Is Ben Sheets #159 worth grading?

Baseball · Baseball Cards 2001 Donruss · full price guide →

Worth grading — even a PSA 9 beats raw

A Grade 9.5 Ben Sheets #159 sells for $409 against $253 raw: a $157 spread, 1.6× the ungraded price. Even a PSA 9 ($372) 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): $253
Grade 9.5: $409
PSA 9: $372
Gem premium: 1.6×
As of: Sep 3, 2026

Break-even by outcome and fee

Ben Sheets #159: 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	$409	+$132	+$107	+$6.50
PSA 9	$372	+$94.50	+$69.50	−$30.50
PSA 8	$338	+$60.50	+$35.50	−$64.50

Net = sale price − $253 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?

Ben Sheets #159: expected value of submitting by gem probability
Chance it gems	Expected sale	Expected net (standard fee)
25%	$381	+$78.75
50%	$391	+$88.00
75%	$400	+$97.25

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 →

Ben Sheets #159 graded prices by company and grade
Grade	Graded
9.5	$409
9	$372
8	$338

Run your own numbers

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Asking priceGrading fee

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