Auctions vs raw prices
olb31
Posts: 3,430 ✭✭✭✭✭
card prices for graded cards (not all graded cards but a large percentage) are at historic lows in some cases. For instance, a 1975 Robin yount psa 7 have been selling for around $125. To find a yount that looks good enough to grade a PSA 7 will probably cost you $100 or maybe higher. Same thing with a 1975 Nolan ryan. a nice one that looks like a 7 will cost you $100 - $125.
I guess people don't realize how hard it is to have a 1975 Robin Yount or Nolan ryan grade a psa 7.
Of course there are thousands of examples of nice cards that sale really low after they are graded vs raw. 1980 PSA 7 opc Gretzky's for around $175. This is his second card, it's opc and it goes for only $175, huh. You will probably pay every bit of $125 - $150 raw to even find one that looks that good.
Like I said before in another post, it's time to buy. Right now, PSA 8 (centered) and up are going going gone from 1976 and older. It won't be long (maybe two years) where the centered PSA 7's will rocking.
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I used to do a lot of buying raw/unopened, but high grading costs, tight grading and inflated unopened costs have made me focus on graded cards. It's almost all I'm buying these days.
Graded prices are way down, but unopened hasn't come down as much yet. I'll stay on this track until unopened catches up.
Totally agree. I have been a little lucky on unopened purchases. I would buy the next big item before it became big.
I have 15 unopened 1987 opc, 1987 leaf, 1989 fleer baskets, 1990 - 1991 fleer baskets jumbo boxes. These boxes were bought really cheap. like $10 apiece or lower. No one really wanted them at the time.
Sets too. Bunch of 1985 leaf, 1987 leaf, 1985 topps. 1987 and 1988 fleer baskets.
The best buys right now are the psa 7 centered cards of superstars in the 1960's and 1970's, maybe even some 6's depending on how great they are. The 8's and up are tough, lots of people on those. Ryan, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Rose, Rookies.
You’re a silly sale-or.
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Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
Prices for graded hockey just started….just started to come down. Sure, you can rush to buy but it’s still has lots of downside. You won’t see bottom until the commons (overpriced) drop drastically. Give another year/two…
opc PSA 6 Glenn Anderson centered sold for .99. Is that low enough? Raw it would have sold for $20.
I know people make a living doing this too. Get a nice PSA 5 Brett for $60. Rip it out, call it ex-my - nm and sell (not sale) it for $125.
I said this in another thread. From the American side you will see a price of $8 plus taxes. From my side that price is double. $16 plus taxes.
What’s a PSA 6 Anderson worth? $8/9 bucks. So yes. Your price is spot on. I’m not paying $18 for it….
It's called gambling. You see a PSA7 and it's final, it's a 7. You see raw card and you go, it could be a 7, but I don't know maybe, just maybe, I'll get lucky and get an 8.
And I've been on a losing streak lately. I've been outbid on the last 5 auctions, and I'm not low balling either. Final prices ended up 50 cents or $1 over my snipe price. And these are not tough, high demand cards either. Seems odd.
I would agree that graded card prices have come down lately, but historic lows? I don't know.... I'm still seeing 2-3X and more on many previous purchases pre-pandemic/ bubble run-up. I'm going to disagree that cards from the '70's in PSA 7 are going to be rocking with the exception of '71 and maybe Aaron, Mays, Clemente and Ryan. Way too many and PSA 8's would really have to have an explosion instead of heading south as they are now. Buying raw rookies and grading like your '75 examples just isn't prosperous anymore. The seller thinks they got something special and isn't letting it go for low or actual value and the buyer/gambler..... well he gets disappointed and learns a lesson after the card is graded.
I have always felt that, for many cards, you could take solid PSA 6's or 7's, crack them out, and sell them for more raw than what you would get selling them graded. This has been true for a while, in some ways "back in the day" it was more common because there were a lot of "anti-grading get off my lawn guys" who would only buy raw, especially vintage.
Even for many modern inserts and autos, if you're sitting on a PSA 8 (or even a PSA 9), it's like the kiss of death, you'll often get less than raw prices.
Nothing new. 20 years ago on Ebay some collectors would buy good looking low grade Mantle cards from the 60's, crack them out, advertise them one or three grades higher and make a small profit. Nothing major though. Beer money. Unless you found enough examples where the beer money adds up.
However, it is not always easy finding a good looking low end card that is graded....and now those 'eye appeal' low grade graded cards go for a greater premium anyway so there is that. Some of those even go higher than cards graded two grades higher.
The rise in fees, shipping prices, and more buyers paying a sales tax on Ebay, have made those flips less profitable as well. Right off the bat most are 20% in the hole(buyers tax and then adding the re-sale Ebay fees).
As for well centered 7's from the 70's, I agree those are good buys, especially if the high end prices for 9's and 10's lose their luster for whatever reason down the line. But if the high end prices for high grade maintain, then those 7's aren't going to do much more than they already are. Also, a well centered 7 already gets a premium.
Perfectly centered BJ future stars (not tiffany) is selling for as little as $0.99 on ebay. About a $160 loss when you have 8 of them. These could be 9s all day as there is excellent centering and edges/corners have no marks as well as the surface appears mint.
This is a case where I could double the sale price raw and get $2 or $3 each. It's not worth resubmitting for another $18 (includes shipping) to get the 9s. These are going into the charity bucket on taxes as I gift them to goodwill or donate to charity for a silent auction.
This isn't a good comparison because this card didn't have a lot of movement in a PSA8 in terms of dollars but it did crash in terms of %. Who wants a grade 8 of a massed produced card with a ridiculous population?
I think a lot comes into play for timing the market, appeal of the auction description/pics, and getting more than the lowest recent sale price.
While preying on the stupid or the greedy in that manner is 100% totally legal, I find it to be a morally bankrupt action, unless disclosure of the grade was mentioned. One of the many reasons my perception of Trading Card Dealers is far worse than my opinion of used-car salespeople
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