[Northviewcats]

I really don't know the formula PSA uses to create the SMR, but I suspect that its creation is as much about marketing their grading services as reality.

Other price guides like Beckett have long been used by kids to determine a value for their collection. I remember my sons being more interested in getting the latest Beckett Price Guide, to track the latest fluctuation in price in their Michael Jordan card, than in buying new cards. Every childhood trader worth his salt had to have the latest Beckett. The guide helped determine whether it was a "good deal" trading an Isaiah Thomas rookie for two Dennis Rodmans. The guide also enhanced the experience of opening a new pack and comparing the value of their new treasures. The Beckett was a good marketing tool to promote the sale of cards.

Well, SMR does the same thing for PSA graded cards. PSA of course is promoting the sale of their grading services. Someone at PSA might be calling around to various retail sellers to get their latest retail prices on a particular card, but I doubt it. It makes more sense to create a formula that would promote their objective. A possible pricing formula PSA might use might be VR+GC+20%=SMR.

This would be the value of the card in its ungraded state, plus the cost to grade it, plus 20% profit if you have it graded.

The idea is that a card is always worth more if you send it in to get graded. What PSA is hoping for is that you look at your raw cards and send in the cards that you believe will be worth more if you have them graded. The SMR is a marketing nudge that will help you do this. (Note that the SMR does not assign values for lower condition cards when they drop below the cost of having them graded. That would defeat the marketing purpose of the guide.)

Of course the problem is SMR cannot really determine the value of a card in a raw state, nor the the cards value to someone who really wants the card in their collection. Thus, it never can be an accurate price guide of a particular cards worth.

I really don't have a problem with the SMR. I look at it all the time when I get in a new lot of 60-70s cards that I'm going to flip. I tend to think of it as a guide to help me determine if I should get a card graded or sell it raw. It also has helped me to look at a cards attributes and flaws more closely before submitting a card for grading. Best of all, it reminds me of my children sitting on the floor in the family room, thumbing through a Beckett magazine before pulling the trigger on a big trade.

Best regards,

Joe