T205-SGC Says Altered, Seller Says It's Not
 

What do you guys think about this one?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/T205-Gold-B...UAAOSwdutZhJwk

The bottom corners certainly seem to dip downward. It just doesn't look quite right to me.

Brian

I like how he says "no return on professionally graded items." So at the same time he is disputing SGC's opinion, while refusing to refund based on the fact that SGC has opined. :confused:

He's upfront about the situation and is offering a card in an AUTH holder (we've discussed the AUTH grade here many times), so I don't think there's much of an issue with the sale.

I know Pete (the seller) fairly well. He is a member here. I can't blame him for saying either thing. That was probably from a very original find. I am *not saying it can't still be trimmed but less likely, given the other cards found...LL

I should add that SGC and the seller know T205s better than I do.... :)

Yeah I should have clarified that I've bought from Pete in the past and he's great to deal with! It's more a question of whether or not SGC has issues when it comes to grading T205's. I'm planning on submitting a bunch of T205's to them but wanna make sure the grades aren't going to be all over the place. Love SGC but I kind of agree with Pete on this one. Just wanted to see what other's thoughts are.

a does not mean altered, it means authentic. I have had some cards that were short cut from the factory that were graded this way and it is SGC’s way of copping out of giving a numerical graded if they are not 100% sure.

What type of set are you building? All graded? All raw? A mix? If not all graded, you could bust it out and forget it.

To me it feels like a little of both. Pete recently sold a huge group of Polar Bears and he knows with virtual certainty that this card is not altered. But, just looking at it, it looks trimmed along the bottom. It probably isn't but most people that see it are going to notice that weird bottom edge.

I have a few cards that are either in SGC A holders or I don't bother sending them in because I know they will get an "A" that I feel are not trimmed or altered.

It's a tough spot for the graders. This thread gets started because they went the safe route and called it trimmed or short. But if they had put that card in a "4" holder, someone might have started a thread questioning whether they gave a numeric grade to a trimmed card.

This is the nature of the beast with tobacco card submissions with SGC. I have submitted many T201s all from the original owner and some came back as 4s and others as AUTH due to size variances. Just live with it and buy the card, not the holder,or grade it has received.