Received my August Grading Specials... Am I doing this right?
eddiev
Posts: 65
I'm still trying to figure this out. Cards which I think are going to grade higher are graded lower than I expect. When I go to sell them on EBAY I'm realizing on average they sell for 50 to 60% of SMR. Am I doing anything wrong? Question: Would you have send in the 72 Bradshaw knowing you would receive a low grade or would you sell them RAW. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
As I keep rambling because I'm frustrated. I use to buy and sell cards from the early 80's to early 90's. Did many local shows and have too many cards to even know where to begin. I know I also have a lot of junk from late 80's to 90's but I also have many cards from the 70's. This is a bigger learning curve than I thought. Maybe I should just sell it all at once but I still am clueless as to what I have in boxes.
LINE # CERT # CARD CARD CO. CARD # CARD NAME VARIETY GRADE
1 12341345 1974 TOPPS 20 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
2 12341346 1972 TOPPS 447 WILLIE STARGELL N/A 8
3 12341347 1972 TOPPS 309 ROBERTO CLEMENTE N/A 5
4 12341348 1972 TOPPS 150 TERRY BRADSHAW N/A 6
4 12341349 1972 TOPPS 150 TERRY BRADSHAW N/A 5
4 12341350 1972 TOPPS 150 TERRY BRADSHAW N/A 5
5 12341351 1972 TOPPS 13 JOHN RIGGINS N/A 8
6 12341352 1972 TOPPS 110 GALE SAYERS N/A 7OC
7 12341353 1972 TOPPS 167 BILLY CUNNINGHAM ALL STAR 8
7 12341354 1972 TOPPS 167 BILLY CUNNINGHAM ALL STAR 8OC
8 12341355 1972 TOPPS 32 PHIL JACKSON N/A 7
9 12341356 1972 TOPPS 45 JO JO WHITE N/A 7
10 12341357 1972 TOPPS 164 JERRY WEST ALL STAR 8
11 12341358 1981 TOPPS 104 JULIUS ERVING EAST 9
12 12341359 1981 TOPPS 101 LARRY BIRD EAST 8
13 12341360 1975 TOPPS 30 BOB LANIER N/A 8
14 12341361 1975 TOPPS 75 PETE MARAVICH N/A 7
15 12341362 1973 TOPPS 100 JERRY WEST N/A 7
16 12341363 1973 TOPPS 50 KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR N/A 6
17 12341364 1972 TOPPS 44 RICK BARRY N/A 5
18 12341365 1973 TOPPS 240 JULIUS ERVING N/A 6
19 12341366 1972 TOPPS 1 WILT CHAMBERLAIN N/A 7
20 12341367 1972 TOPPS 100 KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR N/A 7
21 12341368 1974 TOPPS 39 BILL WALTON N/A 7
22 12341369 1972 TOPPS 1 WILT CHAMBERLAIN N/A 7
23 12341370 1973 TOPPS 80 WILT CHAMBERLAIN N/A 7
24 12341371 1987 FLEER STICKER 2 MICHAEL JORDAN N/A 8
25 12341372 1988 FLEER 17 MICHAEL JORDAN N/A 6
25 12341373 1988 FLEER 17 MICHAEL JORDAN N/A 8
Date Received: 09/07/2005
Date of Grades Posted: 09/13/2005
Date Shipped: 09/13/2005
As I keep rambling because I'm frustrated. I use to buy and sell cards from the early 80's to early 90's. Did many local shows and have too many cards to even know where to begin. I know I also have a lot of junk from late 80's to 90's but I also have many cards from the 70's. This is a bigger learning curve than I thought. Maybe I should just sell it all at once but I still am clueless as to what I have in boxes.
