This was very interesting. I think a video with vintage cards as the examples would be a cool follow-up. Might be nice to hear which grading companies you consider based on the condition and resale value of the card, too.
If resale value is the only thing that matters then PSA is the choice. They are worse in every other way compared to the other big companies, but they have the highest resale value.
Would love to see a vintage version of this. As I get back into the hobby I am trying to do this better but so far have not done well determining what to send
I'm in the same boat. I have a few cards that I think have a shot at a 10 and could be worth a few thousand if so but I just can't pull the trigger on sending them in fear of something happening to them in the process. I've never sent any card to be graded either.
Nice, informative video. Thanks! Yes, it would be great to see further examples, especially a handful of examples from a few older decades and star levels. For example, 1930s, 1950s and 1970s for both a superstar and a minor star. I would assume for some of the more valuable cards, one needs to somehow factor in the value of the card simply being authenticated. For cards for which there are known forgeries, I am guessing that you might virtually always want the card graded, but would love to hear your thoughts and opinions
Absolutely love the video. Fun, smart etc. Another hidden cost is fees/shipping once you sell the card. So the ~70 on the Posey is actually ~55. Would love to see more of these!
Yes vintage would be interesting because I'm personally in that stage of exploring and collecting vintage and determining authentic vs. counterfeit.... ultra-modern might be interesting on a prospect level of factoring in forecasting within the volatility side of it
I used to have faith in PSA but they have lost my trust after several key incidents over the past 2 years. I would only go SGC if I were to grade again. I love your informative content Chris. Thanks again!
Quality content on your channel that’s why I’m subscribed. Much better than following these other guys walk around card shows just fist bumping the whole time. Thank you Chris!
Thanks! Educational and the template can be used for all grading companies. People just need to be honest with themselves when estimating grade and value's being assigned. The 3 tier grade model is perfect. Would like to see vintage and/or non-sports cards.
Hi Chris, been watching your videos for some time now, and this was by far your most informative, great analysis and break down, also talking about the card and showing the defects that graders are looking at and how that takes a card from Gem to a possible 6. I Would enjoy more of these types of videos.
Love this video (just like all the others you post). Always informative. I’d love to see your take on maybe SGC in a similar fashion. As a collector returning to the hobby after 15 years around the same age as you are, I don’t have the funds to join PSA, or the collection surplus to justify the money. I seem to find SGC is more affordable to a small time collector like me, and honestly I feel they are far more strict on their grades in comparison to PSA (although PSA seems to be getting more strict.)
Thank you Chris, I love how you take the time to help educate us about things involving the hobby. I agree with the others who suggested doing a video with vintage cards.
Loved this episode. Perfect explanation of why to grade the Buster and not grade the Kobe--sounds counterintuitive, but made perfect sense for your example cards.
One of my favorite videos you have published!! I think about this stuff all the time. I wish that the Kobe E-X becomes his iconic RC. I love that card.
Interesting and appreciated. Mostly a collector but still like to pursue quality and value. I think in this day and age we all need to learn more about pregrading. Definately worth more conversation.
Phenomenal video, Chris! Please do more of these! I just got my first PSA order back...after 15 months. I would say the grades were tough, but fair. I decided to do something very similar to what you just presented before sending in my next order..lol! Great video.
I'd love to see the journey of 3 or 4 cards from "cradle to grave". How much you paid (or estimated the value of when buying in a collection). The thought process in the decision to send it off for grading or not. The decision of where you put it for sale (ebay/comc or other), and how much you got for it when it sold - with cost details and time details all through the journey. Just be a fun one thing to follow through the entire process...perhaps for different vintages or values.... BTW - I teach accounting and the decision to grade a card (or not) is called a "Sell or Process Further" decision - this is a great (and easy to understand) example that I will use in my classes going forward.
Agree that the video is informative. One issue with the first example is that selling costs are not factored in. If you add selling costs (assume 15% of the $30 difference), that is an additional $4.50, so you would lose $7.50 in the card's total valuation. Another way to look at it is 85% net x $42 = $35.70; subtracting the PSA grading fee gives $2.70 net income for the card. Or the alternative, 85% net x $12 = $10.20 net income without the PSA grading fee. Adding this step would help provide insight into the profit or loss decision to send the card.
Thanks Chris! I don’t see nearly as much “grading volatility” in modern and ultra-modern. I do, however, find my best guess is often off on vintage. With your wealth of experience would love to see this on pre-junk.
