[Reblein]

Hi All!

I guess you could call me a newbie to collecting sports cards. I used to collect a bunch as a kid and then stopped for a long time, but recently there seems to be a resurgence in collectors and since I have the financial means to start buying cards I figured I would get back into collecting cards. My question around grading is how do you choose what cards to get graded? 

For example, I recently purchased some 2020 Panini Select Baseball Hobby Boxes and pulled some nice cards out of it but with the cost to grade a card being about a minimum of $15 (and from what I read it could take months to get it back) how do you decide what is worth it? I pulled a Luis Robert red parallel numbered to /199 that Beckett values at about $20-50, would that be worth grading? On the flip side, I pulled a Brock Burke tri color with mem and auto that is numbered to /49 but according to Beckett it is only worth a few bucks so would it make sense to get this card graded? 

Also, I am not sure if my purposes for collecting make a difference but I collect because I enjoy it, but I would also like to make sure I maintain the highest values for the cards I collect so that if I choose to sell them in the future I could make a return on my investment. 

Thanks in advance!

[jplarson]

You can do an ebay search for some examples of the cards you have and add BGS to the search to see if others are trying to sell graded versions of it. Personally I grade because I like the set I'm working on getting graded and would love to show it off in nice looking holders. My OCD says the labels have to all be the same so I'm vainly hoping that someday the subgrade pricing comes back down per card so I can submit again.

[y2hood]

I think for grading you'll get several different motivations for grading. If it's a highly sought after vintage card (and sometimes modern) it makes sense to have it graded to guarantee authenticity and that it is unaltered (ideally). If you're selling a 1953 Topps John Doe rookie card and it's in BVG 8 condition you can realistically expect more than one in BVG 5 condition. Plus, it eliminates nit picking by a buyer, "you described this as fine and it's 'good' at best." (I ran into that a LOT when I sold antique books on Amazon).

My own personal motivations originally started out to protect high end cards in my collection and to sell off any redundancies, with the grade protecting me from buyers remorse. During my early days of grading my house flooded for the first time in history. A recent grading order was still in the shipping parcel on the floor. The parcel was devastated by the water. My graded cards were 100% safe. Anything else that was touching the floor and (the next 6 inches up)that was wood, paper, or electric was ruined beyond repair. I lost an entire bookshelf that supported my collection because the weight of the cards on the waterlogged base crushed it.

Something in my head broke that day. There's a couple of members here that have been in chatrooms with me when RW34 would do group subs and I know I've talked to grading mod Jeff about my neurosis with my cards. If it is in my PC and it is serial #'d, I grade it now, when I have the funds to do so (alluding to your cost observation). And rookie cards for my PC people, #'d or otherwise, they're in the queue. Not serial numbered memorabilia cards? Also in line to be graded.

It's not the most cost efficient way to live on an average to below average salary, but at the same time I'm not going to lose cards that I've been collecting for 30 years just because I live in a flood zone, not happening. There are days when I pull overtime at my job just so I can have an excuse to allocate funds to a grading submission. I literally chart on paper my per hour wage and compare it to per card cost and figure how how many cards I can grade per hours of OT worked.

I should probably talk to a professional about it at some point.

[jplarson]

I should probably talk to a professional about it at some point.

I'm a professional. Everything checks out. If anything, you could stand to grade a bit more often.

[Reblein]

Excellent information from the both of you! I really appreciate the feedback and look forward to submitting my first few cards for grading (know that I won't see them again for most likely months)