Hey guys,
I’m contemplating buying a full set of Base set 2 Holos in the near future. I was hoping to get some guidance on what I should be looking to pay for the cards RAW. I have put together a spread sheet and looked at online prices. Raw value if bought individually, I come up with $383 based on recent sold listings. Whereas PSA 8 value comes in around $1035 based on recent sold listings. As someone who has full intention of buying an ungraded lot for the purpose of grading myself, where should I place my expectations in regards to price for a complete set of holos (20 cards) in NM/M condition?
PSA 8 is still in the realm of fresh out of the pack. NM/M condition listings differ on how the seller sources cards and their personal standards. A PSA 6 is NM by PSA standards, and I find tcgplayer to have even lower standards on older holos but again it depends on the specific seller.
A good search term I use is “pack fresh” but finding pack fresh wotc holo is difficult and definitely more than 383$ for a base set 2 holo set. The people who truly have mint cards will grade them or at least know their worth if sold as pack fresh. Also note that grading 20 cards will be about 240$. So if you managed to get PSA 8 quality for 383$ which is unlikely just due to the charizard, you’re still at 600$+.
Definitely you’ll want to make sure the seller has good pictures of the cards. Personally unless I see it in person or buying from an extremely credible source I’ll just buy graded. PSA 7 is perfectly acceptable too if you want a NM set. Non-holos and modern are usually safer purchase as a lot of bulk really does go “untouched” or people getting rid of their extras from pack opening but holos not so much.
Real question is, are your expectations to find these cards under the magic $383 mark by any significant amount high? Perhaps finding just the charizard in NM and buying the rest of the cards in psa 8 would be a more effective and perhaps cheaper/quicker route rather than waiting for everything to come back in an 8 or higher.