Selling Hockey Cards

[shane_c]

I'm curious to know what is the best process for selling valuable hockey cards. A family member looked into it years ago and was told it would have to be juried to determine the condition first. Who does this sort of thing?

[CalgaryFan1988]

Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) is the biggest and probably the most well-known grader.

So, if you want to maximize profit, I would suggest PSA.

https://goldcardauctions.com/how-to-...graded-by-psa/

[blankall]

PSA is definitely the most popular for hockey cards right now. Next, for modern cards (1990 and later), is Beckett Grading Services. I wouldn't bother with anyone else.

With the latest sports card blowup, PSA has actually suspended all but their most expensive services. They should be back in a month or so. Depending on the value of the cards, it may be worth it to send them in to PSA for the express service. It's probably only worth it if you have very high end stuff like key rookies or vintage stuff (1950s and earlier) in really great shape.

The wait times to get a card graded are also about 1 year right now, unless you pay for the expensive express stuff.

PSA keeps stating that they have expanded their staff to accommodate more customers, but no actual results have surfaced yet.

[shane_c]

Does it have to be mailed in? I don't think they'd be comfortable not having the cards in their possession. I was hoping there would be some sort of place you can make an appointment and bring it in to get appraised.

Anything in Canada?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Does it have to be mailed in? I don't think they'd be comfortable not having the cards in their possession. I was hoping there would be some sort of place you can make an appointment and bring it in to get appraised.

Anything in Canada?

PSA and Beckett don't have offices in Canada.

KSA and MNT are the two biggest Canadian graders. Not worth the money though IMO, and you still have to send in via mail.

PSA and Beckett have accepted cards at some local shows, if they have booths at these shows. Due to Covid, there are no local shows right now.

I'm waiting for almost 300 cards to get back from PSA. Most were submitted last August. Yes, it's nerve racking having $10-30k of cards going through the mail. I send with tracking and via express post to minimize the risk of loss in the mail.

[Suave]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Does it have to be mailed in? I don't think they'd be comfortable not having the cards in their possession. I was hoping there would be some sort of place you can make an appointment and bring it in to get appraised.

Anything in Canada?

And its not just getting appraised, its getting put into a slab with its graded score. Getting cards graded can be very expensive and time consuming. Research should be done to make sure its worth grading for the potential increase in value vs selling it Raw.

[Hockey]

This is a quote from my buddy

Took over 2 months. Sent them first week of Feb I think
Mint is relatively new but from a few people I personally know who get a lot of cards graded, they both told me that their grading is more in line with PSA or BGC, as in they grade pretty tough vs KSA or some other weird ones out there doing it too. They both said that they’ll gain respect from guys who grade lots and so value will reflect that.

He's been a collector for years so I trust his word. He had guys like McDavid, MacKinnon, Eichel, Gaudreau etc all graded.

[blankall]

Another thing is that the grading companies have tripled their prices since the sports card craze. I paid $8-11USD/card to submit my cards in August of 2020 to PSA. Now the cheapest option is $35 USD at Beckett (Beckett non-subs is trash), and PSA was $20-25 USD before they shut down. They'll probably come back at $30-35 USD.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Hockey

This is a quote from my buddy



He's been a collector for years so I trust his word. He had guys like McDavid, MacKinnon, Eichel, Gaudreau etc all graded.

MNT is okay, but depends on what your goal is. If it's to maximize value, then only go with PSA or BGS. If it's to have a nice looking slab to protect the card in and more about your personal collection, then MNT is an okay option.

[Northendzone]

No shows these days. There really is no reason for anyone to go the Acadia rec ctr on a weekend morning now

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by blankall

Another thing is that the grading companies have tripled their prices since the sports card craze. I paid $8-11USD/card to submit my cards in August of 2020 to PSA. Now the cheapest option is $35 USD at Beckett (Beckett non-subs is trash), and PSA was $20-25 USD before they shut down. They'll probably come back at $30-35 USD.

I should add, before spending money do a little grading yourself before spending the money.

If your card has any of the below it's probably not worth sending it in.

-Color fading due to loss of gloss
-Cracks
-Image and text must be centered on both sides
-Clean edges and corners
-not mass produced (pretty much anything newer than 1985 aren't worth grading)

[DevilsAdvocate]

I just finished selling most of my cards.

First, KSA is Canadian and they make the rounds to cards shows across the country during non-pandemic times. I had my Gretzky and Lemieux RC graded by them at a show. The rest I couldn't be bothered. I mean, I have an Al McInnis RC that looks like it is in great shape, and I could pay $50 to have it graded. But I can sell it for $50 ungraded or sell it for $100 graded.

Any American looking to buy your cards would say that getting your card KSA graded would be the equivalent of getting it graded by your drunk uncle Bob. For them it is PSA (or to a lesser extent Beckett) or nothing.

