Posted By:
Joe D.the grading industry will do just fine - even with inconsistency.
First let me say.... I recently joined PSA and have made submissions. Prior to this I was strictly an SGC guy (and I still love SGC). I have to say - I went into the PSA situation with all of the horror stories in my head - but I have had nothing but very positive experiences. They have been courteous, on-time, and fair with their grading. By fair, I mean within a grade either way (which I think most cards would fall into that category). So far - I think they have performed as well as SGC.
As far as the value of grading:
When I was a kid - I would go from table to table and each dealer would say cards were Mint or Near Mint. Some cards would be. And some would be EX (not even close to mint / although stated as such). As a kid in a card show... it seemed I had no way to win that argument. When I would buy - everything was overstated, when I would sell - everything was understated. It was a terrible feeling. It is vital to the hobby (yes I said vital) for there to be third party opinions. It doesn't matter if those opinions are occasionally innacurate.... what matters is that the collector does not have to rely on the opinion of the dealers.