Great video Chris! Ya, some ultra rare stuff would be good to show your decision making process. Ie, last one sold was 3 years ago, or very low numbered cards of stars with no sales, etc
Really enjoyed this video and would love to see more in the future. I also think you need to do videos where you pull a random box from behind (in your video background) you and go through the cards that are in it while giving the reasoning of what you plan to do with them.
This was a great video, and I would be happy to see more like this. Especially since they are actually your cards, and you're actually thinking of grading them. I found this video very interesting. Thanks!
I agree Chris that Kobe 96 E-X2000 Rookie card is way better looking and rarer than his Topps Chrome. Also no greening issues like many of his Chrome cards.
I guess I lean more towards collecting as I mostly grade vintage cards from my favorite teams. When it comes to modern cards, I grade a few of my favorite players & those I intend to consign. Yes Chris, making more videos like this will edify all of us collectors/investors/dealers in that order 😆
I would like to see some vintage examples. A bit self serving as I have a handful of 1961 Fleer basketball cards I’m considering to send to PSA but wondering if it’s worth sending or just buying them already graded. I’m working on a mid-grade set for the PSA registry.
I’ve always enjoyed your content and appreciate the questions of mine you’ve answered. However, I’m going to need more content. A video per day should do it.
Many questions answered, Chris. Thank you. What I would like to know is related to storage. Aside from complete sets, if you have multi-thousands of slabbed cards in multiple boxes. What are your deciding categories to store, sort (and retrieve) a certain card from a certain box? That would be a great help w/my archives.
Nice video! Very Informative! And definitely Enjoy seeing your take on what and what not to grade! Definitely would like to see more! I think it would make great content for videos with a lot of the cards you send to grade depending on if it’s worth your time! It’ll definitely get views! Just because I think a lot of us like seeing into your thoughts as a seller or collector! And even the quick flips!
Thanks for this analysis and demonstration. I recently found over a thousand of my old cards that were preserved in plastic for decades and while looking into their value have been appalled that you need to pay so much to get cards graded. The PSA prices are outrageous and not worth it in my opinion because there is no guarantee that you even sell the card after it's been given a score. I was excited to find these old crisp-looking cards with 4 sharp edges, but now not so much since the values I think they're worth are based on the PSA scores and I refuse to pay for that.
Great job breaking this down to its barest essentials. Worth noting, although this video focuses on flipping/selling cards, another fairly common use case for grading is for addition to a personal collection. I'm currently gathering some raw cards purchased on eBay to get them graded eventually when prices come back down to pre-pandemic pricing, and they'll all end up in my PC and/or very long term holds.
Really like this video . More if these for sure. Vintage baseball maybe some 80’s football . Thanks it helps to do the research and it’s hard to comp when I send my cards to SGC because they are limited in sales
I would love to see more of this type of video content. I am just getting back into the hobby, and have quite a few baseball and some basketball from the 70s. Need to consider whether to send any of what I have off to grade, I guess just more examples of the difference between what flaws would result in a 7, versus and 8 or 9, for example. Thanks for all your videos, I am really enjoying them and learning a lot.
Great video! I’d like to see a video where you maybe describe getting back cards that graded much less than expected and thoughts on why. I recently sent a 1989 UD Griffey to SGC and from what I could tell, I expected a 9 or 10 and it came back a 4.5. No explanation as to why.
I’d love to see a vintage example. I have several hand me downs… probably wouldn’t ever sell them but could make it easier for my kids to if they were graded. Regardless of their grade.
Hi Chris. Yes, please make more of these videos...Really interesting for the average collector. I sent you an email about grading one-of-ones...would love to know your thoughts on grading something that doesn't have any "comps." Thanks for the great content. Cheers!
8:35. This fact is why I am waiting for a future, where a less prone to bias method becomes the standard. I’m a vintage ( pre-1970) collector 95% of the time, and through the years, I’ve seen and handled 10’s of thousands of slabbed cards. It’s not uncommon to find a cards that are 2+ grades of deviation from another identical card.
Great video...that is exactly how I figure out if I'm gonna grade something...I also figure in how many are listed for sale...if I see 5 sold and 50 more listed then I figure in supply and demand also unless I determine it has a solid chance at a 10 then it'll be going either way
This was very interesting. I think a video with vintage cards as the examples would be a cool follow-up. Might be nice to hear which grading companies you consider based on the condition and resale value of the card, too.
