Grading Strategy

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

Every time I go through my stuff to see what looks good to grade, I get stuck on lower end cards that are in great condition (what I would consider an easy 9.5), but are worth about $3 (e.g., non-auto Refs and Xfractors of players from 08 BDP). I just can't decide if it is worth it to pay twice as much (or more) for grading than I paid for the card...especially knowing that even though I think it will easily grade 9.5, there is a possibility that it doesn't even achieve that grade (making it a waste of money).

So what is your own personal strategy when sending in a submission for grading? Explain if you feel like it too.

And I'm assuming the target grade is 9.5 of course.

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ALL_THE_HYPE said:

NEC- We'll assume it's for the group sub since this is the next submission I will be making, so $5.50 per card. And we're talkin market/ebay value. Here's an example of a card I'm thinking about sending. He's not a even close to being a top notch prospect, but being a Tiger pitcher with some potential, I bought a handful of his lower end parallels just for the hell of it. I bought it for like 2.50 dlvd or somethin like that and other the centering being slightly off L/R, the card is pretty close to perfect based on my evaluation.

Eric-Still waiting on one more Limited auto to come in, but I haven't decided if I'm gonna be grading any of them. Two of the three AFLACs I have look like they could be 9.5s, but both look like the autos would not be graded 10. I still have to look closely at the Limiteds before I decide whether or not it would be worth it to crack them out of their factory casing.

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ALL_THE_HYPE said:

NEC- We'll assume it's for the group sub since this is the next submission I will be making, so $5.50 per card. And we're talkin market/ebay value. Here's an example of a card I'm thinking about sending. He's not a even close to being a top notch prospect, but being a Tiger pitcher with some potential, I bought a handful of his lower end parallels just for the hell of it. I bought it for like 2.50 dlvd or somethin like that and other the centering being slightly off L/R, the card is pretty close to perfect based on my evaluation.

Eric-Still waiting on one more Limited auto to come in, but I haven't decided if I'm gonna be grading any of them. Two of the three AFLACs I have look like they could be 9.5s, but both look like the autos would not be graded 10. I still have to look closely at the Limiteds before I decide whether or not it would be worth it to crack them out of their factory casing.

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NECpilgrims8 said:

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

NEC- We'll assume it's for the group sub since this is the next submission I will be making, so $5.50 per card. And we're talkin market/ebay value. Here's an example of a card I'm thinking about sending. He's not a even close to being a top notch prospect, but being a Tiger pitcher with some potential, I bought a handful of his lower end parallels just for the hell of it. I bought it for like 2.50 dlvd or somethin like that and other the centering being slightly off L/R, the card is pretty close to perfect based on my evaluation.

Eric-Still waiting on one more Limited auto to come in, but I haven't decided if I'm gonna be grading any of them. Two of the three AFLACs I have look like they could be 9.5s, but both look like the autos would not be graded 10. I still have to look closely at the Limiteds before I decide whether or not it would be worth it to crack them out of their factory casing.

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OK. Going by that, I say forget grading them right now. The hardest thing to do is grade low end prospects, and it's even harder to sell graded low end prospects. The market isn't what it used to be when it comes to that area, so you would be stuck with the card or end up selling it for a loss (after grading), should he never make waves.

If he does make waves and work his way to top prospect status, then you can quickly grade, or just sell immediately for the ultimate profit.

I currently have one lower end prospect in bulk (Tyler Kolodny) sitting at BGS, waiting on grades. At this point of the market, i actually wish I just kept them back, waiting for the market to demand higher prices.

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ALL_THE_HYPE said:

NECpilgrims8 said:

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":1ozccz37]NEC- We'll assume it's for the group sub since this is the next submission I will be making, so $5.50 per card. And we're talkin market/ebay value. Here's an example of a card I'm thinking about sending. He's not a even close to being a top notch prospect, but being a Tiger pitcher with some potential, I bought a handful of his lower end parallels just for the hell of it. I bought it for like 2.50 dlvd or somethin like that and other the centering being slightly off L/R, the card is pretty close to perfect based on my evaluation.

