So I’ve always been incredibly sceptical of buying “mint” raw cards from sellers who I know grade themselves (either selling multiple close certs or big sellers who post their submissions on social media). After all, if the card was really mint, why wouldn’t they have just graded it themselves?
Is this a normal, logical opinion or am I being weird about this?
Interested in hearing stories/opinions from buyers who’ve bought in situations like this and sellers who do this.
If they grade themselves and sell raw then they are either not grade worthy(9+? depending on the set/rarity etc) or they cant be bothered, takes too long or not worth it to grade for them due to margin etc. That is my opinion anyways, I would check the card out and decide yourself based on the looks and description of the cards listing.
Fairly new to this scene so take my comment with a pinch of salt.
I would not buy from that person expecting it to be Mint. I know a few in groups and I actively avoid
Now. If they said it’s NM then they are telling the truth - they more than likely have spotted an imperfection and not made the grading pile.
Now. I know some can be very very harsh and will not grade anything they don’t think is a 10 I.e one tiny imperfection and it’s out.
So the card you buy MAY have a chance of a 10 but they might have 10x others that were better.
IMO, they should not be calling it mint.
Just my thoughts.
I think the current turn around times for submissions is a factor. Depending on the card, getting the money now for a mint copy might be a smarter move for them than having to wait an unknown amount of time to potentially make more.
I personally sell ungraded and grade, however I’m very upfront with the fact that what I sell is not gradeable and I feel my product has been selling very well thanks to being open about condition and pricing.
On the whole it doesn’t feel sketchy to me. Just depends seller to seller. Everyone has duds when they buy. It’s just a matter of, does the seller admit that they are not TRULY mint, or is he advertising them as TRULY mint and hiding flaws. Kinda just have to judge that case to case.
If it had a shot at a 10 they would have graded it themselves. These aren’t people who found a binder in granny’s attic, these are dealers. Often times the premium for a psa 10 is 10x what a raw card would sell for. It is not logical to not get it graded.
That being said, there could be people who need cash quick and have tons of inventory collecting dust at psa, cgc, bgs and you could actually be getting lucky, but I doubt it
I occasionally sell mint cards on eBay purely because the time it’d take for me to get the card graded just isn’t worth the hassle. I am talking about low value (~$15) raw cards which when graded could be only a small amount more than that (~$60) - the grading fee + time outweighs the small profit.
Personally I’d say if the margin between raw value and graded value is too high or if the seller is using terms like “PSA ready” and “regrade?” the item should be avoided, but if the margin is pretty insignificant and the seller isn’t trying to decorate their listing with fancy buzzwords you’re probably okay.
Lower value cards/modern that might be borderline 9/10, I can see selling raw mint. If a card is worth $50 in a 9 and $250 in a 10 and its borderline, I would just sell it raw. Or even with the current grading situation, expensive modern cards can be mint and sold by a seller. The best of sellers will list the flaws they see to just help the buyer and minimize returns. I know I will list any flaws or reasons I don’t believe it will snag a 10 if I am selling something raw, I like to be open, not trying to scam anyone if I list something as mint.
Pretty much my thoughts here. If you’re looking to buy a raw card to possibly get a 10, probably not gonna happen. But if they say its a Near Mint card (PSA 7) it’s probably true. A bit of an extreme but a 1st Ed Charizard is getting graded regardless of condition, so I’d be a little worried on a card like that what do they know that I can’t see? Best bet is just being realistic and understand that if it’s a semi-valuable card in a higher grade (8,9,10), when it’s being sold raw like that it’s probably ~7 and value it that way.
That’s going to be a no from me dawg.
Unless you fully trust the seller, that person has no reason not to grade an actual “mint” card lol that’s literally throwing away money sellling it raw.
Mint and NM is vert subjective, and even in PSA terms it could be anywhere between 7-9, so I would just look at the card and if I like what I see go for it.
I’ve been collecting/buying/selling for a few years and until a few months ago I never graded any cards, so would just buy and sell random conditions without this way of thinking even crossing my mind
Some people might not want to take the risk of grading any or every card
If I list raw cards I’m honest about the condition because I don’t want someone complaining that I didn’t mention a dent or something
Someone who grades cards may sell a genuine 8/9/10 because they need the money now, are trying to time the market or they can make more profit in a quicker timeframe by repeating this a few times instead of waiting ages to get graded
Especially now with 1+ year waiting time and a doubling in price, there’s every chance that someone would rather just sell raw even if a potential 9/10
There most definitely is a reason to sell the mint card raw. Many people would prefer to have, say, $50 right now than $200 in 10 months.
Another reason is risk. If I don’t think a card is going to maintain its value, I’d rather sell it raw now rather than wait several months and hope it doesn’t drop in value. Tons of non-holos, for instance, are selling for $50+ in PSA 9. These were worthless a year ago. I’d rather sell a mint raw one for $10 instead of grading it and hoping it’s still worth more than the cost of grading a year from now lol.
I sold all my gem mint modern shiny GX cards to Trollandtoad. Easily 80% would get 10s but with the rate that hidden fates gets printed Im not expecting much demand in the 15+ months itll take to get back
also if youre buying raw cards from a seller who does not grade you shouldn’t be trusting their quality standards at all
So I just bought a lot of just opened cards from a guy,
A few factors, for the humble UK grader, you have to take into account:
I still 100% believe that it’s worth grading everything I get my mits on (from certain condition/sets) but I can 100% believe why someone wouldn’t want to spend the upfront costs to have an uncertain amount of time before they got their return on investment.
OR they’re terrible condition and he’s mugging you off 
Either is possible
Depends on the card. If it’s a “mint” charizard I would be skeptical but mint more bulk cards are almost certainly fine.