence to look at a card at determine its condition without using too much brain power. Also the slabs are too bulky for high volume storage. I do buy graded cards if the price is right but crack them as soon as I receive them. I have saved the grader labels but not sure why. The only value I see in professional grading is authentication but I think I buy from reputable sellers so I have not had any problems with buying fakes or reprints. Maybe I am a little lucky also.