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JohnI think the reason most of us are less critical with subjective grades with dealers is simple. We have all been collecting for many years and over those years have gotten to know certain dealers concept of grading like it or not. I think Leon posted a thread about Fritsch. The reason we are less forgiving when it comes to grading companies is a few reasons.
1.)Dealers don’t charge us to grade their cards. They assign a grade for free.
2.)Most dealers don’t claim to be the end all word when it comes to quality and cards. Most will hear the buyer out and work out a price based on the 2 opinions involved with the card that is being offered for sale.
3.)When you claim to be the expert that’s a big thing and people expect some consistency, after all that’s the whole reason these companies were invented in the first place or at least they claim it to be. To help us not have to rely on accepting subjectivity with dealers grades.
4.)If we still should use our eyes and subjectivity then why assign grades at all. Even further why pay someone to look at your cards. Hell we used subjectivity before it cost $12 a card to get them looked at. If we need to use subjectivity what the hell are we paying these guys for and what are they brining to the table. One of their business models is listed below and subjectivity doesn’t seem to be a part of it, other than using it to their advantage in a negative light against non graded cards.
“We’re the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) -- the world’s largest third-party authentication service. No more guesswork or taking the word of one dealer over another. Now you can have your sports cards graded by an unbiased group of the hobby’s most experienced sports card grading experts -- and at the same time be assured that the only interest they have in your cards is to make sure they’re properly graded and carefully preserved. PSA’s permanent grading standard is recognized industry-wide as the best possible form of consumer protection. So when you see a card for sale in a holder displaying the PSA logo, you’ll know you can buy with the confidence that the card has been properly and professionally graded. If you want to verify the grade of a card before you sell, have it graded by PSA and realize its full value without leaving any money on the table.”