Fleck586 | 300 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I assume Wata is still the go-to, but man! I just looked at pricing and it's going to cost a small fortune to grade what I have ready. Are there any sales they run that I should look out for? Are the alternatives worth looking into? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,098 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I think CGC is the other people use. I wonder if they still have that archaic submission method where you have to like hand fill out paperwork. If you aren’t planning on selling your games, I’d leave them ungraded unless they really mean that much to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleck586 | 300 Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 9 minutes ago, a3quit4s said: I think CGC is the other people use. I wonder if they still have that archaic submission method where you have to like hand fill out paperwork. If you aren’t planning on selling your games, I’d leave them ungraded unless they really mean that much to you. It's a mix. Some I will sell, but most are for personal to keep them safe and some of it is I'm just curious too. You know? Like I have a SNES Lost Vikings 2 sealed that I got off Ebay fir $5 back in the day. It still looks pristine to me, but I've always wondered what it would grade at along with a couple of others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,098 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 3 minutes ago, Fleck586 said: It's a mix. Some I will sell, but most are for personal to keep them safe and some of it is I'm just curious too. You know? Like I have a SNES Lost Vikings 2 sealed that I got off Ebay fir $5 back in the day. It still looks pristine to me, but I've always wondered what it would grade at along with a couple of others. Best thing about grading, if you don’t like the grade just rip it out and send it back lmao If you really have a bunch you wanna grade send one to both WATA and CGC and see how like the process. I’m not super into graded so I don’t know if WATA still carries some extra premium that makes it more marketable. In the beginning it did for sure but not sure now after all the questions had been risen about the ethics of some of the goings on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleck586 | 300 Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 Do they ever run pricing specials? It looks like it's going to cost upwards of $100 per game to grade. I only have 1 or 2 I would pay that for right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT | 91 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Grading is crazy. Look at this video at 6:11. This Michael Jordan rookie card was labeled 'altered' by PSA but SGC graded it a 4 Crazy change in value. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suYV-tUdFuw 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdStrongestMole | 430 Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 On 1/20/2024 at 3:48 PM, Fleck586 said: Do they ever run pricing specials? It looks like it's going to cost upwards of $100 per game to grade. I only have 1 or 2 I would pay that for right now. I've graded with Wata and CGC. They are both equally easy to use imo, other than CGCs weird search process for telling them what you're sending in. Only other thing to consider is the litigation Wata is/could potentially be tied up in. That's kind of the big detractor with them rn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro.magnus | 136 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 CGC is $10 cheaper than WATA, so if you're going for the most cost efficient route, go with them. Otherwise, imo, it's just personal preference between WATA & CGC. I have personally moved towards CGC because I was one of the people who had games sitting at WATA for over a year and just can't give them anymore money for how bad of an experience I've had with them. Also it's a lot more expensive for me to ship to WATA now that they're on the west coast (I'm east coast) & CGC is in FL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT | 91 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) I saw that CGC gave a 9.8 A+ to a scratched up Phantom Hourglass, so if you like leniency with sealed grading than CGC is a good choice. Edited January 24 by CT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro.magnus | 136 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) 4 hours ago, CT said: I saw that CGC gave a 9.8 A+ to a scratched up Phantom Hourglass, so if you like leniency with sealed grading than CGC is a good choice. There are examples of this from all grading companies, unfortunately. Another thing I forgot to note with CGC is you have to pay for a yearly subscription, so if you submit a chunk of games it ends up being cheaper than WATA, but if you only have a handful WATA will be cheaper. EDIT: NVM, they just announced price & membership changes lol. Edited January 24 by retro.magnus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inasuma | 1,203 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 On 1/20/2024 at 1:09 PM, Fleck586 said: I assume Wata is still the go-to, but man! I just looked at pricing and it's going to cost a small fortune to grade what I have ready. Are there any sales they run that I should look out for? Are the alternatives worth looking into? Cgc is the only option if cost is a concern. VGA is 2x more expensive than Wata and now cgc price is $15 cheaper than Watas lowest ($35). I definitely think there’s space to say Wata and vga are great for the really special games, but cgc simply captures the bottom 90% of games that are so cheap it’s simply not reasonable to grade at Wata or vga. Lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inasuma | 1,203 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 On 1/24/2024 at 2:04 PM, retro.magnus said: There are examples of this from all grading companies, unfortunately. Another thing I forgot to note with CGC is you have to pay for a yearly subscription, so if you submit a chunk of games it ends up being cheaper than WATA, but if you only have a handful WATA will be cheaper. EDIT: NVM, they just announced price & membership changes lol. Cgc credits you the membership fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro.magnus | 136 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 13 hours ago, inasuma said: Cgc credits you the membership fee. Only sometimes I had to reach out twice for it to properly apply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inasuma | 1,203 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) 3 hours ago, retro.magnus said: Only sometimes I had to reach out twice for it to properly apply. No, it’s 100% of the time so long as you know to ask for it if they don’t give it by default. it’s a contractual entitlement at the point of sale - if they don’t give it, then it’s a lawsuit. I’ve also never seen them hold it back. Edited February 7 by inasuma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPX | 1,369 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 On 1/21/2024 at 5:39 AM, Fleck586 said: I assume Wata is still the go-to, but man! I just looked at pricing and it's going to cost a small fortune to grade what I have ready. Are there any sales they run that I should look out for? Are the alternatives worth looking into? I haven’t been grading since the pandemic, but I can give some suggestions: - if you’re looking for the cheapest option, then it’s just a matter of browsing the relevant websites. - if you’re assuming WATA is going to give better returns if considering a resell, then I don’t think that’s a guarantee in the current market. - VGA is still an option because it has more serious collectors who give it more trust than the newer companies. Yes, they all have some flaws, but VGA is undoubtedly more reliable as a grading service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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