But I was able to sell my Gretzky and Lemieux cards for what they were worth even with just the KSA grading. There was more than enough Canadian interest in them.

I sold most of them through FB Marketplace. Didn't get a bite on anything off Kijiji. I did make some sales on eBay, but that was problematic. The people on FB Marketplace came over and looked at the cards and were able to say yes or no based on seeing the product. On E-bay I would showcase all the rookie cards since they are usually the most valuable. But I have the set with an Yzerman rookie card... sold it to a guy in Toronto via eBay. He contacted me when they arrived saying he was very angry because the Gretzky and the Gilmour cards were creased. I hadn't noticed. He sent the cards back to me and I had to refund the money and eat the shipping cost.

-=-=-=-
One final note on grading: An experienced dealer posted on a forum that KSA are actually tougher on OPC hockey cards than PSA. I don't know if that is true or not. But the guy said that he has made a not insignificant profit simply by buying KSA 6 cards, sending them to PSA and getting them bumped to a 7 and then selling them for a much higher price.

I sold my Gretzky RC 6.5 for $5,500. I had two bids at $5,500... one from a co-worker and one from some random guy on FB. Ended up selling to my co-worker just because I could trust him to do 2 e-transfers. I have been telling him to do exactly that - send it to the US, get it PSA graded and see what happens. What is the worst that could happen? If PSA came back with a 4, just stick it back in the KSA 6.5 case and sell it for $6,000.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

I should add, before spending money do a little grading yourself before spending the money.

If your card has any of the below it's probably not worth sending it in.

-Color fading due to loss of gloss
-Cracks
-Image and text must be centered on both sides
-Clean edges and corners
-not mass produced (pretty much anything newer than 1985 aren't worth grading)

One day my proset and upper deck cards will be worth something!

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

One day my proset and upper deck cards will be worth something!

Your great great grand kids will love you for keeping them in great shape

[shane_c]

Thanks for all the replies.



DevilsAdvocate - was the Gretzky RC a recent sale? That's one of the cards they have. I can't remember some of the others but also a Messier RC. Also a lot of older cards too, several with Orr, LaFleur and a lot of others from the 60's and 70's that could be worth something.

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Thanks for all the replies.



DevilsAdvocate - was the Gretzky RC a recent sale? That's one of the cards they have. I can't remember some of the others but also a Messier RC. Also a lot of older cards too, several with Orr, LaFleur and a lot of others from the 60's and 70's that could be worth something.

Yes, the Gretzky RC was 2 months ago.

I bought a Beckett price guide, but I consistently sold well over the what the price guide said. So I just went to eBay and looked at the 10 most recent sales and got an idea of the average price.

-=-=-=-=-

I found a Guy Lafleur card floating around.... it was in good shape, but Becketts had it listed at $2. I wasn't going to bother with an eBay listing for a $2 item, so I just put it in the FB "Free Stuff" group for my area. I walked away and went for groceries only to come back to a bidding war in the "Free Stuff" group. "I'll give you $5 for it", "No! I will pay $10! Sell it to me!" Since I expected nothing for this card, I ended up telling a guy that if he made a $20 donation the local food bank and show me the receipt, the card was his. Ended up chatting with the guy for 15 minutes (from 20 feet away). He told me that it was easy to get Guy's autograph because he would hang out outside the arena smoking before the games. I told him that my father played Guy in an old-timers game and the ref gave my dad a 4 minute tripping penalty "Two minutes for tripping and an extra two because the person you tripped was Guy Lafleur!"

(It really didn't matter - my father was out of the box in 1:30 as the NHL All-Star Old-timers scored twice. Final score was 18-3.)

[wookster]

I have had dozens of cards graded and if you want maximum return for your time/money go with PSA and/or beckett and don't bother with anything else. Check with local card dealers as they will often do a "group" send to the grading company and because there are so many cards being sent at one time you get pretty good discounts on the price.

[MJK]

PSA is the gold standard, will always get more for a PSA 9 over a Beckett 9.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by wookster

I have had dozens of cards graded and if you want maximum return for your time/money go with PSA and/or beckett and don't bother with anything else. Check with local card dealers as they will often do a "group" send to the grading company and because there are so many cards being sent at one time you get pretty good discounts on the price.

If you go this route make sure you write your name on the corner of each card so you know you are getting yours back. Don't want any mix ups.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by MJK

PSA is the gold standard, will always get more for a PSA 9 over a Beckett 9.

This is very new. About 1 year ago it was the opposite. With a BGS 9.5 typically going for more than a PSA 10. The American speculators all prefer PSA, which has pushed thing heavily towards PSA.

Personally, I find the Beckett slabs much nicer, and the subgrading system is better.

I did switch to PSA, as its now worth quite a bit more. The BGS 10 (especially the black label) is still worth considerably more than the PSA 10, but it's very difficult to get those. I recently sold a BGS black label Hedman Young Guns for several thousand.