newbie question

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Posted By: J.McMurry

Hello All,

I have been reading this board for a while now and find it to be very interesting. I myself collect baseball HOF autographs,and signed Goal Line art cards. I have a question that might seem very ignorant,but here goes.
I know PSA is on most everyone's "S" list right now,but they still seem to be the grader most everyone uses. Does anybody use Becket? Whats the feeling on them, or does Becket not handle pre WWII cards? Just curious as to what the concensus was among those "in the know". Thanks.

Jody McMurry

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Posted By: warshawlaw

There have been some prior posts on this. Briefly, Beckett got into the business with undergrading so severe that no one wanted to send in cards. It then made two big mistakes: (1) it created BCCG (sp.?) which graded cards on a truly bizarre scale for shabby television sales, damaging the company's reputation with serious collectors, and (2) it created BVG to (over)grade vintage cards. No one liked the end result, which was a reputation of ridiculous undergrading for Beckett, ridiculous everything for the tv sales cards, and mild overgrading for BVG. As a result, relatively few people use the service and they are really second-tier but treated as first-tier in most discussions because of the Beckett publications juggernaut.

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Posted By: J.McMurry

So do most feel that even though PSA has grading problems, they're the lesser of two evils?

Yeah, that BCC whatever was a foolish move on Beckets part. Thought they may have had the right idea with BVG though, just maybe didnt run it right?

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Posted By: dennis

i have heard here, some collectors,who have a great degree of knowledge,(not i) would not trust beckett to authenticate rare cards.

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Posted By: Julie

who want to collect graded cards prefer SGC.

I like mine raw.

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Posted By: quan

i would let psa grade my cards as i know the cards are good and i don't get any head-scratching grades....however i'd rather buy an sgc-graded over a psa graded card (better value and more security), while i don't think i'll send any more cards to sgc.

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Posted By: scot reader

I collect VG-EX to NM T206s and I send them all to PSA. It's a matter of simple economics. PSA graded T206s sell for a slight premium relative to SGC and GAI graded T206s, and a larger premium relative to T206s graded by lesser services. I've surveyed this on ebay. If the market changes and SGC or GAI graded T206s start commanding a price premium over PSA , I will switch grading services. But until then I'll be dealing with what many on this board regard as the Evil Empire (PSA), the Death Star (PSA headquarters in Newport Beach) and Darth Vader (Joe Orlando).

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Posted By: Glenn

I would agree that it makes sense to send your cards to PSA since they do command something of a premium. But if you're buying graded cards, PSA, SGC, and GAI are all fine. PSA, as the Microsoft of third-party grading services, attracts a lot of criticism, some of it warranted, but my own dealings with them have been mostly positive. I think Beckett is in a good position for the future since they specialize in modern cards, and the number of ungraded vintage cards decreases with each passing day (while the opposite is true of modern cards), but I'd say they've given up on marketing their vintage service (BVG), and I don't think anyone will shed a tear if they eliminate it entirely. But selling a BGS 10 of some card that was printed a month ago for fifty times the price of a BGS 9 is hardly the same game as selling a PSA 7 for three times the price of a PSA 5 for some card that was printed 100 years ago, and it's anyone's guess how much longer there will be a market for the former.

Glenn

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Posted By: JimB

That PSA generally brings in higher value on cards including pre-WWII tells me that most people prefer PSA despite a rather vocal (if not necessarily large) chorus to the contrary on this forum. I personally think the three (PSA, SGC, GAI) are about on par with one another in terms of their actual grading. I think they deserve to be valued the same, but currently they are not in many instances, though the difference is shrinking in the vintage market. They all make mistakes; they are human, but it is relatively rare. You see a few more mistakes in PSA holders, but I am not convinced that means they make a greater percentage of mistakes per submission. They probably have graded at least 10 times as many cards as the other services combined. I personally will buy cards in any of the three holders or raw if I am buying them in person or from somebody I trust. Just my .02.
JimB

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

How much does it cost to get your cards graded by PSA? Is there a annual (big turnoff), and whatis the minium you have to pay to get a card graded? The reason I ask is that from my understand it costs a minmum $10 to get a card graded by PSA whereas you can get down to $6 a card with SGC. That is 40% for PSA and that does add up.

I find it curious that someone would get a card graded by PSA with no intention of selling the card because it commands a higher premium. If PSA does take a dump, which it looks like they are well on there way, what is it worth then? the holder it sits in and if that is the case I will take a SGC holder over all the other holders.

How many times can a company have public lawsuits thrown against them before there is a wake up call in the hobby?
I have no problem with people using PSA for grading and reselling but to use them for a holder and future great rewards, I really wonder. I just laugh at how many people that use PSA and try to use the excuse that it is a good company.

Would you put your money in a bank knowing that they continually have lawsuits against them and there executives are continually caught lying and not backing up there product? I know I wouldn't.

SGC is my grader of preference,

Lee

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Posted By: Glenn

Lee,

A full price listing is available at http://www.psacard.com/submission_news.chtml

I am a member, which cost me $99 for the year and includes some freee submissions and other benefits, but I don't plan to renew. In general, it's probably not worth the price of membership for anyone who doesn't have a large number of cards waiting to be graded, but as a member I was able to use one of PSA's monthly grading specials to have several dozens cards graded at $5 each. (And the turnaround was only two weeks.) Those were all post-WWII though; not sure if they ever offer any deals like that for the older stuff.

Glenn

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Posted By: J.McMurry

The Thing that really concerns me as a novice in graded cards, is the fact that some criminals were making fake PSA cards,in holders etc. I have not heard any thing like this happening with the other graders.(please feel free to educate me on this) I would be very wary of buying a PSA card right now due to the fact that it may be a WIWAG "special". Is this a legit concern, or am I just showing my ignorance?

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Posted By: Josh K.

Im no expert on the matter but I dont think that there is any way to know how many wiwag cards are still out there. psa has never identified them or explained how consumers can id them. that said, Ive always been under the impression that (1) the problem is primarily limited to high end cards (ie psa 9s/10s) - therefore the average collector buying low to midgrade psa cards shouldnt have too much concern; and (2) that the many of the cards have been taken off the market. Bottom line - buy the card and not the grade - if its graded a 5 but looks like a 3, just bid accordingly.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

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