The Opportunity

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by buymycards

This will be a great opportunity for the shady characters to cheat and scam their customers. The LOA's will be as reliable as a PSA 10 slab.

An LOA from a reputable dealer will have value. A LOA from a shady character will have none. Same as with GU stuff.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Mark17

An LOA from a reputable dealer will have value. A LOA from a shady character will have none. Same as with GU stuff.

The problem I see is how would people know who the reputable dealer is. There is one seller on your list that the only way they sold something authentic was by accident.

[MULLINS5]

I agree that there should be more offered for higher end. I don't think, though, that PSA will offer more for the same price, and for the what they charge to authenticate and grade higher end I'd already expect a full report on the item.

I've read the high fees are for insurance reasons...but there's only about $800k in reserve for payouts. If that's the case, where's the money?

[Fballguy]

Do dealers want to be authenticators too?

[Mark17]

GU dealers aren't shy about describing their items to the best of their knowledge and ability - and putting it in writing in the form of an LOA. Why not for cards, too?

[1952boyntoncollector]

The purple stickers is all that is needed.....are the purple stickers thus far untouched in this trimming scandal?

[lowpopper]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

The purple stickers is all that is needed.....are the purple stickers thus far untouched in this trimming scandal?

Funny you ask because we have a few update
posts we will be making addressing some new
policies, assurances and business model. We
just hired someone to handle our social media
so you will hear from her/us in the very near
future.

And to answer your question, no unfortunately
Purple Label is not tangled in that mess.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Mark17

GU dealers aren't shy about describing their items to the best of their knowledge and ability - and putting it in writing in the form of an LOA. Why not for cards, too?

Cards would be much more difficult. It's easy to tell if a jersey has a sewn repair. It's apparently VERY difficult to tell if a card has been doctored. Even the paid "experts" can't tell.

[perezfan]

I thought the same at first. But after seeing a ton of very obvious "misses" lately, I'm starting to believe those graders knew exactly what they were doing.

As for the OP's concept, I think it has some merit, and could potentially help to strengthen the hobby. With so many of us griping and complaining about PSA's incompetence, at least he is offering an alternative solution to the unskilled and possibly corrupt TPG graders.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Mark17

GU dealers aren't shy about describing their items to the best of their knowledge and ability - and putting it in writing in the form of an LOA. Why not for cards, too?

It's most likely a matter of scale. How many game used items does a dealer typically handle in a year? A couple hundred?

How many cards does a dealer handle in a year... PWCC usually has a few thousand at all times, running lets say 4000 a week is 208,000 a year. Lets say someone handles 1/10 the volume. That's still close to 21,000 items a year. So they'd have to write 57 letters a day.

I believe accuracy would suffer.

I do think that a TPG that gathered the same information could do very well. But it's a hard thing to try to get started, with three major competitors.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

This is an insurance policy. If dealers or auction houses do this they will have to incorporate the cost of this guarantee (money back I assume) into their product. How much are you willing to pay for an authenticity guarantee from a dealer? My guess is that it will add 15-25% to the cost of everything you buy.

How many problem TPG cards have been identified, and how much in claims have they paid out? In other words, what is this "insurance policy" you speak of?

The concept I am proposing could involve a disclaimer on the LOA that it is only an opinion. The producer of the LOA - the dealer - will have his reputation behind it, and a money-back guarantee, which reputable dealers already have.

And, for that matter, if a dealer has a better reputation than the TPG, and many do, they would save the money otherwise spent for that TPG service by doing it themselves.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

The great virtue of a market economy is that if dealers see an opportunity for profit in this, they will do it. Like Jay, I'm skeptical, but we'll see.

Exactly. Solutions can often be found by going back to the basics of the free market.

Originally Posted by steve B

It's most likely a matter of scale. How many game used items does a dealer typically handle in a year? A couple hundred?

How many cards does a dealer handle in a year... PWCC usually has a few thousand at all times, running lets say 4000 a week is 208,000 a year. Lets say someone handles 1/10 the volume. That's still close to 21,000 items a year. So they'd have to write 57 letters a day.

A dealer might just want to offer LOAs on the higher-end stuff, and something much simpler on low-end cards.

Originally Posted by steve B

I do think that a TPG that gathered the same information could do very well. But it's a hard thing to try to get started, with three major competitors.

In theory, yes, but if the graders working at tables, grading card after card and just waiting for the weekend, miss an alteration, how much do they really care? The company cares, but does the guy who made the mistake have any vested interest? A dealer protecting his hard-earned good reputation sure does.

All good comments! Not saying I have the answer, just saying I trust some people more than others when it comes to assessing baseball cards.