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This is not buying or investment advice. I’m simply reporting the data I’m seeing. Please do your own research and make your own decisions. Just because cards have increased in value up to this point, it doesn’t mean they will continue to do so.
I’ve said it once, and here it is again:
The decision to grade a sports card goes beyond simply evaluating the card's condition.
It’s a process, especially if your goal is to profit from buying and selling cards. If you're grading for personal collection purposes, these considerations don’t apply.
However, for those looking to make money grading sports cards, here’s how I approach it.
I’ve also said this a time or two:
My primary goal is to minimize risk, aiming for a worst-case scenario that is as close to breaking even as possible (while providing enough profit on the upside for my time).
I purchased this 2021 Optic Joe Namath Downtown Insert on COMC for $124.
It was a good deal at the time for the raw copy.
The 90-day average sale price for a PSA 9 was $168, a PSA 8 was $140, and a PSA 10 was $228—with the last PSA 10 sale being $275.
(This card has actually increased a lot in value since this example, but the lessons remain the same.)
The card appeared to be in good shape, but this was before COMC had launched their pre-grade service. So, I was putting a lot of faith in the fact that COMC says:
Unless otherwise noted, all Vintage trading cards manufactured 1980 and before are in Excellent (EX) condition or better and all Modern trading cards manufactured after 1980 are in Near Mint-Mint (NM-MT) condition or better.
The cost to grade was $24, so my thinking was at $24 + the $124 I paid, the $148 total isn’t that far off from what a PSA 8 sells for.
So, I sent it to PSA for grading through COMC.
If I got a PSA 9, I’d be close breaking even after fees, while a PSA 10 had enough upside for me to chance (especially at the last sale price of $275).
The only major risks were a lower grade - like a 7 - or drastic market changes, which seemed unlikely for a retired legend like Joe Namath (again, another advantage of not grading modern players—a lot can can happen during that 45-day grading window.
The card came back a 9.
Happy with the grade, I didn’t waste any time sending it to auction:
17 bids later, it outperformed and ended $224, which was higher than the average PSA 9 sales price.
Breaking down the profit, I paid $124 for the card and $24 for grading, totaling $148. COMC's auction fee of 3.5% reduced the sale proceeds to $216. If I wanted to withdraw that amount from my COMC account, there is a 10% cash-out fee for doing so. Subtracting that left me with $194.50. And after deducting my initial $148 investment, my profit was $46.50.
While that may seem modest, the process itself was straightforward. I found the card, purchased it, sent it for grading, and listed it for auction—all without ever handling the card physically.
Had the card graded a PSA 10 and sold for closer to the $275 previous sale, say $260, my profit would have been closer to $77. Conversely, the worst-case scenario of a PSA 8 would have resulted in a $26 loss.
To me, this is a low-risk, high-upside decision. This is also why I don’t grade a ton. I’m selective about which cards I grade, and not every outcome is going to be as favorable on paper.
Grading is not my primary focus, and I know others make more money with this strategy. However, for beginners, this way of easing into things is worth considering.
I’m getting all of this data from either the the Market Movers or Card Hedge platform. There are not my platforms, I’m simply a user and affiliate of them. If you want to do your own research, you can grab a free trial to Market Movers with code BALLCARDGENIUS. You’d also get 20% off of your membership forever if you wanted to continue once your trial has been completed. You can also grab a free trial for Card Hedge as well.
These tools aren’t perfect; no tool is. I’ve seen instances where a graded card was being included in the raw numbers, which might cause a huge spike in value. So trust, but verify.
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