Hi Forester,
Here is some of the good, bad and ugly with grading these newer refractors & prizms. This is strictly in relation to rare (SN'd Rookies, low SN'd inserts) of high-end star cards cards. And stars is a much more exclusive group than what we would like to think. The hard thing to remember is that a very high percentage of these cards are mint versus vintage cardboard. The measures for Mint, Gem Mint, and Pristine have gone up dramatically on these, which makes gradiing for investment purposes a real gamble.
Grading these cards like yours is a bit of a game. If you get a BGS 10 Pristine black label, the price will increase dramatically. A BGS Gem Mint 9.5, it will have increased value that would definitlely cover the cost of the grading, etc. These are the "good" situations and the wins for you. Notice I did not include any other grading service in this discussion of grading rare, high-end cards for these two senarios.
For a card like this, a grade of Mint 9 often sells for less than a genuinely good quality ungraded card. Anything 8.5 or less will definitely reduce the sale value. I am in this situation with some Mahomes rc's. If I had a SN10 gold rc, I would grade it as it would sells ridiculously anyway. SN100, not really needing it if the card is sharp anyway. The point of this section is that it leaves a huge gap of uncertainty. Psychology comes into play here. Lots of higher end collectors would rather get an ungraded card that might be actually a "10" then buy a 9 or less. Along those lines, why do people buy lottery tickets... For Mint 9's BGS and PSA sell relatively the same.
Here is the ugly, grading services have lots of investigations against them for, well, "inconsistent" practices. PSA seems to be the biggest target and I can personally say that I see the greatest variance in what is a 10, 9, or 8 from them - even in refractors and prizms. It's almost like who sent the card in for grading matters more than the actual condition of the card. In my opinion the difference of a Pristine 10, and Gem Mint 9.5 from BGS literally requires magnification. That completely looses me, but I have seen a friend's 2018 Select Tie-Dye and Zebra Lebron James cards have a $2500 sale price difference between a pristine and gem mint, so its real (he had both of each - I think that's referred to as a first world problem, Ha). Now LeBron is in a catagory by himself, so I am not inferring that Strasburg would have the same result. Maybe a Mike Trout RC. So, if you want it graded for re-sale purposes, I would go to a PWCC, Probstein (who I like as the cards I have bought from them have matched the grade), etc and have them submit it to BGS for grading (Please note, a PSA 10 grade can help you, but it doesnt't have as big an upside asn BGS 9.5 or 10, and your question is strictly for re-sell $). If you are going to play the game, play it right. Also, One of One cards don't seem to have a huge jump in value over SN10 Gold prizms except for certain players.
Grading for your own collection (enjoyment) and to have a card sealed and protected, I like PSA through a LCS that does lots of submissions and the price is not too bad.
Just my opinion as I track a few of these kind of cards and have a few acquaintences that play this game as re-sellers. Interesting people.
Hope it helps, Greg
forester7 wrote:
Thank you for all the commments and suggestions so far. Much appreciated! I wanted to address a few questions and comments.
The card I have is the Bowman Chrome version #205.
When I asked about consignment company, I meant doing it through a company selling through ebay, like PWCC or Probstein. I see PWCC charges about 15% commission to sell and covers all selling fees for that. It appears that if I sold on ebay myself, final value fees alone look to be almost 10% anyway. It has always seemed to me that people bid higher on auctiosn form PWCC too. Maybe because people trust them more as a seller? So amybe I wold make more money that way in the long run, and it would be less hassle as a bonus?
As for grading it. I noticed the original (prospect) 2010 Bowman Strasburg Superfractor seemed to resell higher after it was graded, but maybe it was not due to the grading, but some other factor affecting the Strasburg market? Wouldn't a graded card also give buyers an assurance of the condition so they do not have to rely on a picture or sellers opinion?
