View Single Post
  #4  
Old 05-15-2005, 10:06 AM
Archive Archive is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 58,359
Default Why not Beckett?

Posted By: Josh K.

I think part of the problem is their grading method. If you look at the example above, their subgrades are 3.5, 5, 4.5 and 2.5 and it got an overall 2.5. That is b/c beckett will not assign an overall grade that is more than .5 higher than the lowest subgrade (except in cases where 3 of the 4 subs are significantly higher than the lowest, an then it can not receive an overall grade more than 1 grade higher than the lowest grade). So, if you had a T206 with corners rated 9, surface rated 9 and edges rated 9, but centering only rated a 2, that card would get only a 3 overall grade from Beckett. Clearly that is just not an accurate way to grade vintage material. The card in the example above looks like a solid 4 to me (assuming no creases).

To say something positive, I do think that Beckett is considered the most respected service for new issues (ie the shiney stuff). My understanding is that beckett will command a premium over psa for any new stuff in identical grades b/c they are considered tougher graders.

I personally have a couple of beckett graded cards from the 50's and I got them for a steal compared to what they would cost if graded by sgc or psa (ex. '57 Frank Robinson rc graded 6.5 for under $100 - psa 6's are selling for about 150-175).

Reply With Quote