If you have the opportunity to buy the same card, assigned the same grade by PSA and by BVG, SGC or BVG, and the non-PSA card has greater eye-appeal, and is offered at a considerably lower price, will you still buy the PSA card? If so, do you consider yourself a true collector?
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I think that's a very interesting question and I think the answer is relatively complicated. But, I'm happy to give you my thoughts on it next week!!
@mikewrobel2881
6 ай бұрын
@@MidLifeCards Sure, "it depends" is a valid response.
@mookiechillson
6 ай бұрын
This was an incredibly likable episode!! I listened to the whole thing in my Saturn!
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
🤣
@David_Mussari
6 ай бұрын
Thanks for another great video, Graig, and for answering my question. That Ben Franklin centering is GORGEOUS and you gotta love that Fonzie sticker, CLASSIC! Cheers.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Thanks so much. I appreciate you.
@EyeAppealCards
6 ай бұрын
Focus is so key in collecting, it’s so easy to get pulled in many different directions. Thanks for sharing Graig!
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I'm working on focus every single day.
@ballparkmemories
6 ай бұрын
Thanks for another great video Graig. We all appreciate your channel. Thanks for being a key part of the vintage card community. Keep up the hard work ! Loved some of those non-sports cards you showed. Keep on collecting 👊
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Thanks so much for listening/watching/commenting. :-) Keep grinding away at your business. You continue to grow!!
@SimplyAmazuring
6 ай бұрын
Fantastic video today Graig! I have a few thoughts about the perceived value of cards in Beckett slabs… I think there are 2 big contributing factors to the depression of the value of BGS slabbed cards. The first is sort of a positive (or negative?) feedback loop. Because PSA has the majority market share by a wide margin, it stands to reason that many more cards sit in PSA holders than BGS holders. With more cards in holders, it then becomes easier to find a given card for sale online in a PSA holder than a BGS one, simply due to the fact that more of them are out there. This is significant because everyone can more reliably comp cards that have plenty of sales transaction data. If only a few BGS cards are out there, the lack of reliable comps would make potential buyers wary and want to avoid buying, unless it were for a much lower, more attractive price. The second reason that BGS slabs don’t sell for as much in my opinion, also has to do with comps, but in an entirely different way. You are 100% correct that each card in unique, and that 2 different PSA-assigned 7s can have wildly differing eye appeal. However, cards tend to be priced / comped according to assigned grade. Although it is wonderful that BGS offers more informative feedback with their subgrades, this creates a unique problem when comping BGS cards. A BGS-assigned 9 card could have subgrades of 8.5, 9, 9, 9, while another “identical…?” BGS-assigned 9 could have subgrades that are way more impressive, say, 9.5, 9.5, 9, 9. From my experience, the “Higher” 9 always commands a premium vs the “minimum” 9, but PSA doesn’t have this problem, as all their 9s are effectively equal with each other, at least on a quality / value basis. When two cards with seemingly identical grades have such wide fluctuations in value, again, buyers become nervous about overpaying - especially when you consider that the “high” 9 would likely cross over to a PSA 9, whereas the “minimum” 9 would likely cross to a PSA 8. Sorry for the wall of text. I enjoy your channel very much and love your content, even though I don’t collect vintage, but almost exclusively 90s inserts. As a fellow teacher (math), I appreciate your approach and demeanor when speaking about cards. Your students are lucky to have such a great teacher. Keep up the great work!
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I think you bring up a lot of terrific points about BGS. It's interesting, because some of my most negative feedback has come from my admission that I tend to stay with PSA and SGC for slabbed cards.
@tonyleebrick9050
6 ай бұрын
Great video Graig. My question for this week is this….When you submit cards for grading, do you send them in yourself or take them by your local card shop and let them send them in? What is the advantage of letting your local shop send them to the grading company?
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
GREAT question!! I'll give my opinion on this one soon.
