Photo slabbing/authentication

[Exhibitman]

If your opinion is that all slabbing/third party authenticating sucks, this is not the thread for you. If you are not an anti-slabbing reactionary, read on.

1. I noticed in the Henry Yee auction that quite a few photos are in PSA slabs and quite a few others are loose but have PSA LOAs accompanying them. I understand why it is not possible to encapsulate an oversized item, but if the item fits in the slab is there a marketing reason to opt for an LOA rather than encapsulation?

2. Does the PSA service add value to photos on resale?

3. Is there any service other than PSA that will slab photos?

4. Anyone with experience submitting photos to PSA have any stories to share?

5. Assuming I wanted to send in photos to PSA for slabbing, does that mean I either have to join their club or send them in through an authorized dealer?

6. Does PSA slab undersized photos? If I have a 5 x 7, for example, would PSA slab it in an 8 x 10 slab with one of their infamous plastic wraps on it?

7. Anyone ever use BVG for encapsulating photos? How did that work out?

8. I have several photos that were encapsulated by CGC. All came from the same seller, J Parrino, and all were images from the Culver Archive. I really liked the product: it was flexible but about twice as thick as a card saver and could be stored in an oversized notebook because it had a three-hole notebook prepunch on the left margin [not shown below]. Anyone know the story on these? Here is an example: