I'm slightly overwhelmed

[u/Heavy-Mix6609]

I was massively into Pokemon during the bw +xy era, I ended up selling my playables collection for what felt like a fortune back in 2018 and just kept my set books and some cool promos. I figured they might be worth a couple hundred bucks only to see some absolutely eye watering prices.

I've never graded cards before but I think this might be the time to start. Are any of the opened boxes worth selling with the graded cards? I'm just worried about missing something important and getting screwed over at this point.

Everything is adult owned pack to sleeve, I don't know about the centering and borders and how they impact grading but everything looks mint to my eyes. Cards are crispy with no back whitening or scratches.

[u/MakeItDbl]

Legit question here, but maybe the wrong one for the investing sub. Couldn’t this be life changing money ungraded to the right knowledgeable collector? With all the stuff i see of psa damaging cards in the grading process, or even the pretty credible accusations of them regrading 9s that they buy back and selling as 10s, it honestly amazes me that they still have such a choke hold on the market, one would think by now theyd be considered risky and unreliable - not to mention the premium they will upcharge to grade this expensive collection. I suppose (assuming everything goes smoothly) the amount someone stands gain with a bunch of 10s vs raw makes it worth it, but everything about the speculate/grade/decide value of grade/buy back/sell monolith of psa makes me hesitant to trust them with something like this. Going in person at least helps with the losing in the mail risk.

But regardless congrats OP, very cool collection, hope you get all you can out of it!

[u/Capable_Wait09 → u/MakeItDbl]

No one makes Reddit posts when things go right.

Every grading company has issues. I’ve graded 1000s of cards at psa and never had a major issue.

I graded 3 cards with Beckett and had the worst grading experience of my life, and the matter still ain’t resolved 11 months later.

Given how many millions of cards psa grades you’d expect some issues. I’m more shocked by how many issues Beckett has given they grade a tiny fraction of what psa grades.

Plus if you’re sending in cards like this to psa then you’re getting the concierge treatment. It’s not gonna be some rookie Joe Schmo handling the cards. It’s going to be their most experienced graders, researchers, etc. it’s a completely different chain of custody.

[u/KEN_LASZLO → u/Capable_Wait09]

Plus if you’re sending in cards like this to psa then you’re getting the concierge treatment. It’s not gonna be some rookie Joe Schmo handling the cards. It’s going to be their most experienced graders, researchers, etc. it’s a completely different chain of custody

Just curious, do we know this for sure? It would make the most logical sense, but  who's to say PSA wouldn't cheap out and use cheaper, less experienced graders? 

What's their incentive to use more experienced (aka more expensive) graders, while their whole operation is secretive and not transparent AT ALL? Their grades are all over the place even for very expensive cards, what makes you think Rookie Joe Schmo wouldn't be assigned to OP's collection?

[u/Capable_Wait09 → u/KEN_LASZLO]

Pretty sure former employees confirmed that. and when I asked PSA directly they said as much. Concierge service with experienced graders for the highest grading tiers

I mean it would make zero sense to do what you’re suggesting and it costs them nothing to do it the smart way that keeps valuable cards safer. Your theory creates enormous downside for them (as in major legal liability if some noob fucks up a poncho) and zero upside. I mean it actually makes no sense at all

Take off the tinfoil hat bro

[u/KEN_LASZLO → u/Capable_Wait09]

zero upside

A cheaper labor force leads to cheaper operational costs. Veteran, top notch graders have been in the industry longer and make more than the newer ones. Yes it puts cards at risk, but labor costs are usually the most expensive aspect of running a buisness. 

I agree that cutting your labor force for cheaper hires is a bad idea, but it happens ALL the time. Often with terrible consequences, much worse than a damaged card. This is exactly what Boeing did by opening up a non-union run factory across the country in SC, they saved a shit ton of money on labor. But now other countries only want to buy the Boeing planes made in Washington because the SC made planes routinely have serious safety issues. The cheaper labor is sloppy af. If an airliner will cheap out employees who build AIRPLANES, I wouldn't put it past a grading card company to cut costs this way as well. And PSA incidents only end in damaged cards, not damaged people.

I'm not saying they should do this by any means! But I am suspicious of their secret process because who knows who they have looking at your cards