@chrisolivo6591
6 ай бұрын
Graig, thanks for answering my question but I think I should have been more specific. I’m in agreement that BGS brand is trending down and has been for years. I was just talking specifically about BGS 9.5 grade. That seems to be the popular grade for many iconic cards simply because PSA only has a 9 or 10. For example the 1989 Barry Sanders. A PSA 9 is $100 because of the high pop count where the PSA 10 is over $1,400 because of the low pop count. I see this all the time with PSA as the 9 is dirt cheap and the 10 is expensive. There isn’t that price for the middle tier buyer. The Barry Sanders BGS 9.5 goes for $300-$600 depending on how many 9.5 subgrades. Thats my only defense of BGS is that 9.5 is sometimes the perfect buy between a PSA 9 and 10.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Sorry I didn't do a better job of sharing my opinion. I think when BGS started their 9.5 grades...but then some 10s started trickling out....it makes a lot of people feel like a 9.5 isn't a gem. But, in many cases, it should be. Personally, I think that cards in 9.5s may be worth trying to cross to 10s with PSA. I don't know though...your data and sales information is what I've seen as well... I don't see BGS 9.5s catching PSA 10 values...I think they will probably always fall between a PSA 9 and 10
@mclanetime7269
6 ай бұрын
The old saying goes, something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it! If you like the card and can afford to buy it at what you think is a reasonable price, buy it! It shouldn’t matter what it sold for last year, last month, or yesterday. I feel we as collectors make the prices and just like opinions, they vary greatly. Like you discussed, depending on eye appeal, centering, rarity and so on….I personally do not think a 52 Topps Mantle in a high grade or any HOF playing year card should only be able to be owned by wealthy individuals. Unfortunately Its become a money grab like everything else.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Good point. If it's worth it to me, who cares what it's worth to others. Very true.
@Politano1955
6 ай бұрын
I have no problem at a show telling the dealer their price is much higher than comps. Its a business on both sides. They have every right to charge whatever price they want and I have every right not to buy it if I choose not to. I just move on.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Yeah...I think that's totally fair. I've heard from a variety of people on both sides of this topic.
@davidthompson6020
6 ай бұрын
a thought... if you setup chapters so it's easy to get to the next topic, that'd be nice. i appreciate your videos very much!
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I've never done that, but...I'm sure I could look into figuring it out. :-) I'll see what I can do.
@leehaskins307
6 ай бұрын
A question for next time… Will vintage cards be like the social security situation now… the baby boomer generation is so big and the younger folks are not taking up the slack to pay into the system and its going broke… can cards be like that as baby boomers pass there collection on to family members what is mostly vintage and pre-war and large collections come on the market for sale and not enuf younger people wanting them ? and value gets a hit ?
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Such a great question. I'll give my thoughts on this soon.
@pitcherboston
6 ай бұрын
I am happy w my BGS Black Label cards but do agree PSA is the leader by far.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Black Label BGS are pretty nice.
@789cards
6 ай бұрын
Another great video, Graig. I really enjoyed your comments about non sports. I think there is a growing place in the hobby for them. I recently picked up a 1937 Wills Tabacco of King Edward VIII, who abdicated, and King George VI. If you have seen the movie "The Speech", you know the story, I thought this was good historical pick up.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
That's awesome!! I enjoy Non Sport cards a lot. My hardest thing is narrowing what I collect. But, the more I see that stuff, the more I like it.
@JayAverageVintageCollector
6 ай бұрын
Awesome show again! I do have a question though. I recently went into a card shop for the first time that is other than my local shop. I had purchased a really nice priced Schmidt RC from him at a show. However, at the shop we started talking about prices on cards I was considering buying. I was referencing current sold listings as value and he said that vintage is vintage. Book value comes first. It was surprising considering the Schmidt deal. Did selling at a show play a part in pricing? Your thoughts
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Interesting question. I'm not sure I fully understand what happened, but I will try to give my take on this one soon.
@JayAverageVintageCollector
6 ай бұрын
@@MidLifeCards so, in a nutshell, it appears as though at a show, his cards were priced really well. But, in his shop, prices seemed very high. When I tried to rely on eBay sold listings as a bargaining point, he went straight to book value. He told me that eBay sold listings can dictate the value of modern cards, but value on vintage is different. This is the first I’ve heard of that. It seemed like his pricing at the show was definitely eBay sold listing value. So, a little confusing. I hope this explained it better.
