Csa?
 

I gather they were a now defunct grading company? Were they legit? Would you feel comfortable buying a high end pre-war card they graded? Thanks for any knowledge you can pass on.

In my experience they were not not legit. Lots of trimmed cards graded as if they were true to size with perfect edges and corners.

Still grading...for themselves and friends. I think out of Florida, now. Company has changed hands several times but always been owned by a skilled card doctor.

Im no expert but id never buy anything in that case

The original CSA was actually very good. Now, not so.

Old CSA was okay
 

.. the old old CSA graded cards were okay ; I have a lot of graded post-war , no worries... the new big bright glossy hologram style ???... The cards really look sort of a bit too perfect.....too short or too narrow to the eye.......picture "Battlefield" owning a grading company....

..

Csa
 

When CSA started, around 1996, in London Ohio (sort of close to Columbus,OH) they slabbed cards from local collectors who could drop cards off for grading and pick them up without shipping cards. The slabs looks sort of like PSA holders, with red and white flips.

There are alot of good cards in holders from this era. Most of these cards have been regraded by now. In the late 1990's I regraded a decent amount of these cards to PSA successfully.

Most cards in other CSA holders are problems.

Thanks all. You guys are the font of all knowledge. Very much appreciated.

Another thing brought up earlier in thread...
 

And why does eBay continue to allow sellers like the one mentioned above, when that seller has 15-30 extremely dissatisfied buyers a month? Anything this card collecting group on Net54 can do?

Believe it or not, before SGC or BVG, CSA was the 2nd leading grading company after PSA. It was after they started reinventing themselves with different holders that problems began. I think, as others have mentioned, that if entombed in their original red and white case then the card has a good chance of being ok. I didn't realize they still operated.

In the early years of CSA they may have been legit but I know several former and present PSA dealers who used CSA in the mid 90s for cards that PSA rejected and this was well before they changed their holder. The holder change took place around the time the next card doctor took over.

Just like GAI, who came well after them, they were 100% legit in the beginning but ended up slabbing just about anything that was submitted to them as long as it "looked right".