PSA Economy is $20 each !

[insidethewrapper]

How many modern cards are worth sending in if it costs $ 20 for the economy for each card + all the shipping costs and insurance costs and then waiting months ? Then it must get a "10" or you lose money don't you ?

[swarmee]

Millions of modern cards are still profitable grading at that point. Modern is HUGE. But even more are worth grading at $8/card on bulk/value specials.

[pclpads]

This so-called, uh, "special," is only intended for collectors who are either
stinking rich or don't have a brain. Maybe both . . . If modern is your "thingy," bulk subs is the only way to go.

[55koufax]

I do bulk subs 2-3 times a year (until lately). I dropped off 1700 cards 10/14/19 and just gotta call from PSA to go and p/u. That said, 425 still ungraded, and the rep who called (last Fri) said can't drop off any new bulk subs yet.

I always mix modern stuff with my subs that include post WWII cards and in general, the grading comes out okay on those modern cards. Again, if generalizing, there are many, many. modern cards that I will not submit if a PSA 9 value is barely worth the grading fee. If you do not receive GEM MINT 10, in so many cases, you barely break even or worse, even at bulk rate fee of "only" $7.

[swarmee]

My trick (when I used to submit) was that I wanted to triple the grading fee in profit when I went to sell the card if it wasn't for my personal collection. So at $7 a card, I want to see an implied value increase of $20 in order to send it. Otherwise I sold it raw.

[Republicaninmass]

Busier than ever, though it may have to due with the shut down.

[WillBBC]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

How many modern cards are worth sending in if it costs $ 20 for the economy for each card + all the shipping costs and insurance costs and then waiting months ? Then it must get a "10" or you lose money don't you ?

Not at all. And this is just one example of literally hundreds at the moment.

Let's take the 2018 Topps Update Gleyber Torres RC. Raw copies sell for 10-20 bucks typically, give or take a few bucks depending on some variables.

Get a small stack of those, combine them with some Luka Doncic Prizm rookies from 2018-19. Pay 20 bucks a pop, and even with a bad eye, say you run into a 70% gem rate, if you're inclined to sell you're still making money hand-over-fist on the 10s and likely coming darn close to breaking even, if not making a few bucks on the 9s.

And 10 times more so if you were picking these up at release when Lukas were 15-20 bucks a pop and 9s are now selling for 150ish.

I could give this same example with at least a dozen guys off the top of my head right now.

To answer your actual question though, to save on shipping/insurance per card I typically don't send anything until I have a stack of 30+ so maybe you're onto something, ha.