Sports Card Investing - Buying Low PSA 9 and BGS 9.5
Hello Sports Card Grinders! The Chief is in the house! In this week’s article, we will go under the teepee (see what we did there) to talk about how to get some of the top- tier players that you want at reasonable prices with room for profit potential. We will also discuss a player that is in the bargain bin and already graded that you can get your hands on and add to your current or new portfolio.
It’s no secret that market trends are a huge part of the hobby and Sports Card Investor has you covered with all sorts of tools to get you in the game and profit from the hobby you love. Use the promo code: ROTOGRINDERS to get started and you’ll receive 20% off of your first payment on any subscription. Let’s dive in!
PSA 10 vs. PSA 9/ BGS 10 vs. BGS 9.5
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In this hobby, it’s all about trying to get the players you want at prices that you can personally afford. We won’t all have $8,000 to purchase a PSA 10 LeBron James Topps Chrome Rookie, however, we may have $2500 to purchase a PSA 9. These are the little decisions that we have to make on a daily basis when searching for that great deal on a card and by utilizing the grading scale to your advantage you can do just that. It would be great if we could get our hands on every player that we want with a grade of PSA 10 and BGS 10, however this is just not realistic. What is realistic though is to diversify your portfolio with a variety of PSA 10/9 and BGS 10/9.5. What you will notice in the hobby is that your PSA 9 and BGS 9.5 will typically be priced significantly lower than your version of a 10 in any card.
Let’s go back to our LeBron James example to look at the differences. Back in March you were able to purchase the LeBron James Topps Chrome Rookie #111 PSA 10 for around $5,000. There were some lows in there and some that were slightly higher, but for all intents and purposes let’s roll with $5,000. Now that basketball is returning we are starting to see this PSA 10 climb in price yet again, and most of the recent sales have been $8,000 and up. Now, let’s venture over to our good friend the PSA 9. Using the same time frame we will see that we could have purchased a share of that same card for roughly $1,500. Of course, some were a little more, and some were a little less, but on average this is what you would have paid. If we fast forward to today’s current market under the same conditions of the PSA 10 you will see that this card is now selling for roughly $2500 and up. As you can see, you are still able to enjoy the steady price increase just like the PSA 10, but at a fraction of the cost. Don’t get me wrong, I believe we would all love to get our hands on a PSA 10 at the right price, but being able to pull in one of the all-time greats and enjoy the profit potential at a much lower price point is a great investment. If we hop over to the BGS side of things you will see that the 9.5 grade would have cost you slightly more than the PSA 9, significantly less than the PSA 10, but you would enjoy a much higher profit increase. The BGS 9.5 on average was selling for roughly $2500 back in March, but is now selling for around $5,000-$6,000. That is incredible movement to own an iconic card for a fraction of the price. Once again, I am not advocating that you pass on investing in cards graded at a 10, but use good judgment, and invest in some iconic cards at much lower prices and enjoy the ride. The big takeaway here is that with iconic players and cards there isn’t much downside. Most will continue to trend upwards as the years go by, so don’t be afraid to pull the trigger on those PSA 9’s and BGS 9.5’s. Additionally this strategy is also good for your quick flips (cards that you intend to buy low and sell quickly with a market uptick). Please refer to the chart below from our good friends at Sports Card Investor to see what’s happening in real time for this iconic LeBron James Rookie.
One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure
Being able to anticipate market trends is a great way to remain profitable in a fluid industry. As an example, I was really high on American Airlines making a huge comeback in the stock market because despite public opinion, I really felt like the shares were trading too low. I was able to get in at roughly $9 per share at that time. If you look at where they are now they have already doubled in price. This is the same philosophy I want to share today in regards to our sports cards portfolios. It takes a little bit of personal forecasting to take some of these steps, because the general public as a whole will be heading in an opposite direction, and may even think you’re insane, but these buy-low opportunities are what can change the dynamics of how you buy now, and what you’re able to buy later.
Cam Newton #1 Buy-Low Opportunity (PSA 10/9 and BGS 10/9.5)
The public is just not high on Cam Newton right now because he has not signed with a team and this is the perfect time to get in at bottom-of-the-barrel prices. He has a plethora of rookie cards that you can grab, but we want to focus on Topps Chrome, and Bowman Chrome for the article. If you look at the Market Movers tool you will notice that there isn’t a whole lot of activity for his cards. This is great for us! I have personally been able to purchase PSA 10s/9s and BGS 10s/9.5s for as little as $10 and as much as $50 for some of his lower pop cards. With these type of opportunities I’m looking to grab as many as I can for the lowest prices. This is an opportunity to corner the market like never before. I can’t tell you where Cam will sign this season (I really hope it’s the Patriots), but what I can tell you is that the minute he signs you will see steep price increases on his rookie cards. So, the time is now to get in on the ground level and invest in Cam. I would personally recommend taking roughly $100 or so and purchasing PSA 10’s and BGS 9.5’s which should yield you 3-5 really nice rookies to add to your portolio. A few links will be listed below to give you a few ideas of what you can do with Cam in the current market at buy it now/best offer prices.
2011 TOPPS PLATINUM CAM NEWTON #1 ROOKIE RC PSA 9 – Target For $34.99
2011 BOWMAN CHROME CAM NEWTON RC ROOKIE BCR-18 PSA 9 – Target For $14.99
2011 BOWMAN CHROME ROOKIES CAM NEWTON #BCR-18 PSA 9 – Target For $18.65
2011 TOPPS FINEST CAM NEWTON BGS 9.5 – Target For $32.99
2011 TOPPS CHROME CAM NEWTON ROOKIE RECOGNITION BGS 9.5 – Target For $17.98
2011 TOPPS CHROME ROOKIE RECOGNITION #RRCM CAM NEWTON BGS 10 – $98.00
2011 TOPPS #TMB1 CAM NEWTON (ROOKIE REFRACTOR) PSA 10 – Target For $49.99
2011 TOPPS ROOKIE REFRACTORS #TMB1 CAM NEWTON (PRISTINE) BGS 10 – $65.00
2011 BOWMAN STERLING RELIC #BSRCN CAM NEWTON PSA 10 – Target For $54.00
If you are able to exercise a little patience, monitor listings, and wait a few days to secure Cam’s cards, auction is the way to go right now. I love “buy it now” or “best offers” because I get to control how much I want to pay, but in an auction I may be able to grab the same card for a lot cheaper. It will not work out this way on every single occasion, but typically when guys aren’t at the top of the radar you can get some really good deals on some really awesome cards and Cam is at the top of the list for me at the present moment. The list above includes a bit of a variety, and this has been my approach the whole way through. I am targeting chromes, refractors, low pop RPA’s, die cuts, you name it. I want as many variations as I can get my hands on. I mentioned earlier that this is a strategy you use to build a portfolio now, so that you can buy what you want later. I think it goes without saying that you probably want to get your hands on a graded Tom Brady rookie before he retires, and utilizing this buy low and quick flip strategy is perfect to build up your purchasing power to grab those iconic cards that we talked about.
Honorable Mentions for this strategy would include Marcus Mariotta, Jameis Winston, and Mitch Trubisky. I’m not as high on these guys as I am on Cam, but I am definitely in the market buying a few here and there at the right prices. All of these guys could easily be back in a starter’s role at some point and I want to be ahead of the curve when they do.
Thanks so much for hanging out under the teepee with me, and we’ll catch you again really soon! Happy Hunting!