Question about Grading
 

I have searched and can't find any answers to my current question. I'm hoping that the deep knowledge pool here can assist. I have a Beckett card graded through their Raw service apparently at the Chicago convention last year. I purchased this and it appears to be legit with the sticker intact. It is a older card and I need it for my collection in this particular grade. I called Beckett about having it slabbed and I was informed by their employee that the grading process will start again for this card once it is sent to them and there is no guarantee that it will get the same grade. Apparently the previous grading means nothing at this point (after convention). I have three options:
1) Send to Beckett and hope for the best.
2) Send to Psa as a crossover to only be broke out if it meets the grade that it has previously received.
3) Keep it in its current state (with Raw Sticker intact from Beckett).

I would like opinions on this please. The advantage of number 2 (If Psa will accept a raw grade as a crossover) is that if Psa won't give it the grade I want I can still send it to Beckett.

I would think Beckett would have a predilection towards keeping it at that grade, in part because one of their employees already assigned it that grade. I assume the person who raw graded it was one of Beckett's regular graders.

I'm not saying Beckett won't change the grade and I'm not giving any percentages one way or the other, but it would seem a strong chance if not probably chance it would receive the same grade. They may have told you what they told you mostly because they can't guarantee anything without seeing the card in their hands. They can't assign a definite grade over the telephone.

I agree that the strongest chance would be from Beckett. I guess from their perspective its possible that someone has tampered or damaged the card after the show was over. If the card is removed from its holder and goes through the grading process again blindly it does put chance (as we all know) back into the grading procedure. The PSA route is interesting because of the fact that the card stays in the holder if it will not crossover.
As far as keeping it in its current state, I like the idea of being to recoup my investment on a card and I think selling it raw (sticker intact) some day will be tough (higher chance of fraud).

I would say it depends on what the card is worth. If its a 20-30 dollar card once graded forget sending it in, not worth the time money or hassle. Simply wait until u see another one that has already been graded and purchase that one, then offer your current card on ebay.

Beckett RCR
 

Crossfire,

I see your predicament. I am considering some of the same options; however, my card is already graded by Beckett (BGS) and therefore, does not have an "indicative" grade as your does through their RCR (Raw Card Review) service.

I am not a graded card expert by any means. I am happy with the grade and am going to leave my card "as is" for right now - but if I ever sell the set or card - I will go with option #2 above using a cross-over service with my minimum established grade (they won't break it out and re-slab it if they feel it does not grade to your specified grade).

However, since your card is in an RCR semi-rigid holder with an indicative grade, I would be tempted to go ahead and have it officially grade in a rigid holder.

Best of luck either way.

Z Wheat

To clarify the card is worth several hundred dollars in its current grade.

I would send it to Beckett, since as David said, they'll probably want to keep it in the same grade. Since the raw card reviews are in a Card Saver however, they can be damaged if they are dropped, something falls on the card, etc. It's probably more of a general disclaimer that they can't guarantee the original grade on the card. Still to protect yourself, you can probably still submit the card as a crossover with the minimum grade as the grade on the card. If it doesn't crossover to Beckett, it probably won't cross to PSA since Beckett would already be giving it the benefit of the doubt as discussed before. Then, I'd just sell the card in the raw card review holder.

Will Beckett treat a crossover in the same way as PSA? That is keep it in its original holder unless it will meet the grade. If this is the case then there is little risk in having Beckett do a crossover service. Worst thing that could happen would be I get the card back with my original grade. I would think it would be poor business practice and publicity for Beckett to do this (not honor its own grade).

I have submitted several raw graded cards and either received the raw grade or a higher grade, never lower. I'm pretty sure the only reason Beckett will not guarantee the same grade is the possibility of damage from the time between raw grade and BVG submission. As stated before, not honoring raw grades would be a terrible way to promote your raw grading service. I'd send it to Beckett for sure.

BTW- submitted a raw graded 1951 bowman Mantle at a 3.5, came back a slabbed 4.0!

why do you need it at the same grade? its exactly the same card no matter what 'number' they give it.

are you collecting cards or collecting numbers? i have the number 5 for sale at a 20% discount and it is graded a Cobb.

the numbers don't mean anything. the card is going to be in the exact same shape is was previously. It's called CARD collecting.

The number attached to a card helps determine its market value. Not everyone's a purist, money plays a role. Number and holder collectors play their part in the hobby.

For my personal collection, I follow this line of thinking myself. I do admit to being sucked into the graded card game a lot more the last year and a half though. If it's a card that I have marked for trade/sale in the future, almost have to pursue graded cards.
Becomes a money thing :o

I like the uniformity of having ALL cards in a particular set slabbed by the same TPG. For most people I would say money does come in to play somewhere along the line. If you are "well heeled" purist than probably not so much. For the rest of us tho - I would prefer to know exactly what I have (as verified by TPG) just in case I ever need/want to market the little cardboard pictures of baseball men.

I had this same experience with a T206 Cobb (bat on shoulder) in a pregraded Beckett holder with an overall grade of 2.5. I sent it to BVG for encapsulation and it came back BVG 2.5 in the official slab.