Effect of Trimming

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Posted By: peter chao

Guys,

Leon missed this in his poll on defects. But let's say a card has been trimmed and now looks like it's near mint. How much does the trimming of the card reduce the value of the card. Does it now become 1/2 of near mint price or should it be valued even less. Remember that after the trimming it looks near mint.

Peter

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Posted By: Paul

Much less than 1/2, but it's hard to say exactly what the effect would be from set to set and player to player. I think most collectors would prefer a VG card to a trimmed card that looks NR MT, and I think VG cards sell for way under 1/2 of Nr Mt cards.

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Posted By: Brad Green

Here's a recent example of a Lefty Grove Diamond Star card on eBay that the seller said was trimmed. The card sold for $89. An untrimmed Nr-Mt Grove Diamond Star card would cost thousands of dollars (if it were professionally graded)... An ungraded Nr-Mt Grove Diamond Star that was not trimmed might run you $700...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220079107000

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

This is the big delimma. A lot of collectors (so called purist) treat trimmed cards as if they are Scarlet lettered women of the past. Personally, I see nothing wrong witha scarlet lettered woman.

It's incredible that a PSA9 or PSA8 prewar card will garnish sooooo much money. These cards are the ones that will have the razor sharp edges/corners that high end collectors cherish. The sad part is that if PSA or SGC deems the card "clean" (not trimmed) then the card is worth several multiples of that same card in a basic collectors grade (lets say Vg/Ex or even Ex). If PSA or SGC deem the card trimmed then people will proclaim that it's worth several multiples less than the basic collectors grade. This is why people submit and continually resubmit a card in an effort to get one of the grading companies to give it an 8 or 9 grade. People realize the potential difference in perceived "value".

Now back to the original question - heck, if the trim job is minimal and possibly not detectable then the trimmed card is potentially worth a lot of money if someone submits and resubmits until SGC or PSA give it an 8 or 9 grade.... if it's an obvious hack job then the card is worth dog doo doo in the eyes of a lot of collectors...

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Many collectors don't want a card that is trimmed-- not even interested in owning it. This automatically cuts the demand for and value of a trimmed card. Most of the rest will probably value a trimmed 'Near Mint' in the Poor to GdVg range, possibly up to Vg. A trimmed card grades Poor (some would say lower)-- though some collectors will consider it an especially good looking Poor card. For very rare and desirable early cards, ala a Peck & Snyder or SF Hess, they can be priced higher.

A lot of it will depend on the card/issue. With a 1982T Ripken rookie, the collector can pass on a trimmed card as there are a few thousands of other examples to chose. With a Zeenut Fatty Arbuckle, on the other hand, there are only a few examples total, and an owner of a trimmed example would have no trouble finding a buyer.

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

A trimmed Lajoie R319 sold in the last REA for 22K which is higher then a PSA 4 and almost as much as a SGC 60. It did look good though.

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Posted By: peter chao

David, Bobby

I guess you guys are saying basically the same thing. Although trimming is bad, if the card is extremely rare, in some instances trimming will be tolerated.

Peter

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Posted By: quan

i didn't interpret bobby's post that way. i'm sure that card will find its way into a holder somewhere if someone was willing to drop 22 large on it.

i've been practicing on my '89 donruss randy johnsons...

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Posted By: leon

To determine trimming, and it's effect on value, you need to look at each card on it's own merits. The price could be from 10% to 75% of a non-trimmed card, imo. There is no way to be exact, generally speaking (boy that sounded weird). I sold a trimmed D304 Young for about $1000....while the same card that wasn't trimmed would have been about 3k-4k...(it was low end anyway).....I have sold trimmed Mayo's that brought about 30% also, of what an untrimmed one would bring....ballpark it at 20% to 40% of the value and you will be close....imo from experience...

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Posted By: B.C.Daniels

reduces value of an 87 Donruss by 5%. So a 50 cent card is now worth 45 though no one will buy it even for 15 cents.
On a true vintage card a trimmed mint looking Cobb was purchased last year on e-bay for $2300 then sold for $13k in an SGC holder even after the seller of the trimmed one disclosed it!

BcD

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Posted By: Ed

Just my perception, but it would appear that good faith dealing allows trimmed cards to retain far more value than those sold surreptitiously or fraudulently.