If you're keeping cards for your collection - why grade?

General
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If purchasing singles, I think grading ensures you reduce some variability in what you’re receiving. However, for cards you pull from a pack and you intend to keep, why do you grade? I ask this question since in the current environment it seems like there’s a few factors working against making grading worthwhile:

**1. Cost:**the card condition doesn’t change just because someone grades it so you’re paying for a subjective #. I suppose you could be paying for the slab / protection itself but not sure I buy that given some anecdotes I read.

2. Inconsistent Grading: if the # itself is why you grade then does the subjectivity and inconsistent grading standards bother you?

3. Damage and Aesthetic Risks: while this is just anecdote and horror stories are what you’ll hear highlighted online, there is a real risk of your card being damaged. If not damaged, it’s nearly guaranteed that there is some level of aesthetic issues with the case. There is likely going to be dust stuck inside. You have a case that can/will get scratched or have other imperfections. If you use a toploader, you can remove and put in a new one. It’s stuck forever (other than paying and risking re-casing) in a slab. Why this process seems so terrible from these grading companies is beyond me but I digress.

4. Difficult to Store: difficult might be the wrong word but it’s certainly going to take up more space than a cardsaver or toploader, let alone a binder (but that’s not the same level of protection).

5. Delay: the long, long delay on receiving your cards back means you will be without for a long time and can’t enjoy your cards for that period.

I recently got back into the hobby and have a lot of cards that are without a doubt worth grading for resale value. I keep coming back to some or all of the above and can’t make myself spend the time, money and effort to grade. I just don’t get it.

For me specifically, the protection is why I would grade. While the slabs are big, I do like the protection they provide, especially a company like BGS that sleeves first. However, why in the hell do I want to pay and wait for someone to rush through the process and return a card that’s in a case with imperfections, maybe placed in there crooked and perhaps even damaged to boot. I could be overstating the risk though? I do wish one of the grading companies really stood behind a flawless slabbing process. Something that did a better job removing the risk of damage, dust/debris, perhaps included some sort of slab cover that could be replaced and ensured your slab didn’t get scratched. It seems like such an afterthought for them.

Anyhow, I’ll get off my soap box.

I’m curious why folks who don’t plan on selling decide to grade their cards. Do you think any of my points are completely off base? Do you think any of it should be addressed by the grading companies?

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I’ve spilled water on binder pages, dropped cards on the floor, almost dropped trophy cases, dropped boxes and have cards spill out everywhere, and had my cat get into deck boxes over the years. If I was less clumsy I might grade less!

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  1. Fits within my graded collection
  2. Protection
  3. Trading (if I ever to decide to trade/sell favorable)

Those outweigh the downside completely for me.

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The big reasons are knowing its a good condition like mint and protection purposes. Plus it just adds another layer to collecting :grin:

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This is tough for me. Ive been forced to grade cards that are $5k+ because of risk of damage.

But for now anything $1k and below I still am happy keeping in my binder if Im not looking to sell them. I fear that getting PSA 9/10’s on them may lead me to giving in to prices and selling.

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Protection mostly

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I think another main benefit of it is choice.

With current market dynamics it does not seem that the price of grading will go down in the short term, and if anything would only maintain or increase in price over time. I understand the idea of keeping things in binders to look at it and appreciate, but I would also say some of the even more rare stuff in slabs provides a choice for the collector:

to appreciate the aesthetic by displaying it AND have an opportunity to trade it/sell it for capital to buy another card that would better enhance your collection down the road

I’m all for both, I just think longterm it doesn’t hurt to grade cards that will be valuable due to their scarcity/rarity especially with different types of displays being made nowadays.

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I think the big thing you’re missing here is the thing driving the entire graded card market: people are going for graded sets. All of my major collection goals are graded cards. Pursuing a graded set adds an additional level of both difficulty and prestige when it’s finally finished, think something like Zack or Rusty’s Charizard master set or PFM’s PSA 9 WOTC holo set. Those sets wouldn’t have nearly the same prevalence in the hobby if they weren’t graded.

Sure, the issues you outline are certainly present. Things have changed so fast, I don’t think people have fully understood that PSA bulk now has a multi-year return outlook. The cost has drastically increased to the point where sending cards for your collection is more expensive than ever if you aren’t selling. I don’t pay too much heed to the “inconsistent standards and damage” points. There’s always a risk when you send in your cards that they’ll be damaged, but this risk is minimal. There are also always going to be inconsistent grades, but just by default those people who think their grades were bad make a lot more noise than those who have no problems. Nobody is making an E4 post “my PSA grades were largely in line with what I expected.” Regardless, I think a lot of people are rightly considering postponing grading or rethinking the prevalence they give to it.

However, as a graded card collector, I probably won’t stop grading at any time. It gives my collection too much coherence, it’s effectively future-proof, and the cons haven’t outweighed the pros too much. I’ve actually graded more over the past year or so simply because graded cards have become so expensive. Finding mint cards and grading them myself is a cost-effective way of expanding my collection.

