Which to grade?

Vermonster

Ok, joined a few days ago to ask about the PSA process since I started going through my old cards and found some good ones. Now, when I look, I have plenty of cards that are a couple hundred and up. That being said, I'm not a dealer, and unless its a good chunk of change, it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle. Also, I understand that above and beyond the rating, there is the fact that the card actually needs to be in demand. It can be a perfect 10, but if nobody wants to buy it, its worth nothing, right???

I know a lot of you sell by the thousands of cards so a lower yield per card could be acceptable. But for me, just making a couple bucks wouldn't be the goal. If I'm going to go through the process, I'd like a little extra at the end. So in your opinions, what of these cards, assuming they grade a 9 or 10, would be worth grading because there would actually be interest in buying them.

Jeter SP foil and Topps rookies
Chipper Jones SP foil and Topps rookies
Griffey UD rookie
Sandburg Topps Rookie
Shaq Fleer Ultra rookie 7 of 10
Belichek 1991 Pro Set "Rookie"
1991 Skybox BARCELONA cards
Jordan:
-91 Fleer #29
-90 Skybox #41
-90 Hoops #65
-91 UD baseball SP1

And don't laugh, I'm just going by what recent auctions in PSA say. I'm new at this......lol. Thanks for any replies!

1951WheatiesPremium

Start with four - Sandburg, Jeter 93 Topps and 93 SP and 89 UD Griffey.

When they come back, re-evaluate.

Vermonster

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
Start with four - Sandburg, Jeter 93 Topps and 93 SP and 89 UD Griffey.

When they come back, re-evaluate.

I like that idea. But you wouldn't do the Jones SP?

nam812

If you're looking for a small sample at first, do some research of complete auctions and whichever 4 or 5 cards have the highest PSA 8 prices, those are the ones to send in.

RufussCkingston

If you don't get 9's on everything, you are losing money.... or barely breaking even. Heck, on some if you don't get a 10 your in the dumps.... These are all pre-1996, so you are going to pay $50 a pop.... I predict a disaster!

dontippet

Post some scans. You will get plenty of opinions on if these may be 9's or not. Most new graders highly overgrade their cards. A PSA 9 card would look nearly flawless under 10x magnification. And please remember that the typical card coming out of the pack is around a PSA 8. 9's and 10's are rare.

nam812

@RufussCkingston said:
If you don't get 9's on everything, you are losing money.... or barely breaking even. Heck, on some if you don't get a 10 your in the dumps.... These are all pre-1996, so you are going to pay $50 a pop.... I predict a disaster!

Even at $50 a card (which I personally would never do) he can send the Griffey and Jeter SP and if he gets an 8 and a 5 he will just about double his money.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Vermonster said:

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
Start with four - Sandburg, Jeter 93 Topps and 93 SP and 89 UD Griffey.

When they come back, re-evaluate.

I like that idea. But you wouldn't do the Jones SP?

Start small, as mentioned. That’s around $230. Post scans, write your guesses down ahead of time and then see how they come back.

You can always send more cards later if you’re happy but can’t get a refund if you’re not. 😉

Jayman1982

Wait for pre-1996 Value service level to open, likely $25/card, then sub them all

Cakes

Unless you need the money you should wait.

1959

wait

dontippet

Again, I would post some pics here. My guess is that you don't have super high grade cards. Most new submitters overgrade their own cards.

nam812

@dontippet said:
Again, I would post some pics here. My guess is that you don't have super high grade cards. Most new submitters overgrade their own cards.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1077106

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1077299

Vermonster

Here are a couple photos again. I'm aware most people overgrade their cards, and I'm not thinking I have some phenomenal batch of 9s and 10s. I'm just wondering, "if" a card was to be graded a 9 or 10, which of what i have would be a good place to start from a selling point base on demand/ease of getting rid of. That being said, a few of my cards have been in sleeves since they were opened in 1988-1995, so unless its an alignment issue, they should be as new.

20220615-194429.jpg

20220615-194356.jpg

dontippet

Start searching on ebay completed items to see what sells and for how much. PSA also has a great auction prices site that you can search for your cards and particular PSA grades. https://www.psacard.com/auctionprices

And like I said earlier, most cards come out of the pack an average of PSA 8. A person can easily open an entire box of late 80's cards and have very few, sometimes no cards that are candidates for a PSA 10. In 1987, there were 540 cards in a box. If you opened a box in 1987 or opened a 1987 box in 2022, if you had 20 cards that may be a PSA 10, that would be a huge success. Sometimes, you would have zero cards that are a candidate for PSA 10. So, if your cards are basically straight from the pack, maybe 1 out of 30 are candidates for PSA 10. Obviously, that number may be high and it may be low. So, realistically, of your 13 cards, you probably don't have any PSA 10 candidates. When graders send in junk era cards to be graded, they weed through the best of the best to submit to grading, they typically don't submit every card.

Cakes

@dontippet said:
Start searching on ebay completed items to see what sells and for how much. PSA also has a great auction prices site that you can search for your cards and particular PSA grades. https://www.psacard.com/auctionprices

And like I said earlier, most cards come out of the pack an average of PSA 8. A person can easily open an entire box of late 80's cards and have very few, sometimes no cards that are candidates for a PSA 10. In 1987, there were 540 cards in a box. If you opened a box in 1987 or opened a 1987 box in 2022, if you had 20 cards that may be a PSA 10, that would be a huge success. Sometimes, you would have zero cards that are a candidate for PSA 10. So, if your cards are basically straight from the pack, maybe 1 out of 30 are candidates for PSA 10. Obviously, that number may be high and it may be low. So, realistically, of your 13 cards, you probably don't have any PSA 10 candidates. When graders send in junk era cards to be graded, they weed through the best of the best to submit to grading, they typically don't submit every card.

Okay you have crushed my spirit! No more mega rips for me!

RufussCkingston

@Vermonster said:
Here are a couple photos again. I'm aware most people overgrade their cards, and I'm not thinking I have some phenomenal batch of 9s and 10s. I'm just wondering, "if" a card was to be graded a 9 or 10, which of what i have would be a good place to start from a selling point base on demand/ease of getting rid of. That being said, a few of my cards have been in sleeves since they were opened in 1988-1995, so unless its an alignment issue, they should be as new.

20220615-194429.jpg

20220615-194356.jpg

We already told you to grade the Jeter, it's an 8 or 7 with those corners and whatever else we can't see from your pics. But as to the rest of your cards, you will probably be breakeven.... Hopefully!