Raw & Slabs

[dougscats]

The fact of the matter is that the pool of ungraded cards decreases every day.
Basically, every time a card is graded, there is one less ungraded card.

This is within the total pool of T206's, graded and raw, which is pretty much fixed.

So, if the supply of ungraded cards continues to decline, and if the demand remains the same, prices should go up, no?
Of course it's not that simple. And there are other factors.

Has inflation affected prices? I would guess so.

As to whether or not demand for raw cards remains the same, I can only speak for myself.
I collect ungraded cards for various reasons.
One is to be able to touch them.
One is that I love to look at my collection in a binder.
One more reason is price, which brings us back to Louie’s issue.

I’d say that prices for raw cards have gone up a little, but not much, all things considered.
I've been seriously collecting them for more than 20 years, and I'd guess prices for low-grade, raw commons [i.e., Poor +] have gone up roughly 150% over those years. E.g., comparing 2005 to 2025, say ~$15 to $35-40.

I'd also say that the present pool of ungraded cards, aside from being much smaller than in 2005, is more concentrated with lower-grade and altered cards.
I don’t think it would be easy for a collector today to build a nice set (G-VG) of ungraded cards. Nonetheless, I think it would be considerably less expensive than a graded collection, because ungraded cards, no matter how good the condition, do not command the prices that graded cards do.

If I were building an ungraded collection today, I'd consider including good-looking altered cards, which are often a bargain.

Good luck, Louie.

Doug