Posted By:
Marc S.There are a few issues:
In general - especially with either higher-value cards and/or higher-grade cards, grading in general helps the value of the card - as it theoretically provides certification from an independent third party that a) the card is original and unaltered and b) a 1-10 grade of the card on a pre-determined scale.
The concept of grading in and of itself provides value - especially when you consider the rampant problems in the hobby [that often still exist today] that surfaced en masse 15 years ago with trimming, recoloring, bleaching, rebuilt corners, etc.
Now - where does that value get distributed? Each grading company is different. PSA and SGC are generally considered the "top-tier" graders. Their holders typically sell for the most. With PSA - they have been around for 15 years, and have holdered a huge number of significant baseball cards [over two dozen Wagners, for example]. Also, PSA came up with the 'PSA Set Registry' five years ago, which is either a way to showcase your sets, or it might cynically be described as a way for rich people to measure the size of their dic....er, collections against one another. The PSA Set Registry is highly popular, and the result of that is people sometimes seem to pay outrageous premiums for slight grade increases or inferior-looking cards just to beef up their set GPA on the Registry. SGC seems to have its market-niche in the pre-war arena. Despite the departure of some of their most well-known graders [most notably, Derek Grady to Mastro] - SGC has more expertise and know-how it seems in grading pre-war material.
Other grading companies abound. GAI was formed by Rocchi and Baker, who were with PSA in the beginning. GAI has been around for three+ years now, and the results seem to be a mixed bag. However you view them - they do not seem to have appreciably stepped upon the market shares of PSA or SGC. Beckett is more of a modern grader - and their cards often sell for the most in the shiny, refractor, game-used modern world of collecting. After those four grading companies - all other grading companies are generally questionable in their ability to either accurately grade or to accurately assess whether or not a card had been altered.
Does that help?