Hi! As a binder collector, I really want to understand why people are willing so much more money on a PSA 10 copy. Even something like a moonbreon is selling for 2x it’s raw price where you can just find one online with good centering and it would most likely be a 10. Lots of modern cards that are very abundant also has this. I understand card no longer in print a bit more. Do most purchases of PSA 10 cards buy cards more for an investment and hope the price goes up? Any understanding on how these collectors think would be appreciative:)
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Best store of value and subjectively the highest quality version of the card. Also best liquidity
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Scarcity, prestige, personal preference, all factor into a collectors decision to purchase a 10 over raw or any other grade. There is not one formula for why. A 10 is expensive because it is the esteemed “perfect” copy. No flaws. Very low amount in circulation compared to total printed amount. Some people want to own a copy of their favorite card that is perfect condition. It just depends on each collectors personal preference
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Along with the other things stated, adds a layer of difficulty which to some is a “challenge accepted” kind of thing
Ok so start doing that and you should be able to make infinite money.
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Doesn’t sound very fun. Doesn’t feel fulfilling flipping and potentially scamming people out of their money.
So you think selling PSA graded cards is scamming? lol
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I just can’t wrap my mind around the fact that people are willing to spend much more for a currently printed card. Do these buyers know what they’re doing? Have PSA 10’s consistently kept value better than raw copies? The value I personally see in having someone look at my card and give it a grade is very low. Sure if enough people demand them then they become more valuable, I just don’t understand it.
I think most people on here would agree with you (or at least I certainly do) that the premiums modern cards get in PSA 10 are pretty absurd. The answer to why this premium exists is that, IMO, the market is irrational. It’ll get ironed out over time, as many things already have.
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Thank you for your reply:)
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Also, it bears mentioning: PSA 10 premiums for modern cards have already eroded pretty significantly.* Look at what PSA 10 amazing rares were selling for a year ago and look at what they are selling for now.
(*Which isn’t to say that there isn’t room for more erosion…)
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Do you know who are buying these cards? I know shilling can keep a price higher than it should be, haven’t done any research to suggest that is happening.
People want the best condition version of their favorite cards. Highest grade cards are more resilient in price.
no skill or eye for the minor differences. Paying a Premium for not being suprised by huge Damages sounds fair.
relying on a good grading company is the better choice than trusting my personal expertise.
Safety.
Making money is very rarely fun
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PSA 10, 9.5s and up are generally going to be the hardest grades to get, especially for vintage cards and holo types and will typically have an increased scarcity over lower grades which puts them into a special chase category for collectors. Whether it’s worth the money or not is entirely up to the individual collector. Personally, I only buy high grades of cards that I truly love and want in what is considered to be a ‘perfect’ grade in my collection. I feel a high grade slab should hold a special spot in your collection than other cards and really mean something to you as a collector.
Building a binder and collecting raw NM cards is totally fine. In fact, I would encourage this to most people over buying high grade slabs if you don’t have a huge budget starting off. You can get way more quantity for the price of most 10s, and you can still be ‘invested’ in the market long-term. Over the years, the NM copies can still offer a return on investment also, and I think it’s smarter to focus on just getting the cards in your collection in a nice clean condition.
I also feel that from an investment perspective, it’s a good way to balance risk. When I buy a NM copy, I feel the downside and volatility is much lower than some slabs. So having a mix of 10s and clean NM cards in my collection feels better to me. Slabs can also take up a lot of space, so I really prefer having a few high quality slabs and instead focus on building nice NM binder sets and only collecting 10s of my favourite cards that align with my budget & collecting goals.
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Buying something you know is (almost) perfect in condition, and importantly, is unlikely to lose its condition outside of some freak accident, adds so much value to the card. Binder collections lose their condition, can get damaged more easily & aren’t consistent in condition.
The extra chase & difficulty of completing a goal in PSA 10/9 or whatever is also appealing to a lot of people.
There is no scamming involved. “Creating” PSA 10s is a non-trivial process. There are multiple steps along the way where time, risk and money are required.
The seller has to stake the money upfront to buy raw copies. Depending on the card and condition, they may have already lost money at this point over a fleck of whitening or something. Then, you’d have to prepare the submission, pray for 10s and no upcharges, wait months, pay for grading and 2 way shipping.
Then you have to create a listing, wait for a buyer, pack and ship it again. If there’s any problem you carry all the risk as a seller. Finally you are slapped with fees and (if you are following the appropriate procedure) pay income taxes on the profit.
…
Or if you wanted a PSA 10 copy in a couple days, you could just press a button on ebay, pay a premium and have someone else do all this work for you.
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Do you buy them raw and trade them yourself? Or are you okay with paying the PSA 10 premium?
Appreciate the comment. I’ve never graded cards personally so as an outsider I feel the premium for a PSA 10 is too high compared to a raw card. Even though I won’t want it more my collection, I may try sending some into PSA just to learn and expand my perspective.