[jchcollins]

It's one of the well-versed arguments of graded cards, but to me - the logic goes something like this:

Many people buy cards online today not having the opportunity to physically inspect them in-hand first. If you didn't have qualifiers, it could be hard to tell just from scans why the card in question got (for example) an EX 5 instead of a NM 7 if it was centered 75/25 on the front. Is it a true "5" card with slightly rounded corners, maybe an edge ding or a surface problem - and the centering is within the tolerance? Or is it a card that got the lower grade ONLY because it didn't meet the centering criteria? In this example, if there were no qualifiers, you wouldn't really know. Both cards would be 5's. But if the centering were the only thing holding the card back, a 7 OC would be pretty obvious about that. Yes, in theory the centering plays into the grade and each grade the lower you get has a greater tolerance for bad centering. The qualifiers used to drive me nuts too, but I see their purpose. Some collectors want only really well-centered cards and don't see the need for it. Other (mainly old school, it seems) collectors could give a flip about centering and only want a sharp card that is not miscut. For them and caring about edges and corners more than centering - the qualifiers make more sense probably.

Each unto his or her own. There is certainly plenty of choice in the marketplace. Personally I think it's kinda cool that some qualified cards sell at such a steep discount now in comparison to before TPG's when whatever the flaw was likely would not even have been considered. Picky picky we are here in the 21st century. Back in the 80's and 90's cards that were badly off-centered were routinely called "Near Mint" and above by dealers. I'm glad that's not still the case, but it's funny to think how that really wasn't so long ago.