LINE # CERT # CARD CARD CO. CARD # CARD NAME VARIETY GRADE
1 12341345 1974 TOPPS 20 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
2 12341346 1972 TOPPS 447 WILLIE STARGELL N/A 8
3 12341347 1972 TOPPS 309 ROBERTO CLEMENTE N/A 5
4 12341348 1972 TOPPS 150 TERRY BRADSHAW N/A 6
4 12341349 1972 TOPPS 150 TERRY BRADSHAW N/A 5
4 12341350 1972 TOPPS 150 TERRY BRADSHAW N/A 5
5 12341351 1972 TOPPS 13 JOHN RIGGINS N/A 8
6 12341352 1972 TOPPS 110 GALE SAYERS N/A 7OC
7 12341353 1972 TOPPS 167 BILLY CUNNINGHAM ALL STAR 8
7 12341354 1972 TOPPS 167 BILLY CUNNINGHAM ALL STAR 8OC
8 12341355 1972 TOPPS 32 PHIL JACKSON N/A 7
9 12341356 1972 TOPPS 45 JO JO WHITE N/A 7
10 12341357 1972 TOPPS 164 JERRY WEST ALL STAR 8
11 12341358 1981 TOPPS 104 JULIUS ERVING EAST 9
12 12341359 1981 TOPPS 101 LARRY BIRD EAST 8
13 12341360 1975 TOPPS 30 BOB LANIER N/A 8
14 12341361 1975 TOPPS 75 PETE MARAVICH N/A 7
15 12341362 1973 TOPPS 100 JERRY WEST N/A 7
16 12341363 1973 TOPPS 50 KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR N/A 6
17 12341364 1972 TOPPS 44 RICK BARRY N/A 5
18 12341365 1973 TOPPS 240 JULIUS ERVING N/A 6
19 12341366 1972 TOPPS 1 WILT CHAMBERLAIN N/A 7
20 12341367 1972 TOPPS 100 KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR N/A 7
21 12341368 1974 TOPPS 39 BILL WALTON N/A 7
22 12341369 1972 TOPPS 1 WILT CHAMBERLAIN N/A 7
23 12341370 1973 TOPPS 80 WILT CHAMBERLAIN N/A 7
24 12341371 1987 FLEER STICKER 2 MICHAEL JORDAN N/A 8
25 12341372 1988 FLEER 17 MICHAEL JORDAN N/A 6
25 12341373 1988 FLEER 17 MICHAEL JORDAN N/A 8
Date Received: 09/07/2005
Date of Grades Posted: 09/13/2005
Date Shipped: 09/13/2005
0
Comments
If you bought and sold cards in the past, I think it might help to keep the old joke in mind...
"If you're buying it's EX, if you're selling it's NM."
I think it helps to think like a buyer when it comes to pre-grading for submission. While some complain about PSA's grading, I've found it to be pretty consistent for the most part. To get the top grades the cards have to be nearly perfect.
One thing that has helped me, I think was investing in a magnifying lamp, available at most office supply chains. Here's one from Office Depot around $100.
Magnifying Lamp
As for the eBay results, have you checked the results (Completed Auctions) of other posts for the same or similar stuff? That will give you an idea of what a particular card is going to sell for and whether it is even worth posting and/or grading. The 1960s and 1970s stuff is pretty plentiful on eBay, even the stars, and the buyers know it. You might try using the BUY IT NOW feature on some of your cards and set it at a price high enough to make you happy. Some people hate bidding and will pay a little more to not have to go through that process for a card they want/need. This has worked out pretty well for me with the more common stuff.
Low grade stuff, sell it raw, and don't expect to get much for it.
Also, I can't overemphasize the importance of good scans - and I mean SCANS - not pictures taken with a digital camera. There is no excuse for anyone selling cards regularly on eBay NOT to use a scanner as they can be had for as little as $20 with rebates, and yes, a cheap one will work fine for eBay purposes.
MooseDog, great quote on buying Ex and Selling NM. LOL
Print off a copy of the PSA grading standards and go from there.
Good luck, it gets easier the more you do it. And sometimes even profitable to help support your other buying habits.
-Josh
My eBay Store
BigCrumbs! I made over $250 last year!
They say it gets easier, but just so you don't feel to badly here's one of my recent (not so good) submissions. And this is after submitting over 500 cards so far...a couple of these like the Maravich's, Wilt, and Alcindor, I just wanted to get slabbed to make them easier to sell, but the Dampier, Murphy, Hawkins, Johnson, West, Greer, Havlicek, and McMillan I thought would come back 8 if not 9. I doubt I'll even recover grading fees on those now. But as they say, "you pays your money, and you take your chances."
Forgot to mention also, that I think I have undergraded several of my cards because I did not take the back into consideration. A card with a nice front but an off-center/diamond cut back seems to lose a lot of respect in the eyes of the graders.
