Ok, so you may have called in about your old baseball cards, or maybe you had some other type of sports memorabilia, and we told you it was only worth a few dollars because it was not certified, and you are wondering how that can be, and what you can do about it. So here it is:
In this world, there are 2 kinds of cards. One is graded (or certified), and the other is not. Now it may be hard to wrap your head around this, but they are not the same thing. Let’s say you have a 1979 Topps Dave Winfield card. And you just happened to look on eBay and see one (the exact same card as yours) for $59,000. So of course, you think, well the one I have in my shoebox must be worth the same, and right there is where you set yourself up for future disappointment. We see it all the time. What the person fails to realize is that Dave Winfield's card was graded by an accredited company as a perfect 10. And the other part you may not understand is that is the ONLY ONE that has ever graded this high. What that means is the chances of your card grading a perfect 10 are pretty slim. The same card in grade 8, sells for under $100.
Now to get a card graded is not free. You have to package your cards (very carefully) and send them to a company like PSAcard.com and pay them to grade the cards at a minimum cost of about $20 each on average. This does not include shipping and insurance both ways. So if you want to grade say 10 cards, plan on spending about $340 (as of this writing) on getting them graded.
Now here comes the catch. Your cards, once graded, could wind up being worth more than $340, but more than likely they will wind up being worth less. Many, many collectors, in their efforts to try and maximize their returns, wind up spending more money on grading than their cards themselves, than they are worth. That is why when one comes along in an MS 10 grade it is a very rare thing to happen for a Dave Winfield (or any) card. Just go on eBay and look for PSA-graded cards for under $34. You will find a ton of them. How can you sell a card for less than the cost of grading? You can’t, at least not for very long. They are mostly just people spending money on a hope and a dream.
So when you call a dealer thinking your card is worth thousands, you have to understand you are the 10th call that week for the same thing, and that without taking any risk, there cannot be any reward. If you want a dealer to take the grading risk, then expect to only get a few dollars for that Dave Winfield, if you take the risk, and get an MS 10, then you hit the jackpot! But if only it was that easy folks. Sorry to say but it is not. More times than not, statistically, you will wind up spending more money than the cards can be sold for on the retail market. And the people who determine that worth are not people like MLA, they are the grading companies.
So, if you have a really nice Sportscard, and you think it could be worth money, YOU must get it graded. No one can afford to buy ungraded cards at reputable graded prices and stay in business. We have helped customers get thousands of dollars for their graded sports memorabilia, the only way we buy ungraded material is by consignment.