What is wrong with collecting $5 chips?
http://www.thechipboard.com/cgi-bin/tcb2/tcb.pl?read=119863

Since you don't care for $5 chips - if you have any of these (the $5 Harrah's Club Reno) - I'll take everything you have off your hands @ $7.00/ each.

Oh what the heck - it's PAYDAY... make it $8.00!

But if they're were slabbed, wouldn't I have to absorb a $10 - $50 (+ ??) appraisal fee into the price of each chip - inflating the price of a $5 chip (which I DO collect) as much as 700%+++? OUCH!

This chip I show here is a "$5.00 chip" housed in a .70 cent AirTite protector. It was "professionally graded" at no extra cost by a reputable seller. The AirTite was free.

Am I willing to pay $70 to some unknown person who is unfamiliar with "little petty $5 chips" like this one - to slab it after grading it for me? Nope.
Do I need someone to do that to establish credibility for myself or to verify authenticity? Nope.
Will such a service enhance or increase it's value should I elect to sell it? Nope.
Would this chip be "worth more" to a potential buyer if slabbed and graded? Nope. If someone wants it, they had better KNOW what is it worth.

And most important: Will an "opinion and chunk of encapsulated plastic" guarantee this chip will maintain it's suggested value? I wish it would but HELL NO! If a cache of these were uncovered tomorrow... my $70 appraisal is landfill material. All the grading, plastic & slabbing in the world will NOT "preserve" or dictate the value of casino chips.

And I was serious about buying your $5 chips. Personally -I collect them and LIKE them. Unslabbed only please.
Thanks
Jill Bitner