If resale value is the only thing that matters then PSA is the choice. They are worse in every other way compared to the other big companies, but they have the highest resale value.
It's only because they have corned the market on grading, which, by the way, is illegal in business if you think about it.
Would love to see a vintage version of this. As I get back into the hobby I am trying to do this better but so far have not done well determining what to send
Yes! Would love to see more permutations of this. Been in the hobby for 40+ years and have never submitted for grading but have the urge, this helps!
I'm in the same boat. I have a few cards that I think have a shot at a 10 and could be worth a few thousand if so but I just can't pull the trigger on sending them in fear of something happening to them in the process. I've never sent any card to be graded either.
@Nashcards
Same here, I'm looking more at whether vintage cards that get a 6 or 7 might be worth it...
Nice, informative video. Thanks! Yes, it would be great to see further examples, especially a handful of examples from a few older decades and star levels. For example, 1930s, 1950s and 1970s for both a superstar and a minor star. I would assume for some of the more valuable cards, one needs to somehow factor in the value of the card simply being authenticated. For cards for which there are known forgeries, I am guessing that you might virtually always want the card graded, but would love to hear your thoughts and opinions
If only EVERYONE in the hobby operated like this!
Think of how much faster, snd how much cheaper getting a card graded!
Yes I would love to see more of these examples! Awesome video
Absolutely love the video. Fun, smart etc. Another hidden cost is fees/shipping once you sell the card. So the ~70 on the Posey is actually ~55. Would love to see more of these!
I'm actually going through this process right now - thanks for the insight!
Hi, yes! more examples like this would be great! 👍🏼😀
Yes vintage would be interesting because I'm personally in that stage of exploring and collecting vintage and determining authentic vs. counterfeit.... ultra-modern might be interesting on a prospect level of factoring in forecasting within the volatility side of it
I used to have faith in PSA but they have lost my trust after several key incidents over the past 2 years. I would only go SGC if I were to grade again. I love your informative content Chris. Thanks again!
Loved this. Yes, please do vintage. I collect 40’s and 50’s. Building sets with PSA.
Thanks! Yes - I’d like to see vintage review process.
Awesome stuff. Please do another one for vintage. Thanks.
What a great video. I like how you use the Raw Value instead of Purchase Price for Total -- makes much more sense.
Quality content on your channel that’s why I’m subscribed. Much better than following these other guys walk around card shows just fist bumping the whole time. Thank you Chris!
Thanks! Educational and the template can be used for all grading companies. People just need to be honest with themselves when estimating grade and value's being assigned. The 3 tier grade model is perfect. Would like to see vintage and/or non-sports cards.
Thank for taking the time to break this process down. I’ve been wanting to send cards off but not knowing do I or not. This was a big help.🔥🔥🔥🔥
Perfect timing. I’m putting together a group to send for grading for the first time.
Good luck!
Super helpful, very informative. Thanks for this video. Would love to see more
Thanks this helped quantify what deserves being graded very well . Thanks Chris- more like this please. 👍
Great breakdown Chris. I’m more of a comic book guy, but when evaluating books to submit for grading, the same rules apply. Excellent assessment.
Really liked this video. I would love more comparisons in the future.
Thanks for sharing your thought process, Chris. Good info.
Great vid. Lot's of good information 🇺🇲🇺🇲⚾⚾
Hi Chris, been watching your videos for some time now, and this was by far your most informative, great analysis and break down, also talking about the card and showing the defects that graders are looking at and how that takes a card from Gem to a possible 6. I Would enjoy more of these types of videos.
Love this video (just like all the others you post). Always informative. I’d love to see your take on maybe SGC in a similar fashion. As a collector returning to the hobby after 15 years around the same age as you are, I don’t have the funds to join PSA, or the collection surplus to justify the money. I seem to find SGC is more affordable to a small time collector like me, and honestly I feel they are far more strict on their grades in comparison to PSA (although PSA seems to be getting more strict.)
Definitely grading costs with SGC versus PSA is great savings for a collector that generally doesn't plan on reselling.
I liked this video. Fun to see you talk through your thought process. I think more like this would be cool. Thanks!
Thanks man, I'm new to this grading racket - this explained alot!
Fantastic work. Please do more of these occasionally.
Great video. A vintage one would be awesome.
Helpful video! Good point on the new rookie volatility.
Very good into the process of getting a card graded. Gave it a like.
