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Prioritizing PSA Grading - advice needed

uriwvuuriwvu Posts: 10
in PSA Set Registry Forum
Which cards should I submit for grading first, say an EX-NRMT '68 Mantle or a NRMT-MINT '78 Murray?

A '71 VG Ryan or '75 NRMT Ryan?

I guess I want to get the best bang for my buck since I can't grade all my high value cards, or at least not all at once.

Advice please.

Thanks,
Rick

Comments

  • acowaacowa Posts: 945 ✭✭
    Let me preface this by saying I may submit for different reasons than you: Submit the Mantle...I wouldn't bother submitting the others...even if I didn't have the Mantle.

    Regards,


    Alan
  • mikeschmidtmikeschmidt Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭
    Question 1: Are you 100% sure that your personal grading is what the cards will grade out as? If so (and most people, including myself, are HORRIBLE on grades on their first few submissions)

    That being said, I would prioritize as follows:

    1) 1968 Mantle
    2) 1978 Murray
    3) 1975 Ryan -- maybe
    4) 1971 Ryan -- not worth grading.
    I am actively buying MIKE SCHMIDT gem mint baseball cards. Also looking for any 19th century cabinets of Philadephia Nationals. Please PM with additional details.
  • uriwvuuriwvu Posts: 10
    Appreciate the comments.

    So the Bottom Line may be, in general, to grade the older, more valuable cards if and only if they are (by my unprofessional estimation) a NRMT? Anything below NRMT not worth grading it unless extremely rare (i.e. pre 60's)?
  • acowaacowa Posts: 945 ✭✭
    It depends. What do you hope to achieve by grading them?

    Regards,


    Alan
  • VarghaVargha Posts: 2,392 ✭✭
    One grade can make a huge difference in those years. A 1975 Topps PSA 8 Ryan is worth having. The PSA 7 isn't really a big deal.
  • WabittwaxWabittwax Posts: 1,984 ✭✭✭
    The 75 Ryan is definately worth grading if it will get a 7. 7's sell for way more than grading fees and they sell easier if they are already graded. I always use the $6 service though so I would suggest to use the cheapest service possible.
  • VarghaVargha Posts: 2,392 ✭✭
    The PSA 7 Ryan is worth about $35. It fetches arond $100-150 in PSA 8. I never said that it wasn't "worth grading", just that the "PSA 7 isn't really a big deal".
  • TalyhoTalyho Posts: 5
    First if you are looking to sell the cards I would say grade the 68 Mantle 75 Ryan and the 78 Murray they

    will bring a better price graded then trying to sell them raw. Put the 71 Ryan up raw the difference

    between raw and graded may not cover the grading fee,and you just might be able to cover your fees for

    grading the other 3 cards. If you are looking to keep these then grade them all and enjoy.

    Good Luck Troy
  • acowaacowa Posts: 945 ✭✭
    For many, your expected grade does not always equal the actual grade. If the Murray comes back a 5 or 6 and the Ryan a 2 or 3 ... how much bang for his buck is there (considering that after shipping both ways you have $10 or more wrapped up in grading fees)?

  • brucemobrucemo Posts: 358 ✭
    You can send in anything if it's for your own amusement. If you want to know if a card is authentic, or if you want to get a grade on it "just because", or if you just want it in a cool plastic holder, it doesn't matter who you send it to.

    If you are sending in a card because you care about money, you want to enhance or solidify the value of the card. It doesn't make sense to send in a card whose value and salability are not improved as a consequence.

    If you are sending cards in yourself, bear in mind that it is going to cost you at least $12 to get a card shipped back from PSA, as well as the grading fee. You'd typically want to send in more than one card at once.

    eBay completed auctions are a great place to research graded and raw card prices.

    bruce
    Collecting '52 Bowman, '53 Bowman B&W, and '56 Topps, in PSA-7.
    Website: http://www.brucemo.com
    Email: brucemo@seanet.com
  • uriwvuuriwvu Posts: 10
    My reason for grading is twofold: first hopefully it will let me know the approximate value of a vintage card should I decide to sell it down the road and second, it's a nice way to preserve a teriffic card should I decide to hold onto it. I do not desire to grade an entire set, and from what I've been reading, grading commons is more cost that they are worth.

    I guess the bottom line is to see what other similar cards are going for on eBay at different grades to gage what their value is graded.

    Does it make any sense in terms of potential selling power and hence is it worth it to grade any card (and for me, I'm talking only about 60's-early 70's superstars and later RC's) if the card is less than NRMT (say a "7")?

    Thanks for the continued feedback since I am new to grading.

    Go Sox!!

    Rick
  • acowaacowa Posts: 945 ✭✭
    Rick,

    <it will let me know the approximate value of a vintage card should I decide to sell it down the road>

    You can get this off EBAY. If you put a high quality scan of the front and back and an honest description with your listing, people will be able to judge the approximate quality.

    <it's a nice way to preserve a teriffic card should I decide to hold onto it.>

    I think it's the best way...other people are comfortable with Card Savers and lucite slabs as well. The only downside is that some cards (not all) move around in PSA holders.

    <I guess the bottom line is to see what other similar cards are going for on eBay at different grades to gage what their value is graded.

    Does it make any sense in terms of potential selling power and hence is it worth it to grade any card (and for me, I'm talking only about 60's-early 70's superstars and later RC's) if the card is less than NRMT (say a "7")?

    You have to do the math yourself on a card by card basis. Judge what you think the quality of the card is...then subtract one full grade...then go on EBAY and see what raw versus graded are selling for.

    For cards like vintage Mantle's, May's and Aaron's ... PSA makes financial sense 99% of the time.


    Regards,


    Alan







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