[mintacular]

While some of you guys feel knowledgable enough to spot fakes, I mentioned that many consumers (perhaps those who only buy/collect cards sparingly) may prefer the added certainty of buying graded cards, especially on an expensive card that is readily counterfeited (Mantle/Clemente/Jordan/Lemieux, etc.) While you (rightly) point out that grading companies are not always 100% correct, the good ones will get it right 95-99% of the time and as such offer an advantage for SOME buyers...

(Sidenote: I do agree with the overall sentiment that graded card collectors oftentimes do overpay unnecessarily and for reasons that I don't personally care for. i.e. buying the "holder" instead of the card...)