Does it make any difference if I grade this?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by raulus

Do you feel like the market places a premium on newer slabs simply because they are newer/shinier?

Or is it because there is a perception that older slabs have less stringent grading?

Or maybe both?!

In this specific case, if the reason for the difference is due to changing grading standards, then maybe there wouldn’t be a difference, simply because this is a 1/auth either way.

Naturally, if it’s a situation where a shiny new case is more valuable simply because it’s new and shiny, and you’re decades away from selling, then waiting makes total sense.

Effectively both. It begins with the perception that todays standards are better, and people gravitate to that. Whether it is true or not doesn't seem to matter. It pushes down into the lower grades as the thing to have (a 1 from 20 years ago doesn't fetch the same as a 1 graded now, and a 1 graded by PSA sells higher than a 1 from SGC or a raw 1 even if a card is very obviously authentic and a 1).

If there wasn't a slab difference for 1's, people wouldn't need to grade 1's for money at all. I think the grading game is a silly absurdity of a measuring contest and crack all my graded cards (except for a few in my trade bait box that I have raw versions of) personally, but it is what it is. If you're trying to make money, people want the new slab of the time you sell it, and of the top grader at that time. PSA's dominance doesn't look assured with the rise of more serious competition and the clear future direction of computer grading. The money you might save by grading now rather than later as prices increase over time and gambling nothing changes in the future seems more risky than to just hold raw and grade right before you sell off.