eBay and cracking 8s or 9s is your best bet these days
If you are very picky, I strongly recommend buying graded on eBay, it’ll be easier for you and sellers will not have to deal with your raw card returns.
Near mint can go down to PSA 7 as psa defines it. I think buying near mint cards and expecting a guaranteed 9 or 10 is unrealistic and you should reconsider your expectations.
I have bought from TnT myself a decent amount and had my highs or lows.
Lmao if anyone knows a supplier for near perfect wotc holos feel free to send them my way too
In all seriousness, there’s no secret website or supplier for cards like these. Like qwachansey said, your best bet is to buy graded if you’re that picky for condition. Otherwise you can try your luck on ebay, T&T, and other big company card sites like everyone else. You can also buy packs and open them yourself, but even then you’re not guaranteed to get wotc holos with no scratches and minimal whitening
FWIW, I am currently negotiating with someone to buy a raw NM-MT 1st Ed. Base Blastoise for my binder set, since I prefer to buy ungraded over cracking, and I have offered slightly above the last PSA 8 sale. So expect to pay PSA prices for true NM-MT cards.
You can do what you’re trying to do on TCGPlayer. What I did is bought a ‘sampler’ of ~20 ‘NM’ cards from each of probably 40-50 TCGPlayer vendors. Out of those vendors, only maybe 6-7 have strict grading standards. I order from those vendors exclusively now, even if it costs me twice as much.
There ARE still Pokemon card vendors with MTG grading standards. They are just few and far between. Depending on which era cards you’re buying (WotC, EX era, etc.) I can tell you the best vendors in a PM. But I won’t if we’re buying the same era of cards. Either way, the supply of cards from these vendors (if we’re buying the same era) is going to be basically non-existent on TCGPlayer. I’ve bought out most of the inventory of some of these vendors. But only of the cards I’m collecting; so they might still have cards in stock from different eras.
I should’ve anticipated this being a slippery slope lol. I’m happy to give it to you (since you’re the first one to ask) and possibly the OP, depending on which cards you’re looking to get. Regardless, there won’t be almost any stock left of cards from the era I’m collecting since I’ve already bought basically everything. You can feel free to PM me what sorts of cards you collect and I might tell you some vendors.
Spend lots of time on eBay, I have bought tons of mint cards over the last few months. Not many are psa 10 quality but several that should be 9s. Not going to give out all my tips and tricks but the more time you spend searching the better.
In the current market, you’re probably better off cracking 8s depending on the card. Raws in the condition you’re describing are going for graded prices now so it’s really not that much of a premium either. Otherwise, I’d recommend having some set searches saved on ebay that you can quickly check through everyday. I’ve had some success sniping what I need because of it, as well as having some reliable sellers. Mint cards are hard to find now, gotta be patient and be willing to spend for it.
Actually, instead of handing out the list to people, I’ll just mention a few larger vendors (as a public service announcement) to avoid buying from. This way my buying habits are not actually affected lol, and maybe I can help save people some time:
STFGaming (not on TCGPlayer, but he’s on eBay. Fine if you want PSA ~6-7 quality cards, but only ~20% of the cards I’ve gotten from him I’d consider NM. Also, do NOT send him offers. He will just decline the offer and raise the price. He doesn’t respond to offers, in my experience. Overall, they’re a legit vendor but just have loose grading standards – though by no means the most loose)
BlazingCards (very rough condition)
The card stand (slightly less rough condition, but also very unreliable as far as actually sending your cards lol)
Additionally, don’t buy from smaller vendors. Like, seriously. I’ve had almost no success buying from vendors with less than 10k reviews. All the good vendors have 10k+ reviews, but not all vendors with 10k+ reviews are good vendors.
These are the only ‘bad’ vendors I have a 30+ sample size of cards from. I’m not even saying these vendors are ‘bad’ per se, just that you’re going to be wasting your time if you’re looking for NM cards.
The problem these days is that most private sellers have been doing it for a while, and are comfortable with whatever forum (Ebay, TCG, FB, etc.) they are selling on. Any new private seller is being advised to go to PSA, despite the cost and lead time, so as to get true value.
I have had the same negative experience with STFgaming. Make an offer, he will raise the price from what it was originally. “Sorry realized I hadn’t raised the prices on those in some time and they were out of date”. And his “NM” in my experience averages to a PSA 7 (or worse) quality card. Which is “NM” by PSA standards but not what I am looking for in a raw card
It’s definitely a matter of time and patience finding then buying the right raw cards on Ebay or wherever Japan etc …
Of course in some cases it’s luck! I’ve had cards I swear would come back 10’s then 8’s! Plus verse verser where I’ve got back some pretty weak 10’s.
If you are buying to grade the mint/near mint cards enjoy the lottery of what comes back, wouldn’t it be boring if they were all PSA 10 Gem returns
TCG is fine if you are looking to complete collections. If you are looking for cards to grade, it won’t happen. Even the newer comment cards from them often will not be in the 9-10 range.