Eric-Still waiting on one more Limited auto to come in, but I haven't decided if I'm gonna be grading any of them. Two of the three AFLACs I have look like they could be 9.5s, but both look like the autos would not be graded 10. I still have to look closely at the Limiteds before I decide whether or not it would be worth it to crack them out of their factory casing.

Click to expand...

OK. Going by that, I say forget grading them right now. The hardest thing to do is grade low end prospects, and it's even harder to sell graded low end prospects. The market isn't what it used to be when it comes to that area, so you would be stuck with the card or end up selling it for a loss (after grading), should he never make waves.

If he does make waves and work his way to top prospect status, then you can quickly grade, or just sell immediately for the ultimate profit.

I currently have one lower end prospect in bulk (Tyler Kolodny) sitting at BGS, waiting on grades. At this point of the market, i actually wish I just kept them back, waiting for the market to demand higher prices.

Click to expand...

rainmanesq said:

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

NEC- We'll assume it's for the group sub since this is the next submission I will be making, so $5.50 per card. And we're talkin market/ebay value. Here's an example of a card I'm thinking about sending. He's not a even close to being a top notch prospect, but being a Tiger pitcher with some potential, I bought a handful of his lower end parallels just for the hell of it. I bought it for like 2.50 dlvd or somethin like that and other the centering being slightly off L/R, the card is pretty close to perfect based on my evaluation.

Eric-Still waiting on one more Limited auto to come in, but I haven't decided if I'm gonna be grading any of them. Two of the three AFLACs I have look like they could be 9.5s, but both look like the autos would not be graded 10. I still have to look closely at the Limiteds before I decide whether or not it would be worth it to crack them out of their factory casing.

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besides centering t/b + l/r, looks like that xfractor may have 2 lines (silver, but maybe it's your scanner?) vertically (about 1/3 in starting from the left) + horizontally (bottom 1/3 or card).

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NECpilgrims8 said:

ALL_THE_HYPE said:

NECpilgrims8 said:

[quote="ALL_THE_HYPE":3kmgf84f]NEC- We'll assume it's for the group sub since this is the next submission I will be making, so $5.50 per card. And we're talkin market/ebay value. Here's an example of a card I'm thinking about sending. He's not a even close to being a top notch prospect, but being a Tiger pitcher with some potential, I bought a handful of his lower end parallels just for the hell of it. I bought it for like 2.50 dlvd or somethin like that and other the centering being slightly off L/R, the card is pretty close to perfect based on my evaluation.

Eric-Still waiting on one more Limited auto to come in, but I haven't decided if I'm gonna be grading any of them. Two of the three AFLACs I have look like they could be 9.5s, but both look like the autos would not be graded 10. I still have to look closely at the Limiteds before I decide whether or not it would be worth it to crack them out of their factory casing.

Click to expand...

OK. Going by that, I say forget grading them right now. The hardest thing to do is grade low end prospects, and it's even harder to sell graded low end prospects. The market isn't what it used to be when it comes to that area, so you would be stuck with the card or end up selling it for a loss (after grading), should he never make waves.

If he does make waves and work his way to top prospect status, then you can quickly grade, or just sell immediately for the ultimate profit.

I currently have one lower end prospect in bulk (Tyler Kolodny) sitting at BGS, waiting on grades. At this point of the market, i actually wish I just kept them back, waiting for the market to demand higher prices.

Click to expand...

Makes sense, that's kinda what I had been leaning toward doing, cuz if it comes to the point where a 9.5 would be a 25 dollar difference instead of a 3 dollar difference, I can still send them in at any time. Thanks for the insight.

Nice call on Kolodny, by the way...although this one's got a dinged corner http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj130/thenextlevel42/2 Prospect Autos/KolodnyEEE.jpg

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