Yes Chris, do more of these. Do vintage next! Then maybe another vid on ultra modern. Thanks
Excellent. Yes make this a series. Also Ive been wanting you to breakdown how you organize your cards.
Thank you Chris, I love how you take the time to help educate us about things involving the hobby. I agree with the others who suggested doing a video with vintage cards.
Loved this episode. Perfect explanation of why to grade the Buster and not grade the Kobe--sounds counterintuitive, but made perfect sense for your example cards.
Cool and informative video, Chris. Great way of looking at the big picture!
Great video and would love to see more. Thanks Chris.
One of my favorite videos you have published!! I think about this stuff all the time. I wish that the Kobe E-X becomes his iconic RC. I love that card.
Chris, you are a gem ! Great videos, great speaking style, honest and considerate of others.
Interesting and appreciated. Mostly a collector but still like to pursue quality and value. I think in this day and age we all need to learn more about pregrading. Definately worth more conversation.
Very cool video concept. If you make them, I’ll watch them.
Phenomenal video, Chris! Please do more of these! I just got my first PSA order back...after 15 months. I would say the grades were tough, but fair. I decided to do something very similar to what you just presented before sending in my next order..lol! Great video.
interested Christopher love to c more like this. especially vintage
Please do more. That was a very informative video
Awesome sauce! Would love to see some vintage!
Terrific video and would love to see some vintage of players like Mays or Aaron. For anyone starting out selling; this is a super helpful video
I really enjoyed your process of determination. Keep up the great work and look forward to your next video like always
I'd love to see the journey of 3 or 4 cards from "cradle to grave". How much you paid (or estimated the value of when buying in a collection). The thought process in the decision to send it off for grading or not. The decision of where you put it for sale (ebay/comc or other), and how much you got for it when it sold - with cost details and time details all through the journey. Just be a fun one thing to follow through the entire process...perhaps for different vintages or values....
BTW - I teach accounting and the decision to grade a card (or not) is called a "Sell or Process Further" decision - this is a great (and easy to understand) example that I will use in my classes going forward.
Thats a great idea showing the full process!
Really enjoyed this great to hear your thought process.
Great video, Chris! Love the thought process.
That was an awesome video lesson Chris!! Thanks I really understand more because of it.. outstanding!!
Loved this concept. Please do some more like this!
Agree that the video is informative. One issue with the first example is that selling costs are not factored in. If you add selling costs (assume 15% of the $30 difference), that is an additional $4.50, so you would lose $7.50 in the card's total valuation. Another way to look at it is 85% net x $42 = $35.70; subtracting the PSA grading fee gives $2.70 net income for the card. Or the alternative, 85% net x $12 = $10.20 net income without the PSA grading fee. Adding this step would help provide insight into the profit or loss decision to send the card.
I would love to see this kind of piece about vintage. Something about a big star card, a hi# common and a lesser HoF. Thanks, Chris
I would love more videos like this with vintage cards.
Great video. Can't wait for another. Ultra Modern would be interesting to anyone who has invested in these cards.
Thanks for the course . I'm wondering if I should grade my cards. I have 70's and 80's in every condition.
I would love to see how you would decide on vintage football. Thanks!
Thank you for the information on that. Very detailed info. Helps alot to know how it really does benefit you in the long run
Thanks Chris! I don’t see nearly as much “grading volatility” in modern and ultra-modern. I do, however, find my best guess is often off on vintage. With your wealth of experience would love to see this on pre-junk.
Great video Chris! Ya, some ultra rare stuff would be good to show your decision making process. Ie, last one sold was 3 years ago, or very low numbered cards of stars with no sales, etc
Please do 1950s and 60s vintage baseball examples please. I'm really struggling on which ones to send off.
Great info!!! I would love to see some vintage.
Really enjoyed this video and would love to see more in the future. I also think you need to do videos where you pull a random box from behind (in your video background) you and go through the cards that are in it while giving the reasoning of what you plan to do with them.
Good video. Would like vintage / junk wax and ultra modern examples.
This was a great video, and I would be happy to see more like this. Especially since they are actually your cards, and you're actually thinking of grading them. I found this video very interesting. Thanks!
I agree Chris that Kobe 96 E-X2000 Rookie card is way better looking and rarer than his Topps Chrome. Also no greening issues like many of his Chrome cards.
I would like to see more videos like this. Cheers!
