[benjulmag]

I think both the comments in the first post introducing this thread and the two responses are well thought out and raise interesting issues.

I agree that as a practical matter it could be dicey for a TPG to tell the market its service is not of the quality that it can in a cost-effective way offer a guaranty, as a submitter would reasonably wonder then exactly what he/she is getting for his/her money to have a card graded. On top of this is the issue of what market value a card graded without a guaranty will have, especially if it should become the next "hot card". Any prospective purchaser would demand the card be regraded with a guaranty, and if it should be found to be altered, the person who graded it under the non-guaranty system will be very unhappy, especially now that the card is a "hot card". Finally, how does one even distinguish guaranteed from non-guaranteed cards? I would think for it to work in a commercial setting it would have to be by some conspicuous marking on the flip. Otherwise, one would need to look up a certification number out of a list of millions, and who would want to do that? And if there was such a designation, the card would stand out in a negative way in a showcase amongst cards that do have the guaranty.

This issue, in the context of the voluminous threads/posts and about the current alteration scandal, highlights to me another potentially more serious issue -- the profitability of altering lesser-grade cards. Up to now, my focus had been on the high grade cards that sell for the highest prices. But it would seem to me that altering lesser grade cards is also very profitable, as the percentage increase in price from going up a grade or two are very high, and also the success rate might be higher because a grader might give less scrutiny to a lower grade card.

So if we have something where a two-tiered grading system is not practical, and the current system which seems to miss a lot of altered cards also has problems, where does third party grading go? I think it is only a matter a time before a new system involving new technology supplants the current system. Cards simply sell for too much and card doctors are simply too sophisticated for a system that is based on looking at a card for a very short period of time with equipment not designed to detect 21st century alterations.