PSA 10 vs. PSA 9 vs. Raw
 

Curious on views people have for collecting. I am going to ignore non-PSA graded cards to keep it simpler. I don't have data to back my claim up, but it seems for many cards, the price gap between PSA 10 and PSA 9 is widening. This is putting PSA 10s out of most peoples budgets. When buying PC cards, where are most people focusing? Breaking the bank of 10s, going for a solid and graded/verified 9, or going Raw? Raw prices seem to be in the range of a graded 9 and sometimes even more because I think people are hoping they can grade them a 10.

Do we think the divergence between 9s and 10s will continue to widen, stay the same or shrink overtime?

Stay the same.

However, I feel like the difference in condition between a 9 and 10 these days is shrinking, ie the assessed grade of the cards are getting more similar and interchangeable.

There’s not a whole lot of difference between many 9’s and 10’s today.

When I first started it was everything 1982- was PSA 10. Now I buy almost exclusively raw, but I buy rarer cards generally.

Hard data for all of my 2024 purchases that have been sold (I bought raw, graded, sold):

MINT 9 81.60014338 77.3396841 18.70395142 -22.9644107

Grade / Average Purchase Price / Average Sale Price / Average cost to Grade / Average Margin

Summary: PSA 9s sell, for me, ~5% below raw, have cost me on average $18.70 to grade, and result in a net margin of -$22.96 per card.

Nobody should be happy receiving 9s with a grade mix mainly in ultra modern.

PSA 9 all day

It’s going to continue to widen

Whether it should or not

It will

The gap between gems and 9s is similar percentage-wise still, but what is changing is that both are getting lower premiums than they once did for ultramoderns. At one point, PSA 10s were getting 5x to 6x raw value, and 9s were getting close to 2.7 raw. Now, 10s are getting between 2x to 3x (sometimes lower) and raws about 1x-1.5x. The gap is getting smaller in terms of total dollars, but it's not because 9s are getting popular. I think grading premiums will continue to drop and 9s will stay around raw pricing, if not lower. 9s make sense when a gen costs 5x raw, but people will just buy gems if they aren't even getting 2x raw pricing. There is no room for 9s to get premiums with gem premiums declining.

Looking at many peoples’ (including mine) Gem rates these days, It seems like a lot of cards that were PSA 10’s in past years would probably grade as 9’s now with PSA’s current standards. I wonder if we reach a point soon where cards graded PSA 9 in 2025 are viewed differently than those from previous years?

[QUOTE=ThoseBackPages;19873021]PSA 9 all day[/QUOTE]


100%

9’s are fantastic, especially if you are dealing with desirable cards with a low print run.

I would MUCH rather have 2-3 different quality 9’s for the price of 1 10.


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[QUOTE=ThoseBackPages;19873021]PSA 9 all day[/QUOTE]

I don’t believe you

[QUOTE=asujbl;19873066]I don’t believe you[/QUOTE]


:D:D:D

Really depends on the rarity of the card.

^ depends on card....

in general I tend to collect raws and 9's, sell 10's.

Depends what cards you're talking about.

Ultramodern 9s are usually losers. Nobody wants them. Would have been better off selling raw for the same or more and saving the grading fee.

9s have to cost less than raw, or be from a condition sensitive (old, usually) set where 10s are really tough / expensive.

If you need a grade of 10 to make the card valuable for most ultra-modern, it is the slab that is worth money and not the card inside. The inflated value of 10's are because collectors think minimum wage employees can tell the difference between 9 and 10's or they have utility value to be shoved over and over into mystery packs. My daughter goes to card shows to pick up 9's for Pokemon since they are cheaper than raw, they look perfect, and it comes with a free holder. All my modern cards are in 8 to 9's. Thanks for the discount!

I will almost never buy a PSA 10 card for my PC unless the price is just too good to pass up.

I have 155 graded cards in my PC currently. Only five of them are PSA 10s. Each of those cards I would gladly sell after picking up a PSA 9 copy.

anybody that pays for psa 10s is a psychopath

In general PSA 9 sells for the same as raw, PSA 10 is roughly 2x but there's always exceptions depending on pop, gemrate etc

I basically never pay for a PSA 10 if I can avoid it, if it's a $300 card I don't want to pay $600 for it even if that's what the 10 goes for, I'd rather have more money to expand my collection and buy other stuff

If it's something like PSA 9 - $25 vs PSA 10 - $50 I might spring for the 10

[QUOTE=boxbuster7;19873261]anybody that pays for psa 10s is a psychopath[/QUOTE]

As PSA 10 becomes rarer and rarer to achieve, a lot of psychopaths will be born.

[QUOTE=Triple B;19873286]As PSA 10 becomes rarer and rarer to achieve, a lot of psychopaths will be born.[/QUOTE]The gem rate for ultra-modern cards is still extremely high. 10s are still commonplace. Don't let pumpers fool you. 10s aren't rare.

[QUOTE=boxbuster7;19873261]anybody that pays for psa 10s is a psychopath[/QUOTE]

Accurate

[QUOTE=Triple B;19873286]As PSA 10 becomes rarer and rarer to achieve, a lot of psychopaths will be born.[/QUOTE]

If demand for grading decreases, PSA will give out more 10's to increase submissions. Right now PSA knows even if they grade an entire submission as 8/9's for ultra-modern, the person will complain, but crack out every card and play the game again.

Love the 9’s. 9’s are fine, for ultramodern. Especially if it’s a rare card.

[QUOTE=discodanman45;19873621]If demand for grading decreases, PSA will give out more 10's to increase submissions. Right now PSA knows even if they grade an entire submission as 8/9's for ultra-modern, the person will complain, but crack out every card and play the game again.[/QUOTE]


Do that many of you really crack & resubmit? Is this really effective for modern/ultra-modern?
I can see where in Vintage and done in bulk it may be fairly lucrative.

Also, I could see for purely selling where cracking and selling raw is beneficial since many pass & ignore 9s hoping to turn that raw into a gem.