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For the longest time I actually had a similar opinion as you, @jaypoke . And still mostly do. For the first two years I collected I didn’t own a single graded copy, nor had any intention to. I eventually bought some graded Pikachu cards after I was unable to find them raw (1st edition Chinese Base Set; both 1st and unlimited edition Korean Base Set; Japanese 113/PCG-P with 2005 stamp; and Japanese 100/DP-P are some of the Pikachu I bought already PSA-graded), or because a graded copy I came across was cheaper than raw copies that were for sale (I have a MAP-graded English Red Cheeks E3 stamped Base Set Pikachu for this reason for example).

After about 3.5-4 years I bought a PSA-10 Pokémon Web Moltres after I heard those were holofoil versions of my favorite artwork of all existing TCG cards. I then decided to start collecting the Moltres #21 WotC promo in all languages and variations, including sealed and PSA-10 (which at the time would mean just 2x English and 2x Japanese).
Later on I graded a couple of English Moltres promos with corrected illustrators myself since they barely pop up for sale as PSA-10s (or for very high prices if they do), and I also send along a pretty rare Pikachu I had a duplicate of (175/XY-P Festa promo with Event Organizer stamp). If I didn’t had two of them, I wouldn’t have send it in for some of the reasons you’ve given. I would have been too afraid something would go wrong during the shipping and I would be down a Pikachu for my collection. But since I had two, I decided to grade the best copy among them, which came back as a PSA-10 and is still in my collection today (I sold the raw duplicate to a friend about 1.5 year ago).

Right now, I’ve bought already graded cards for some of the my rare Japanese FA Supporter cards (The Masked Royal and the two Team Rocket Brief Case promos), and later on also graded some myself despite still having that same potential risk (the three Extra Battle Day promos and Alola Friends).
I also collect the six Ancient Mew variations in PSA-10 (just missing the Korean ©2020 version, which I will grade two copies of myself soon - which I’ll get back somewhere in 2022 most likely, rofl).

Still, most of my rare (Pikachu) cards are still just in sleeves + toploaders + toploader sleeves, and I don’t have any intention of grading them. Not worth the money, risk, nor time for me personally.

This is all just my personal view and collection interest though. I’ve seen people go after graded sets (take Rusty’s and Zach’s English PSA-10 Charizard collections for example), or even PSA-1 through PSA-10 of a single card. Everyone has different collection goals and interests, and graded cards is one of them.

Greetz,
Quuador

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I collect both graded sets and raw sets. And I enjoy both for different reasons.

I enjoy graded sets because of the competitive aspect. I want to have sets that are superior to anyone else’s sets. Outside of collecting gem mint graded cards, there’s no real way to ensure this. In addition, very few vintage Pokemon holos are still in gem mint condition. So there’s a rarity associated with gem mint cards that is appealing to me.

In essence: I enjoy the competition and challenge involved in collecting gem mint graded cards. The “protection” slabs offer is a non-factor for me.

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  1. You might not want to sell or trade now, but that doesn’t mean you won’t want to do it down the line. They are called TRADING cards after all.
  2. Graded cards help you appreciate the card as singular item, rather than seeing it as one part of a larger group like you would get in a binder.
  3. Adds a layer of protection and an added layer of collectability. The card you have encapsulated will stay in that relative condition, and you know what an objective third party designates that condition to be in.
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Cause my cat likes to walk on my binder

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I feel like my cards from 20 years ago have been on a long enough journey that they deserve to be encapsulated and preserved. Even if they leave my hands I know I did them justice and that matters a lot to me.

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Or they’ve been on a long enough journey and they deserve to be left alone👀

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Imo they look really good in slabs, better than if I just display them in a card saver. I like having complete binder sets, but like my promos slabbed. Back when grading was 10 bucks per for bulk, why not? Adds value and protection. However, now I’m a lot more picky with card grading doubling at psa.

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I have kids, 2 of them being toddlers that like to see my cards. I can hand them a stack of slabs and they can have at it with little worry. I can’t hand them a binder, sleeved cards, or loose cards.

I actually prefer viewing my binder collections more than my slabbed cards though, so I get what you’re saying. But slabs offer better preservation of better condition cards.

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If your cat is anything like my family’s cat, it likes to do more than just walk on the binder. I’ve got firsthand experience with that. :sob:

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  1. Long term protection
  2. Looks cooler
  3. Authentication (especially for the future)
  4. In it for the money and value increases (ruining the hobby) $$$$$

I still have more raw holos in toploaders and binder sets than in slabs, but most are LP

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Honestly, I love the idea of having a graded collection because it’s essentially creating a trophy out of your stuff (that’s one thought away from thinking about Pokemon Museums). Having a card encapsulated presents it in a much grander fashion and makes you look at it more. I just don’t make enough to really give it much consideration and have submitted a total of 8 cards in my life for that reason with me only really wanting like 5 trophy-like cards. I still prefer binders at the end of the day because it’s something you can take with you, is compact for storage if you don’t have much space, and can share easily with others.

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I grade stuff I love all the time in all sorts of condition.

Lots of my childhood cards are graded, and low ones at that. It preserves them, and is just a fun way of looking at them

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