$Alan Benes [Refractor] #78 (Baseball Cards 1996 Topps Chrome) — is it worth grading?$

Is Alan Benes [Refractor] #78 worth grading?

Baseball · Baseball Cards 1996 Topps Chrome · full price guide →

Worth grading — even a PSA 9 beats raw

A Grade 9.5 Alan Benes [Refractor] #78 sells for $88.00 against $8.50 raw: a $79.50 spread, 10× the ungraded price. Even a PSA 9 ($79.95) clears the raw price after an economy-tier ~$25 fee, so a near-miss still comes out ahead. Centering is the usual reason a clean copy misses the 10 — measure it before you submit.

Raw (NM): $8.50
Grade 9.5: $88.00
PSA 9: $79.95
Gem premium: 10×
As of: Sep 4, 2026

Break-even by outcome and fee

Alan Benes [Refractor] #78: net result of grading versus selling raw, by outcome and fee tier
If it comes back…	Sells for	Economy / bulk (~$25.00)	Standard (~$50.00)	Express (~$150)
Gem — Grade 9.5	$88.00	+$54.50	+$29.50	−$70.50
PSA 9	$79.95	+$46.45	+$21.45	−$78.55
PSA 8	$37.50	+$4.00	−$21.00	−$121

Net = sale price − $8.50 raw value − fee. Fee tiers are illustrative; plug your grader's current price into the calculator below.

Expected value — how often does it need to gem?

Alan Benes [Refractor] #78: expected value of submitting by gem probability
Chance it gems	Expected sale	Expected net (standard fee)
25%	$81.96	+$23.46
50%	$83.97	+$25.47
75%	$85.99	+$27.49

Even a miss (a 9) beats selling raw after the standard fee — the gem rate only decides how much you win by.

Full grade ladder

Raw conditions & history →

Alan Benes [Refractor] #78 graded prices by company and grade
Grade	Graded
9.5	$88.00
9	$79.95
8	$37.50
7	$12.50

Run your own numbers

Should I pay this?

Asking priceGrading fee

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