Posted By:
Paul MossOne of the reasons we employ the services of grading companies is to establish a mutually acceptable plateau of what a card is, and its relative value commensurate to the assigned grade. We pay for this service which encompasses more than just entombing a card in plastic. As we deal with the major grading services, those who guarantee the authenticity and particular grade of a card with a check should the card not prove to be as they had originally ascertained, why on God's green earth should a dealer be expected a year later to refund the purchase price of a card because that particular card might not be as the grading company had originally established? Take it up with the grading service, not the dealer.
Sure, altered stuff slips through the cracks, it's a given considering the time allocated to inspecting the card by the respective company. What do people expect given the relative low costs of grading? Overall, the percentage of stuff getting through is small nowadays. Sure, there's plenty of crap in many of the early slabs of the grading companies, I mean cards that have been worked over harder than a hooker at a bachelor party, but the overall number today is much smaller. For the relative low costs in grading, coupled with their respective guarantees, it's a bargain.
Did I just hear "Spend more time evaluating the card" from the back of the room? OK, are you willing to pay what it would take to really give a card a truly thorough examination? I mean running the card under different UV frequencies, various color filters, microscopic examination of areas and edges that are questionable, electronic calipers for overall paper thickness, and the tried and true eyes of someone who has been around the block?
Sorry, but if I sold a slabbed card from a major company a year or two or three ago, and you now don't like it. I'd have to say sorry. I paid for that company's expertise and guarantee, and we both accepted these facts at the time of sale.