Probably an old topic - The Unethical role of graders

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Posted By: ted

These companies appear to operate under unethical circumstances. Perhaps there is something i'm missing from the mix, but if the cards value determines how much it costs to grade it... and the grade determines the value, isn't there a HUGE conflict of interest. Just a thought ... i'm sure it's been mentioned on here before.

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Posted By: Glenn

The cost of grading the card is determined before the card is received by the grading company and is therefore unaffected by the grade the card receives, so I'd say there is no ethical dilemma or conflict of interest surrounding this particular issue.

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Posted By: ted

Good point, and one that i am aware of, but hasn't the grading industry affected the price of non-graded cards.....

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Posted By: barrysloate

Most of the reason for a tier of grading fees is that the more you are willing to spend, the quicker you will have your card processed and returned to you. Obviously, if you sent in 100 T206's and 99 were commons and the other was a Plank, it goes without saying you would want the Plank back as quickly as possible, and could probably live without the commons for a month. Likewise, for insurance purposes I'm sure the graders want the expensive items in and out as quickly as possible. That all seems reasonable and I don't really see a conflict.

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Posted By: Wp

Whenever a card is handled there is a chance of it being damaged. Therefore, the higher value of the card the higher liability for the serivces. That is why it costs for to grade hi $$ cards.

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Posted By: dan mckee

WP, I am not aware of the grading services compensating anyone for damaging their cards. Ask Mark Finn who had PSA bend one in half and tell him, oops! sorry.

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Posted By: ted

See this is where i think they missed the ball.... value of a card for insurance reasons is totally independent of the service they should provide. The quality and attention needed for an older card isn't necessarily any greater than newer cards (think of how hard it is now a days to seperate a Gem Mint 10 from even an 8). Part of the reason i don't collect modern cards. A card goes in ...it in essence should come out with the same grade every single time. Paying for turn around is another issue...regardless of the value of the card to get the service in a reduced amount of time is something that should cost more! As a person who has to carry lloyd's of london insurance i am very familiar with all of these damage issue and needless to say...other than the idea that the less time i have it in my possession the less a chance of something going wrong, i'm not worried about damage.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Yes and no about how much time they should spend on each card. They may grade a thousand commons a day so they need to develop a system where these cards can be expedited. But if you sent them a raw T206 Wagner wouldn't you be willing to pay a little more in exchange for having them look at it extra carefully to make sure it is graded exactly right? After all, the difference of one grade at that level could add to or reduce the value of your card by 100K. I would certainly pay a premium if I knew they would give my Wagner a little extra attention. I think that would apply to any collectable; if you sent a painting expert a canvas you believed was a Rembrandt and wanted to have it authenticated, you would want them to spend as much time as needed to get it right.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I've had to go after them a number of times to enforce coverage for clients. Never an easy claim.

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Posted By: ted

Lol about lloyds, yes they can be difficult, but due to the nature of the business, we need insurance and they were able to provide it at a reasonable rate.

TDG

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Posted By: Julie

Two of the three fairly valuable cards I've sold recently were HAND DELIVERED by the buyers at shows to grading companies, to avoid the handling and risk of mailing services (any and all). In both cases, this involved a slight delay in submitting the card, and in one case submitting to a second-choice grader.

In one case (my card wasn't involved yet), of two grading companies working one show, the person chose the (judging from their presence at the show) less intelligent, less efficient and less knowledgable of the grading companies, because he thought it had a more lucretive name. It was only when this grading company started playing fast and loose with his money that he finally decided to switch to the lesser known company.

As far as I can see, the only excuse for getting a card graded IS "to protexct the card from myself." Now that makes a certain amount of sense.