BST Terminology
 

Oftentimes I see BST listings with the following titles: “Want to Buy Low Grade ____”. Maybe it’s just me, but I find these hilarious. Does the buyer really want to buy a low grade card or just a cheap card? Nothing wrong with the latter, but why not just say it. Would the original poster be happy if they were offered a high priced low grade card, or be offended and turn down an offer of a low priced high grade card? “Sorry, that price is attractive but that card is way too nice”

I think it helps the context initially. When I LTB list I usually don't use that term but try and be more specific i.e. I'm building two sets, low grade E98 MS & hi-grade E94 (yes I was sober when I made those decisions) so for the 98's I'll be specific and list 1-3 range, creases ok, no trim, no BSF etc. the 94's I just list hi-grade since that pretty much says it all, only problem is Tbob has em all but that's a different post...

I think it's just you :) If I want hilarious I'll go with the Marx Brothers or Eddie Murphy.

I've used the term "low grade" because for most of my pre-war sets that accurately describes what I am collecting. In theory I would by a PSA 7 T206 for a raw F/G price, I do not think it has ever happened, not is it likely to. Low grade seems to describe what I am buying accurately.

The nice thing about this hobby is that there is no wrong way to collect and, for the most part, there are no hobby gatekeepers enforcing their particular vision.

Not everyone has the wallet to run with the big dogs. If you can afford to collect high grade or rare cards, you are fortunate. Not everyone has the same resources or priorities. Stating that they are looking for low grade does a service to buyer and seller by keeping both from wasting time on mismatched expectations.

And, since every thread needs a card:

https://i1.wp.com/onestopcounselings...00%2C600&ssl=1

Exactly, they're setting a condition for a card they could purchase in that price range. If they says they want a VG card and you offered them an EX-MT card for double, they would have to tell you they can't afford it. Not everyone has the card fund that you big spenders seem to. Some are budget shoppers who prefer to shop in TJ Maxx instead of Saks 5th Ave.

I may be in the minority on this site, but I prefer lowgrade cards over pristine ones. It means the card was played with and handled, not tossed in a drawer and forgotten about. Plus, I don't have to worry about card doctors!

If you're in the minority, then I'm there with you.

Me too! I like this club too.


Since Leon likes to have a card in every thread...



.

+100000. I always consider the source. And some sources never change.

I prefer this over people pretending to be buyers.

Someone had a WTB post. No mention of player, grade, or anything...just sport and decade. I sent them a PM with a link to one of my Net54 photo albums.

They were kind enough to offer almost 30% of recent eBay comps for one of my graded cards.

What a guy.

Low grade
 

Low grade doesn't always mean low cost. I collect T213-2's and I am willing to pay up for a low grade card that I need for my set. I just don't want to have to mess around with the high grade cards that may be offered if I don't specify "low grade".

For instance, the Cobb shown below isn't exactly cheap, but I am happy with the condition and I am happy with the price that I paid. I don't want or need a higher grade card.

One might read "cheap" in this context as "only interested if you're selling for less than it's worth."

Most of my pre war cards are 1s and 2s, so I definitely mean low grade when I say I'm looking for a card. Usually can't afford the higher grades.

please make room among the minority for me...

I want a card that I'm not afraid of touching. Good to Very Good... maybe up a bit. I can live with an occasional tiny pin hole, I don't want a trimmed card, I can live with a wrinkle or crease...

A term I don't understand is Off Back... Is that rare backs, tough backs, scarce backs, skinned backs, official backs... When did Off Back start appearing?

Off back means any back "not Peidmont or Sweet Caporal." Not sure when it started being used but its certainly easier than saying the above.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

I am completely out of touch with pretty much all card collecting acronyms, abbreviations, and terminology.

What is a skinned back, technically?

What is EPDG?

El Principe de Gales.

From what I understand, this refers to a genuine card front affixed to a non-original back.

The way I read that response it seemed backwards, to me.

A skinned back is where the card has been soaked to the point where the back can be pealed away from most of the card... someone could put that back on a fake front, or a legitimate front to sandwich together the pieces.

Alternatively, a skinned front would be a paper thin version of a card front, where the front was pealed away.

Back when these cards came out, they'd often get pasted into scrapbooks with oatmeal paste. Those cards would easily soak off of the scrapbook pages; and notwithstanding what folks get in a rage about when it comes to graded cards and card altering, these former scrapbook cards are a major source of tobacco cards with sharp corners and high grade numbers.

Back to those kids and scrapbooks... if the cards were glued in with something strong, the result would be where we see paper remnants or torn places on the backs. If the card was severely glued to a sturdy page, then the result of a removal attempt may well have been a paper-thin skinned card front...

I am in that minority too. I wouldn't be chasing after (alleged) high grade old cards even if I had the budget for it. Something fishy about them.

I want to be the minority...
Stepped out of the line
Like a sheep runs from the herd
Marching out of time
To my own beat now the only way I know
--Green Day

And a card...

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0Armstrong.jpg

Technically correct. I'll buy a near mint card for poor prices, but this is not a reasonable expectation I have. "Low grade" clearly and quickly lets potential sellers know what I am looking for so they don't waste their time clicking it, sending a message, and then I counter-offer a raw fair price point for their PSA 7 of the card I'm looking for. I guess I could say "looking for any grade of card, but I am only willing to pay the going rate of a raw good card" but that's just word clutter that servers 0 practical purpose.

Although I have never posted a "Looking to Buy" in the BST, if I did I would include a "low condition" request. Whenever I have sold cards, I like to call out my lesser beaters as low condition, because it reinforces that the card(s) are not slabbed by a stinkin' third party grader...they are just condition challenged, as all century or near century old cards aspire toward.

Brian

George Carlin would agree with OldJudge, I think
 

I have also never posted a WTB in BST. I can see that the wording OldJudge lampooned is actually highly efficient at communicating meaningful information that helps minimize time wasted making offers that would be DOA. But, I have to admit, I got a chuckle out of his point, which I took along the lines of George Carlin asking: "Why do we drive on parkways, but park on driveways?".

If you post that you are looking to buy a specific card people will show you every other card but that card LOL

Say for example you were looking for a 1965 Mickey Mantle PSA 6 Only a PSA 6. People will show you Beckett, SGC, or RAW card with all grades other then a 6.

They will say I don’t have that but I have this meaning trying to offload their junk on you. Hahahah

“Why do we call it a building? It’s already built!”

Sorry, I may have done a poor job explaining myself. Here a link to an SGC graded "skinned" card sold by Heritage Auctions in 2020:

https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-c...152003-43010.s

This is what Heritage and SGC have in mind when the term "skinned" is used.