Catch 22 of card grading - is it worth the gamble?

[hcv123]

I think it used to be much more commonplace. With the combination of the grading standard bar having been raised and the huge increased cost of grading - I suspect it will be happening a lot less - case in point - I am sure you would not have heard about it if they were on their way back already!

That said, I also relate to the conundrum (though I don't think I have ever sent in 250 cards in a single submission) - I just got back a 1971 Clemente that in my opinion is an "8" all day long - The grader gave it a 7. An 8 is a $2K+ card. A 7 is an ~$800 card. The card is clearly nicer than all but a couple of recently graded 7's (even nicer than a lot of 8's!). I have in the mean time decided to offer the card at $1250 - a premium over a "7" but a discount to an "8" rather than play the grading game and sending it back.

[Dead-Ball-Hitter]

Originally Posted by hcv123

I think it used to be much more commonplace. With the combination of the grading standard bar having been raised and the huge increased cost of grading - I suspect it will be happening a lot less - case in point - I am sure you would not have heard about it if they were on their way back already!

That said, I also relate to the conundrum (though I don't think I have ever sent in 250 cards in a single submission) - I just got back a 1971 Clemente that in my opinion is an "8" all day long - The grader gave it a 7. An 8 is a $2K+ card. A 7 is an ~$800 card. The card is clearly nicer than all but a couple of recently graded 7's (even nicer than a lot of 8's!). I have in the mean time decided to offer the card at $1250 - a premium over a "7" but a discount to an "8" rather than play the grading game and sending it back.

I do the same thing: if the card has nice eye appeal, price it for the card and not the grade. I don't see any other option with some of the cards that are overly strictly graded. Personally, I won't pay for a second grading.

[ocjack]

Originally Posted by Dead-Ball-Hitter

I do the same thing: if the card has nice eye appeal, price it for the card and not the grade. I don't see any other option with some of the cards that are overly strictly graded. Personally, I won't pay for a second grading.

So, my question is: If you believe the card should be an "8" which is going for $2K+ and it received a "7", why not just offer it at an "8" price and let the market determine its value? As everyone says, the grade is arbitrary for the most part. I assume there are plenty of people who look for those "7's" at a "7" price because they think they can get it re-graded to an "8" because they may be a heavy hitter and might receive the benefit of the doubt on their submissions. I don't mind leaving money on the table for others to be able to make something, but I also don't like being taken advantage of.

I assume I'm missing something.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by hcv123

I think it used to be much more commonplace. With the combination of the grading standard bar having been raised and the huge increased cost of grading - I suspect it will be happening a lot less - case in point - I am sure you would not have heard about it if they were on their way back already!

That said, I also relate to the conundrum (though I don't think I have ever sent in 250 cards in a single submission) - I just got back a 1971 Clemente that in my opinion is an "8" all day long - The grader gave it a 7. An 8 is a $2K+ card. A 7 is an ~$800 card. The card is clearly nicer than all but a couple of recently graded 7's (even nicer than a lot of 8's!). I have in the mean time decided to offer the card at $1250 - a premium over a "7" but a discount to an "8" rather than play the grading game and sending it back.

And the sad part is, it will more than likely just sit and shit. Too many people are married to the label.

[Snowman]

If this dealer sent in 500 cards and thought 250 of them were undergraded, then he almost certainly doesn't know what he's doing or looking at.

However, you can occasionally get screwed on a submission. I've sent in 100 card lots to PSA of modern cards and had ~90 come back as PSA 10s, then sent in another 100 card lot from the same exact same case using my same standards only to receive ~30 PSA 10s on the next submission. Different graders on different days have different standards. Especially when it comes to grading 9s vs 10s on modern cards. For these reasons, I never send in huge submissions all at once. I don't want the same grader for every card. You could get really screwed if you get a bad grader on a bad day. Then you've wasted your entire submission. It's better to break them up into smaller lots and send them in.

If you are experienced at grading though, and have a good eye for detail, you can definitely have good success cracking cards out and sending them back in. I've cracked out countless cards that I believe were under graded over the years and sent them back in. Almost every single time, they've gotten a bump in grade. Recently, I had a 59 Topps Mickey Mantle I sent in to SGC. It should be a 5, but it came back as a 3. I just rolled my eyes and laughed, cracked it out and sent it in to CSG. They gave it a 6.5. lol

[conor912]

Originally Posted by hcv123

I have in the mean time decided to offer the card at $1250 - a premium over a "7" but a discount to an "8" rather than play the grading game and sending it back.

As a collector, I am totally cool with that. I had my eye on a 7 of a particular card for a while, most of which were going for ~$1700. I recently found a wildly harshly graded 5 that could pass for a strong 6 if not a 7 all day long for $850. Average 5's sell for ~$500, but I was thrilled to pay a 70% "premium" to get what I considered to be a 50% discount from what I was expecting to pay.