@ZiggyNo
6 ай бұрын
Thank you very much for the answers.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Thanks for taking the time to ask a question!! :-)
@jamesmcferran4938
6 ай бұрын
Graig, as always, a great video today. But in response to the grading company slabs we buy, if we can get the same quality card at a lower price, why not buy the CGC or BVG? Are we not buying the card and not the slab? This would be for our PC of course. Selling is an altogether different matter. However, in effect you are saying the quality of the graders at PSA are much higher than BGS or CGC which I just fell is not totally accurate based on what I am seeing from PSA lately. They are often inconsistent and inaccurate in my assessment. They are more like a Saturn than a Camry these days. That is why I now so disenchanted with sending my cards off to be graded to PSA. And with them now having the ultimate monopoly, there is no reason for them to seek out a higher quality end product. This differs from the auto industry analogy, as thank goodness for Honda, etc. Anyway, to be looking at PSA as an untouchable competitor, they will continue to only further dominate this grading market…which does not typically correspond with raising your standard of integrity and quality going forward.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Great question and great points. There is no doubt that the "brand image" changes and is always moving. A Camry in the early 80s had a much different image than a Camry in 2024. So, It's certainly possible that brands will become more and less desirable. I also think it changes based on WHAT you collect. My response was mostly dealing with the liquidity of a card in a slab. It is much EASIER to sell a card in a PSA slab than a CGC slab. At least it is right now, for VINTAGE sports cards. It is possible this changes in the future. If you're planning on holding the card, and you enjoy CGC, and you trust their evaluation of cards being altered or not, then it may be a buying opportunity, for sure. Personally, I don't have much experience with CGC or BVG slabs, but based on their lagging values on the resale market, it leads me to believe that others that do have experience have a lower opinion of them. At the end of the day, I try to stick with what I know and what I trust the most. But, those opinions are always changing.
@davidbobo9740
6 ай бұрын
You catch more bee's with honey . Great vid teach. Can't wait to meet ya sometime at a show
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Appreciate that my friend. Thanks!!
@cryptonite8495
6 ай бұрын
I enjoyed seeing the 1952 Look 'N Sees. I bought the Babe Ruth PSA 7 for $130 in the early 2000s. Recently I have seen it sell (actually sold) in the $1500 region. The ultra-modern crash pulled down vintage a bit, but not nearly as much as the junk wax and current junk slab categories.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I really love that Look N See set. Sounds like you got an amazing deal!! Congrats!!
@Hodges1455
6 ай бұрын
50th video like - Enjoyed listening to the episode.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Thanks so much. Super glad you enjoyed it.
@ACD1994
6 ай бұрын
Question: Can you give an update on the strategies; the planning as well, you and your dad for the upcoming card show in your area? And what, you and your dad have decided, with the cards that you're both open to selling too? Thanks Graig.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I can talk about this. But, we haven't done a ton of planning yet....but, maybe we should. It's just over a month away.
@ACD1994
6 ай бұрын
@@MidLifeCards Yeah. I've never set up at a show before, so I don't know what would go into it. I guess it depends on the show and the inventory, too.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I might be able to provide better information about this AFTER I setup at the show with my dad. Right now, I think there's more that I don't know and that I'm not prepared for, than I realize. After the show, I'll know more about what a new dealer NEEDS to do, that I won't realize until we do it.
@debragiovine9797
6 ай бұрын
Hi Craig,,, nothing wrong when negotiating on a price,,, just so long your not rude or arrogant With a dealer,,, why else would anyone go onto looking at comps,,, like 130pt web site or eBay comps or card ladder sites ,,, and if the dealer doesn’t what to negotiate,, just be polite and walk away to the next dealer at a show,,,,
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Great advice. That's the approach I try to follow.
@bobwhite4671
6 ай бұрын
When is the February subscriber reveals? Look forward to them.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Great question. I plan on finishing that video up today and tomorrow and it should post on Saturday morning. :-) There are some BIG cards!!
@bobwhite4671
6 ай бұрын
@@MidLifeCardsthanx ,cannot wait.
@wax2thefuture647
6 ай бұрын
The target group (singular) is gamblers.. that’s it. Topps could care less about the collecting aspect of cards, it’s the breaking where the most growth will come from, and they know this. This growth will not necessarily make what you and I collect more valuable.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Yeah.....and my biggest concern is whether we're creating a generation of young gamblers instead of young card enthusiasts.
@ACD1994
6 ай бұрын
@@MidLifeCards Fanatics will continue to play a role, when it comes to gambling from the youth. I don't know where they are getting all of this money. Possibly and probably coming from wealthy families. If Fanatics, was serious about actually growing the hobby ten X they would focus on making products either cheaper or even less frequent, but, they won't.
@Brian-pf7qq
6 ай бұрын
I would say dealers are willing to negotiate, l will say what the best you can do. But dealers are not in competition with the internet. I would never mentioned comps. There are plenty of other dealers at the show to deal with. You should browse all the tables at the show.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
That's a great point about being in competition with the internet. Well stated.
@returntocollecting
6 ай бұрын
Great video, as usual, Graig! I'm with the gentleman who asked the first question. It boggles my mind that dealers think they can set a price. I guess there are some newbies to the hobby that may overpay. Thats just taking advantage of new entrants, which may negatively impact more people entering the hobby. I just recently did a best offer on a card (on my list for the year) in a 5 (got rejected), then a 6 (got rejected), then a 7 and the offer got accepted (it was lower than the counteroffer on the 5). Big fan of autos, both on cards and on memorabilia (or on photos and cuts for that matter). I think its an important part of the hobby. 100% agree with you on the Beckett question. I think BGS (modern) slabs will hold value. I think BVG (vintage) will not hold value as well. Thanks for sharing!
