Cracking Slabs & Submitting to PSA for Higher Value (New Tips & Calculator!)
I bought an CSG 9 Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck RC for $125, cracked it, graded with PSA as a 9 and sold for $230. But, was it worth it when all was said and done? How can we perfect the process?
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I bought an CSG 9 Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck Rookie Card for $125, cracked it, graded with PSA as a 9 and sold for over one hundred more, at $230.
But, was it worth it? How can we perfect the process?
First, the Details
I saw this 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. CSG 9 on COMC and worked out a deal for $125. Who knows what was lying underneath the slab’s surface, but I knew the centering looked great.
Now, let me just say that my card flipping journey has evolved from me simply buying and flipping what I could for profit FOR ME, to the point of doing some things for content, learning, etc. FOR YOU.
Meaning, I buy a Topps Flagship Jumbo box every year not to flip it (because I’d lose), but so that I can share the first look with my TikTok audience. If I can make some money back, then of course that’s icing on the cake.
Similarly, now that I’ve been fortunate to have such a great community here on Substack with you all, I do things like re-grade a PSA 6 Jordan when I normally wouldn’t want any part of that.
So, this Griffey falls in the learning/experiment bucket.
Given how quickly the card landscape could change, I’m always trying to find new ways to turn profit. Cracking and submitting to PSA is largely an untapped area for me, so I figured let’s give it a shot and get to learning.
Given all of that, this Griffey looked like a great candidate to test some things out with.
Why This Griffey?
This card as a PSA 9 should sell for around $200. So, it already being a CGC 9 had me feeling good about at least getting a PSA 9.
This card also as a PSA 10 should sell for around $2,500.
Did I think this could get a PSA 10?
Perhaps! It’s a POP 4,100, so it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen in the history of cards.
I’ve also never graded and then auctioned with PSA to eBay, so that was on my mind as something to try as well.
Given all of that, here is the breakdown of costs.
Bought on COMC for $125
Shipped home from COMC for $6.99
Cracked the card; free, but nerveracking
Shipped to PSA for $9.38 (always insure!)
PSA graded for $44.98*** (I’ll explain in a bit, but let’s say $24.99+$19.99 to grade)
TOTAL Cost: $186.35
Yikes.
That right there leaves little to no room for a PSA 9 to be profitable.
I was really taken aback by the fact that it costs $19.99 to ship back home AND the same $19.99 to sell on eBay from the PSA vault. I mean, if you buy the card on eBay from PSA, it’s $5.99 shipping. I would have thought sending to the Vault to be cheaper.
Results
Anyway, the card ended up grading as a PSA 9.
I auctioned with PSA via eBay and it did better than I expected, reaching $239.50.
From that, there is a 14% PSA/eBay fee to be removed (variable based on price), so poof, there goes $33.53. Total resulting revenue $205.97.
TOTAL profit: $19.62
Was it worth it to take a chance at a PSA 10? Sure. Graded 9s at $125 or lower don’t exactly grow on trees, so I thought “what the heck?” The lowest reputable 9 on eBay right now is a CSG 9 for $145.
Was it worth it to try and convert and profit off a CSG 9 to a PSA 9? As you can see, not really. Not to mention a PSA 8 would have doomed me.
But, here are some tips to lower costs on the buy side, with some tricks to help you uncover card opportunities, and a calculator tool to help you figure out the best buy price/sell price combo.