The SIMPLE Sports Card Arbitrage They Don't Want You to Know About! 

Grading is arbitrary. Taxes and ebay fees are outrageous. I agree. Definitely not worth the risk.

That's odd, i send in some BGS 8's and 9's and they come back as PSA 10's. It all depends on the grader at PSA , no consistency between 8's, 9's, 10's; yet huge premiums for the 10.

@@montana01 I'd recommend sending in 50-75 cracked open BGS 8's & 9's to PSA & let us know what you get back.

These guys are obviously shilling for PSA over BGS. Encouraging people to crack 9.5 BGS to cross over and risk going to PSA. But will tell you not the do the reverse 🥴

PSA is a lot stricter on corners,edges, and surface so a BGS 9.5 corner or edge could grade a PSA 7-9. A BGS 8 surface grade could grade PSA 6. We also have to keep in mind that BGS total grade is the lowest subgrade +0.5 while PSA assigns total grade by lowest subgrade. If you don't believe that PSA grades tougher, try to find an ultra modern card graded lower than BGS 8. You wont find many, while PSA loves to slap 4, 5, and 6 grades on new cards all the time.

The fact that PSA will FAR more likely give a 10 grade on a cracked BGS 9.5 card over a crossover BGS 9.5 is all you need to know about the lack of honest and consistent grading with PSA. Market Mover shills think the card audience are idiots.

@@user-xf2tl8ee3c they have been.

It was clearly "tongue n cheek"...

The taxes & shipping when you purchase, PSA fees to get the cards graded & shipped, & Ebay fees when you sell all have to be used to figure out for the break even price. Like a posted above, I lost on 90% of the 9's that came back. Sending in 75 cracked open cards to PSA was an informational experiment but definitely not a profitable one.

spot on. yep. couldn't agree with you more.

You are not wrong, another irresponsible video pump of PSA by Geoff Wilson

I agree. It varies so much from grader to grader.. also the diff between 9 and 10 can be so random with it seeming to be easier to get a 10 the less valuable the card is.

You thanking him for an infomercial? 😂

Spot on. Imagine if grading fee revenue (sunk costs) was money that could be kept within the marketplace for consumers to actually purchase more Sportscards. Maybe you’d see card values consistently rise. Grading companies suck 10’s of $millions out of the hobby each year.

How's that inconsistency on PSAs part? Sincerely asking. Of course you'll get more 💎s via cracking slabs than crossing over. That's common sense. I've cracked 100s of BGS, SGC, HGA, CSG, GMA, & others (actually was a big part of our business model for a while) and it's been the same thing for every single one of the slabs from companies not named HGA/CSG; they clearly overgrade. HGA & CGC are the most consistent, strict, and closest to PSAs quality. However, there is one major thing no one's mentioned and that's what is the person cracking the slab doing with/to the card now that it's slab-free? Because anyone can just crack & send, which I honestly think is what most ppl in this thread must be doing if they're regularly failing when doing this but the successful people 1- know how to find the right cards meant for success w/ this strategy, and 2- know how to clean up / prep the card so that it has the best chance possible for gemming (and I am NOT talking about using ANY type of products). Again, this is based on my experience, and I have a lot of it in this department, and I🔬every single card that's brought to me for grading / cracking, and have legit 100s of videos of me cracking, scoping, cleaning. I've always wanted to put a major video together about this because I already have all the content necessary, but that's a whole different level of videography for me. For now, I can post SHORTS & 3-5 min longs, including a 3-part series just posted Part1 about a BGS 9 Josh Allen Prizm Rookie Disco Auto I cracked for someone. Once that card came outta the BGS slabbed we were apalled. Sorry for the novel, just a really fun topic to discuss, and one that people really should start looking into more because there's lotsa $$$ to be made.

Says who?! Are YOU sending in 100s of cards to PSA for grading and thinking you're getting too many 💎s you didn't deserve? Highly doubt it. And people buy PSA 10s because theyre so insanely more valuable than anything else, why would they not?

PSA is the first grading company and they established the gem mint distinction. BGS and SGC came up with 10+ / Pristine grades to distinguish themselves from PSA 10s.

This isn’t a new practice. Actually a very misleading and dangerous one …..the odds are HIGHLY against you receiving a PSA 10 from a BGS 9.5

If you know what cards to look for based on subgrades, it's not difficult whatsoever to make very good ROI by doing this. And like he said before me, this been going on for a while, just one of those "left untouched" practices.

That’s only because of Volume …it’s not on percentage

@@user-xf2tl8ee3c Incorrect (for this specific card). In 90% of instances, you'd be right. But according to the certs on this one, many more were graded with Beckett as they were the leader in the 90s for late 90s sets and market share alone behind their price guides. There are a few cards with a smaller gem rate on Beckett. Volume technically doesn't matter here for a %, which Cajun Cardbord has gone over on this card extensively. If 900 total were graded and 34 gemmed, that's the gem %. The company doesn't matter to determine gem rate. Only the % of gems compared to total graded. Not the total number that gemmed. The % that did. But in this case the total volume is extremely close. I agree with your point that the data can be skewed to look a certain way because of the number submitted though

This man knows what he is talking about. Also a slabbed crossover by PSA will cost $40 before shipping and insurance. While cracking will cost $19 before shipping and insurance

PSA/Collectors Universe is essentially the Apple of collectibles. Until another grading company comes out with their own app and data tools like PSA pop report, APR, set registry, etc. The gap between PSA 10s and gem mint from other grading companies will continue to widen. In my opinion, I think people should by what they can afford and what makes the most sense for their budget. I buy PSA 9s if I can't afford the 10 because I want it, I don't expect it to appreciate much in value because the rich whales that pump up the market don't care about 9s. The same idea applies to the gap between BGS 9.5s and PSA 10s.

Because then your chances are basically zero. You think psa will give you a 10 on your bgs 9.5....😂

@@OleLockAndKey it mitigates risk but it also is a guaranteed way to throw away $40 per card in grading fees and that doesn’t include shipping and insurance cost. The fact that PSA will FAR more likely give a 10 grade on a cracked card over a crossover is all you need to know about their lack of consistency in grading.

Exactly

I'm waiting for the next $15 special, that was the only time I got fair grades on my cards.

Yeah I think your absolutely right card grading needs to come down to at least the original 10 dollars a slab