Crossover grading

[benjulmag]

IMO it is in the hobby's best interests to have multiple TPGs that are in active competition with each other. There have been multiple threads about alterations going undetected, inconsistent grading, poor customer service, as well as discussion about the entire concept behind "grading" and the information a flip should convey. The more competition among TPGs, the more likely these concerns will be addressed, to the benefit of the hobby.

So it should be of concern to the hobby if a TPG is engaging in unfair practices in order to crush its competition. In my view, the most blatant and effective way to do that is to refuse to cross over a card graded by a competitor regardless if the card is clearly worthy of crossover. I am concerned we are seeing that very thing taking place on a regular basis, and the purpose of this thread is to discuss if others agree and what can be done to prevent it.

A legal obstacle to establishing the existence of such a practice is how does one establish the state of mind of a grader when refusing to cross over? Grading is an opinion, and a TPG in refusing to cross a card over will simply say that in its good faith opinion, the card does not merit being crossed over, either because the card is altered or because its condition does not merit such a grade. Just recently I heard a particularly egregious story. 50 vintage cards graded by company A were sent to company B. None were crossed over, though I am unclear whether the reason was because they were altered or simply not deserving of the same grade. The person who submitted the cards then removed them from their slabs and resubmitted them to company B. All 50 cards came back crossed over at the same or higher grade.

Now this is only a story I heard and I cannot vouch for its accuracy, so I want to be careful not to state that it actually occurred. But whether it did or did not, it would seem to me to give such a company A worried about being crushed out of existence by unfair trading practices a means to fight back. This company A could engage in a pattern of anonymously submitting its slabbed cards to company B, and then if/when the cards come back not crossed over, take evidentiary note of the cards being removed from their slabs and resubmitted. If they come back crossed over, and this pattern is continually repeated, it would seem to me to establish proof that company B is engaging in illegal methods to silence its competition. And if company B is a publicly traded company, the legal consequences could be even more severe.

For me personally, if I was the person running company A and seeing my profitability going down by such actions by company B, I sure would engage counsel and have a serious discussion about what legal methods I could take to protect my company.