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Marc S.I guess my biggest beef with this whole thing revolves around trimmed cards. Over the past 15 years, a significant number of important (and common) cards have entered into our hobby as trimmed.
Trimmed cards always sell for a significant discount -- and that won't change. Nonetheless, there are some collectors who would prefer a trimmed T-205 Ty Cobb that "looks" Excellent over an authentic one that has four creases and numerous border chips.
I've seen a few Old Judge card with pinholes in them. What does this mean in terms of grading? In my mind, it is the same thing as trimming. Part of the card is gone. The intent may be different (pinholes were put there by people who weren't actively collecting them, whereas a card trim is usually done intentionally to improve the appearance and potentially deceive someone). Nonetheless, it is an alteration.
If someone is new to this hobby and asks you questions, you will tell them a lot of things. You will tell them the risks of buying graded cards from PRO, BVG and ASA. You will tell them the risks of buying ungraded cards and how to look for/spot altered examples. It is only through information that they will make informed choices. And, I would imagine, they would at some point evaluate their budget and preferences and determine whether or not they would accept any trimmed cards in their collection -- whether purchased raw or in a graded card holder.
Back to my free market topic: Four or five months ago, there was a small furor when we all learned that both PSA and SGC were grading the T206 Honus Wagner reprint cards. To this very day, people still purchase them. Yet the market seems to have reacted fairly efficiently in that process, and it hasn't affected the hobby much.