As alot of guys here say. Buy the book not the label. The 9.8 vs. 9.4 battle is easy, the number doesnt matter. If the book presents well, has bright vivid colors, perfectly centered, and sharp corners. That is the winner. I have seen books in 9.8 that dont present worth a damn, but are flawless nonetheless. I have also seen 9.4's that may have minimal defects, that are perfectly centered, extremely bright, and flat with sharp corners.
I buy what I can afford, whether it is as stated the 4.5/5.0, 7.0/7.5,9.4/9.8. I will upgrade books, but ONLY if it is a better looking copy. An example would be Werewolf By Night 32 for me. I had 2 copies one 6.5 one 7.5 , I sold the 7.5 in WWPA. The 6.5 has some spine tics other minimal issues but still presents well, the 7.5 was fading and had ONE spine tic. When I compared the 6.5 was so bright and better looking, so the 7.5 got graded and priced.
I would say you learned an important lesson for collectors here. Everyone wants to upgrade, but the book has to be better all around. Just because the label says it has less errors from handling doesnt mean the printing was so kind. And stop trading 9.8's for 9.4's , put them on Auction. Let someone else pay what you did.