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
BGS is a pretty widely accepted slab in modern cards and with younger collectors...so, my hunch is that they hold value. But, as we've seen in businesses....anything can happen an a moment's notice.
@jimmason2080
6 ай бұрын
Went to AZ show...I asked a dealer for comps due to the fact my phone wifi was not working...trusted him and paid 100 for the card I was interested in...the "dealer" gave me asking comps from EBAY not the sold comps....I know I am partially to blame but I trusted that the comps would be based on SOLD...the guy was a swindler....first show I went to in years and the same old shit....
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
@@jimmason2080 that’s awful. Sorry to hear that.
@returntocollecting
6 ай бұрын
@@jimmason2080 That's the worst. When I'm at a show and don't get a signal, I'll go outside to check comps. Other approach I take is to bring a printed spreadsheet of my goal cards for the show, with recent comps in any grade I'm interested in. That's what i did at the National, since I knew the signal would be bad. Don't let shady vendor keep you from attending more shows.
@tavpaquette
6 ай бұрын
What you're doing is actually a courtesy for the dealer. You could just walk away and not say anything. At least in this case, the dealer is being made aware of why they might have lost a sale. A smart dealer will appreciate that information. Quite honestly, they usually do put a higher price on the sticker to give themselves some wiggle room, but it could certainly be a situation where they simply didn't update the sticker from the last show or something. As Graig said, if you're polite/respectful and just say I'm finding it for less elsewhere, do you have any flexibility on it? They ball is in their court and they've been given a chance to save their sale. If they get grumpy or offended in any way, you're better off not dealing with them anyway. You shouldn't be made to feel bad because you're an educated buyer.
@RL3sports
6 ай бұрын
Great questions and answers today. Thanks Graig. I think I need lessons in getting autographs from athletes at shows. I try to be polite and thankful. Most of the ones I've met have been rude jerks. Sharpies don't erase.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
That's disappointing to hear. I've had mostly positive experiences in the past.
@SconnieTradition
6 ай бұрын
I enjoy the longer forn videos you do. Great to have on when I'm traveling to work etc. I appreciate your thoughtful opinions. Thanks for sharing.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for the kind words. It means a lot. The longer videos obviously take a lot more time and energy to produce, but...I enjoy the more in depth approach doing them. I'm super happy to hear you enjoy them!!
@chazwickjeffriesvonbronswi9922
6 ай бұрын
I have about 100 baseballs signed from hofers and pictures as well and 50s 60s 70s 80s Cards all hofers, how do I go about getting them authenticated? And what would be the cost of each ball, And picture, and should I get all hofers Cards graded Over 1000 of them🤔
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
This is a great question, but a complicated question. I can try to tackle it soon, but it may be hard.
@larrygitlin6017
6 ай бұрын
Early on I had a lot of my vintage cards graded by Beckett as they were very respected and PSA was complicated. I am leaving them and all my old slabs alone as it would cost a forturne to regrade. Also have some GAI graded cards and most of my unopened collection as early on they were the only company grading packs. Did regrade a few of my big boy cards but now I say fooey on the rest.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I totally get that. Makes a lot of sense. It really only becomes an issue if/when you decide to sell. That's why a lot of my examples were about selling and the liquidity of the cards/slabs.
@WilliamScott-ug9df
6 ай бұрын
Your advice and opinion although sportscard related is often more relevant to life in general.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
I hope that's a good thing and not a bad thing. :-)
@Brian-pf7qq
6 ай бұрын
When is the next time you are going to show viewers recent pick ups.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
It will post on Friday!! It’s a big one. Lots of awesome pickups in the community.
@A.K.1978
6 ай бұрын
What is ur eBay seller name
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
graigmiller I have a REALLY nice 63 Mays that I'm planning on listing today. In my opinion, it's much better than the grade.
@A.K.1978
6 ай бұрын
@@MidLifeCards ty
@JsmithVB757
6 ай бұрын
What HOFer Autograph was $40 during the boom and is now $100? I call BS on that. Every autograph has pretty much gone down.
@MidLifeCards
6 ай бұрын
That was the claim of the person asking the question. I didn't make that claim. I simply read their question. That said, I'm not sure which auto he would be referring to.
@jerrelbean
6 ай бұрын
I never pay full price. I always send email for discount.
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