I guess I lean more towards collecting as I mostly grade vintage cards from my favorite teams. When it comes to modern cards, I grade a few of my favorite players & those I intend to consign. Yes Chris, making more videos like this will edify all of us collectors/investors/dealers in that order 😆
I would like to see some vintage examples. A bit self serving as I have a handful of 1961 Fleer basketball cards I’m considering to send to PSA but wondering if it’s worth sending or just buying them already graded. I’m working on a mid-grade set for the PSA registry.
Thanks for the video. Very informative and timely for me.
I’ve always enjoyed your content and appreciate the questions of mine you’ve answered. However, I’m going to need more content. A video per day should do it.
Many questions answered, Chris. Thank you. What I would like to know is related to storage. Aside from complete sets, if you have multi-thousands of slabbed cards in multiple boxes. What are your deciding categories to store, sort (and retrieve) a certain card from a certain box? That would be a great help w/my archives.
I love your content. Thanks for another great video 🙏
Nice video! Very Informative! And definitely Enjoy seeing your take on what and what not to grade! Definitely would like to see more! I think it would make great content for videos with a lot of the cards you send to grade depending on if it’s worth your time! It’ll definitely get views! Just because I think a lot of us like seeing into your thoughts as a seller or collector! And even the quick flips!
Thanks for this analysis and demonstration. I recently found over a thousand of my old cards that were preserved in plastic for decades and while looking into their value have been appalled that you need to pay so much to get cards graded. The PSA prices are outrageous and not worth it in my opinion because there is no guarantee that you even sell the card after it's been given a score. I was excited to find these old crisp-looking cards with 4 sharp edges, but now not so much since the values I think they're worth are based on the PSA scores and I refuse to pay for that.
Great job breaking this down to its barest essentials.
Worth noting, although this video focuses on flipping/selling cards, another fairly common use case for grading is for addition to a personal collection. I'm currently gathering some raw cards purchased on eBay to get them graded eventually when prices come back down to pre-pandemic pricing, and they'll all end up in my PC and/or very long term holds.
Great top that only the top 20%_30% of seller understand themselves! Keep it up, we need your help!
Would love to see a few more choices from that 2010 year. Give or take a year.
Really like this video . More if these for sure. Vintage baseball maybe some 80’s football . Thanks it helps to do the research and it’s hard to comp when I send my cards to SGC because they are limited in sales
I would love to see more of this type of video content. I am just getting back into the hobby, and have quite a few baseball and some basketball from the 70s. Need to consider whether to send any of what I have off to grade, I guess just more examples of the difference between what flaws would result in a 7, versus and 8 or 9, for example. Thanks for all your videos, I am really enjoying them and learning a lot.
Awesome thanks! Great info! Would love to see more, maybe even why you might choose a grading company over the others
Great video! I’d like to see a video where you maybe describe getting back cards that graded much less than expected and thoughts on why. I recently sent a 1989 UD Griffey to SGC and from what I could tell, I expected a 9 or 10 and it came back a 4.5. No explanation as to why.
I’d love to see a vintage example. I have several hand me downs… probably wouldn’t ever sell them but could make it easier for my kids to if they were graded. Regardless of their grade.
Another great video Chris, good job on creating new content,, never seen any video like yours, 👍
Really like this video. Would love to see more. Thanks Chris
Hi Chris. Yes, please make more of these videos...Really interesting for the average collector. I sent you an email about grading one-of-ones...would love to know your thoughts on grading something that doesn't have any "comps." Thanks for the great content. Cheers!
Great info/stats ⚡ any advice is very appreciated, tks, looking forward to more videos ❣️✌️
Yes to more examples!
yes could you do some more videos like this
8:35. This fact is why I am waiting for a future, where a less prone to bias method becomes the standard.
I’m a vintage ( pre-1970) collector 95% of the time, and through the years, I’ve seen and handled 10’s of thousands of slabbed cards.
It’s not uncommon to find a cards that are 2+ grades of deviation from another identical card.
I agree with you
Especially with psa
Great video master Jedi! Thanks for all your content
Great video...that is exactly how I figure out if I'm gonna grade something...I also figure in how many are listed for sale...if I see 5 sold and 50 more listed then I figure in supply and demand also unless I determine it has a solid chance at a 10 then it'll be going either way
I would love to see more videos like this one!
great video - would love to see more on this
This was great. Would love to see more. Maybe one where you show cards that viewers sent you and break down the ROI?
I learned the hard way sending in cards with long waits Sometimes better to sell raw
Definitely need more of these,❤️💯