Yes hundreds of cards graded isn't really an option for many, at $25 a card and months wait time as well.
I recently took some time to learn about grading. After getting some confidence I submitted for the 1st time, a batch of some good junk wax era cards; SP1 Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson's Rookie cards, Greg Maddux Rookie, Rickey Henderson. Of the ten cards I submitted to Beckett nine cards came back a "9" and I got one "9.5". Very happy about that. Also many of those cards had all black boarders which is the HARDEST color boarder to get graded. I got 30x Jewelers Loupe and that really helps to look at the corners.
I like Beckett for many reasons but a good one is that they use "Subgrades" 1. Centering 2. Corners 3. Edges 4. Surface. They those grades get averaged for your final grade. No other grading company does that. They have a strong reputation for being strict which I like, PSA is not so strict on there grading. I have seen many "10" PSA cards that clearly aren't a "10". Also another 'chase' is that Beckett has a "10" Gold label then a "10" Black Label, black labels are literally considered perfect cards and demand multiplicative more money then a regular gold label "10".
Plan is to sell some of the cards to pay for the grading itself, and use profits to pay for another batch to get graded. Then rinse and repeat and slowly I can build a graded personal collection. Or sell everything and get GN parts!