Question About Card Altering
 

Taking an informal poll. If you had a card you knew was either previously altered or would only get an authentic grade anyway, would you alter it further (trim rough edge or clean up) to make it more asthetically pleasing? I'm not asking from a moral standpoint, just from a visual one.
Thanks.

There are a bunch of BC N172 cards on ebay right now that have horrible trim jobs. I looked at each one to see if any had large enough borders that could be "re-trimmed" to make the card more aesthetically appealling. I wouldn't do this to try an fool anyone, I would have done it to make the card look more presentable. Unfortunately the cards I saw were trimmed so bad that "re-trimming" them would have made them look worse because there wouldn't be much of a border left. I passed on it.

To answer the question - I would do something like that under certain and rare circumstances. Hey, didn't Buck Barker trim a lot of his cards down? Yes, but that was for a different reason.

Interesting question. I've done this once, to a card tucked deep inside my personal collection. The card had been heavily trimmed in such a way that is was distracting. I don't ever plan on parting with it, but if I did, I'd certainly disclose it.

I've never trimmed a card myself, but I don't get cards graded, and only buy them if I can't find what I want raw. The whole process seems like a scam to me, and furthermore, it's just so un-sexy.

Baseball card collecting is a lot more fun outside of that realm. If I had a trimmed card and didn't know it, I wouldn't care. I don't need a grading company to tell me that my card is what I want to own. I know it when I look at it.

I think this would depend on what you are doing with the card,of course.I am one of those people who have a hard time telling if a card has been trimmed,which is why I prefer to buy cards graded by a reputable company.
If it's an obvious hack-job,I can see it-but I guess some people are good at altering cards.
I think if you are planning on keeping the card,and not selling it,you should do what makes you happy.
I do not buy any cards with the "Authentic" label.The only way I would is if it were an old cabinet card,or a card so rare the grade wouldn't matter much.
Ever since I bought this '59 Koufax awhile back on Ebay,and realised I really can't tell if it's been trimmed or not,I decided to stick with graded cards-can you tell if it's been trimmed??(see below)
Respectfully,Clayton

If I felt like I knew how to do it without damage, there are some cards I own that could use a cleaning. For some reason a lot of the 1930's cards I own look very brown around the white edges. Cleaning these wouldn't even affect the grade from what I've noticed, but it would make them much more visually appealing.

The top border of the Koufax looks trimmed.

Since I collect some things that originally were cut off boxes or packages (Wheaties, Kahn's, etc.), I've considered your question before. I trimmed a few ragged-edged cards at first, but when I mentioned this to several collectors, it was clear some were offended by what I did. As a compromise, I simply "trim" the borders straight (thanks to Photoshop) on my website and leave the originals alone ...

My collection: http://imageevent.com/ccmcnutt

Thanks Barry,I agree.
The thing that throws me off is when I look closely at that corner,it almost looks like a soft corner that the guy tried to make "look sharper".
Also,when I put another card behind it,it sizes the same?
I am a Dodger fan,so I plan to keep it.Trimmed or not.:D

If there's no resale deception involved, I don't believe there's anything wrong with further trimming. The example I have in mind is a card with a really bad trimmed edge and someone tries to make it look nicer.