Posted By:
warshawlaw1.) Which of three major companies do you use and trust the most and why?
--SGC, hands down. They have the nicest looking holders and grade cards the most consistently. I always found that PSA came back with at least one or two really off grades per load I sent them. You also cannot compare the drop-worthiness of PSA and SGC holders. The PSA holders crack or shatter every time; the SGC holders, not. Every single graded card I have ever had damaged in the mail has been a PSA card. Also, PSA uses those darn card condoms to encapsulate offsized issues, which are most of the prewar cards, and they look like crap and let the cards slide around way too much.
2.) Which of the above companies seems to have better resale if any in your opinion?
PSA generally brings slightly better prices, esp. on postwar stuff. SGC and PSA are equal, possibly SGC even a little better on the really old stuff BUT the really old cards are so desirable over the last year or so that I don't think it matters which from among the big companies are doing the slabbing.
3.) Do you feel graded cards have had a positive or negative effect on our hobby?
Depends on your perspective (there's a lawyer answer for you).
Financial: When the slabbing phenomenon first hit, it very quickly jacked up prices on higher end cards in what had been a pretty stagnant market. So, if you were "in" with your cards already, you made a lot of money, as was the case if you had a good eye for grades and were able to buy raw cards for %'s of Becketts and have them slabbed. On the other hand, it really jacked up prices and brought the investment weasels back into the fray, pricing many cards out of the reach of many people.
Mail Order: I do feel that the grading "thing" has been a boon to mail order buying. I was so dissatisfied with what I was getting via mail order that I'd virtually stopped buying that way prior to the slabbing thing. I now deal almost exclusively in slabbed cards through the mail. It has cut my returns down almost 100%. That is a good thing.
4.) Do you feel ultra high-end mega buck cards are a sound investment, or overpriced hype and marketing?
Again, depends on your perspective. As the stock marketeers often say, never wrong, only early. Prices historically (and we are talking 30 years here) generally trend up on cards. The question is whether your cards will trend upwards slowly or quickly. The 9-10-11 hype is just that, hype. If I showed you a PSA 8-9-10 side by side without the grades, I suspect that most of the time you would not be able to pick out one from the other. Also, these cards are so pricey already that there is a very thin market for them. Now, if you have some raw cards that come back 9-10, as some of mine recently did, yahoo, jump on the money train. I personally do not buy anything graded higher than a 7 unless I get it for a 7 price.
5.) Does having your cards graded always assure you better profits when selling vs. non-graded?
Depends on the issue. For prewar cards, absolutely, especially if in nicer shape. For modern stuff, not unless you get a 9-10-11
6.) Which of the above companies is the most consistent in there grading in your opinion?
SGC, hands down. GAI is consistent too--consistently overgraded.
7.) Do you feel any of the above companies are biased or give special treatment and considerations to larger customers of there’s. As compared to the avg. consumer?
I have no evidence of that, but I do believe that it happens, although not in the way you may be thinking. My experience has been that once a grading company staff gets to know you, esp. if you are an advanced collector, they will take your word for what it is you are submitting. It doesn't change the grade, but it does get you encapsulations on cards that are so rare that there is no way they'd know what they were unless you told them. Is that preferential treatment? I'm not sure. After all, if I am the expert in the particular field, does it matter if I opine that my XYZ card is what it is, when the alternative is to come to me to ask me what it is?
8.) Do you ever feel graded cards and companies will go away or will they become even more prominent in our hobby?
I think they have reached about the plateau they will hit in terms of influence. I do think that they will face an increasingly small market unless they figure out new ways to market themselves, because the supply of vintage cards is finite and they are rapidly chewing through it. The set registry thing was a brilliant scheme to get commons graded. They are going to have to come up with something more, though, to survive. I foresee them moving increasingly into encapsulation of miscellaneous paper items (tickets, autographs, programs, checks, photos, etc.).