PSA/SGC grade est. - Aim high or low?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by scomeau

Ben,

Your reply is good advice - particularly if I had recently purchased a card at a specific price. I took many of my 50's cards out of the wax back then. How do I assign a value to that?

The grading subjectivity is so tough to anticipate. The perfect answer would be that they take a card, grade it, and then charge you an appropriate fee. Of course this could clearly be accused of grading high to maximize their revenues. I don't think that's their goal. When I have a chance, I meet with graders at shows, and they are helpful, but not always possible for me.

I just wonder what the grader does when they get a '6' submitted as if it were a '4'. And/or what the grader does if they get a '4' submitted as a '6'.

I think the graders aren't quick with advice because there's no good answer that preserves their integrity.

I think the system is bad, but it is institutionalized, and I don't see it changing.

This is what I have done and yes it is time consuming. I look up each card on eBay advanced search sold listings. I have them listed low to high in price and when I start seeing cards in the same condition that is my value.