1 12295439 1971 TOPPS 224 LOUIE DAMPIER N/A 6
2 12295440 1971 TOPPS 105 CONNIE HAWKINS N/A 6
3 12295441 1971 TOPPS 70 WILT CHAMBERLAIN N/A 4
4 12295442 1971 TOPPS 58 CALVIN MURPHY N/A 6
5 12295443 1971 TOPPS 50 JERRY WEST N/A 6
6 12295444 1971 TOPPS 4 JOHN JOHNSON N/A 7
7 12295445 1971 TOPPS 60 HAL GREER N/A 7
8 12295446 1971 TOPPS 35 JOHN HAVLICEK N/A 7
9 12295447 1971 TOPPS 55 PETE MARAVICH N/A 4
9 12295448 1971 TOPPS 55 PETE MARAVICH N/A 5
9 12295449 1971 TOPPS 55 PETE MARAVICH N/A 8OC
9 12295450 1971 TOPPS 55 PETE MARAVICH N/A 6
10 12295451 1971 TOPPS 47 DAVE COWENS N/A 6
10 12295452 1971 TOPPS 47 DAVE COWENS N/A 6
11 12295453 1971 TOPPS 41 JIM McMILLIAN N/A 7
12 12295454 1971 TOPPS 108 STU LANTZ N/A 8
13 12295455 1971 TOPPS 100 LEW ALCINDOR N/A 4
14 12295456 1971 TOPPS 144 NBA CHECKLIST 1-144 COPYRIGHT EXTENDS TO #110 8
14 12295457 1971 TOPPS 144 NBA CHECKLIST 1-144 COPYRIGHT EXTENDS TO #110 7
15 12295458 1971 TOPPS 134 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME 2 BUCKS MAKE IT 2 STRAIGHT 7
16 12295459 1971 TOPPS 213 RICK MOUNT N/A 8
Once I started to do the above my grades improved. My process goes something like this when looking only for 9 and 10 cards:
1. Look at the cards raw and immediately reject any cards that, upon eyeballing are unappealing due to centering mainly or other issues. Any corners that look bad upon the eyeball inspection, put in the no pile. I usually start my review with the upper left corner and work around clockwise. If I see a questionable corner, I pass on the card. If all corners look good upon the eyeball inspection, I go to centering. Cards with bad centering are then excluded. Any print defects or other issues that just don't look right will cause a card to be rejected. All of this can be done in a few seconds once you get the hang of it. Don't worry about missing something on the cards but once you get the short pile, you will look at those more closely later. Also exclude any cards that, for whatever reason, are not worth grading in any condition (who wants a PSA 10 1987 Jose Uribe, well someone might, but it is a card that is probably not worth your time).
2. Once I have my short pile, I move on to my magnified desk lamp usually a day or two later. I also have a handy centering device to measure centering. I take each card and view each corner, front and back, under the lamp. At this point, you can pick up little pushes and corner dings that you may have missed upon the eyeball inspection. If I find any of these cards, they go to the reject pile. Any cards that appear to have borderline centering are measured with my centering device. If they fail, they go to the reject pile.
3. Again after waiting another day or two, I play one final visit to the "good pile" and review the cards again, usually focusing quickly on corners under magnification. I usually again reject a few more cards here. I am then ready to send off to PSA.
Thats how I do it others do it differently. Good luck!
I look at my cards under a magnifying light with particular emphasis placed on corners (PSA seems to be a big stickler for corners). If I am looking for 9 or better cards,
Also, I find it helpful to establish what is the desired minimum grade for a particular card. It would obviously be economical to get a 52 Mantle graded that is expected to come back a 6. By comparison, almost all modern cards that appear to be an 8 at best are probably not worth sending in.
There are some exceptions to my "I won't grade that" pile. Any big time HOF'ers (Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Mays, Rose, DiMaggio, Aaron etc) from the 40's-60's usually gets holdered, if for no other reason than to make sure it never gets any worse. I've got a 55T Jackie Robinson in a PSA 2 holder. Came in a lot I bought, I'd probably get $20 for it, but it displays better than it's grade and I like it in the holder better than raw. Mantle sells well in any condition, so just grade anything of his IMO.
My eBay Store
BigCrumbs! I made over $250 last year!
regards
John
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS